When we dropped anchor in Suvarrow yesterday afternoon it was with huge relief.  It hadn’t been the easiest of passages from Maupiti – with squalls and torrential rain – and after negotiating the pass in abysmal conditions it was wonderful to stop the boat.  That feeling didn’t last long.   At midnight the wind woke us and shortly after we were both up on deck in full wet weather gear on high alert as a particularly  nasty weather system arrived.  In driving rain and 30knot plus winds Bandit heaved on her anchor chain and we kept a very tense eye on us and the other boats in the confined anchorage to make sure we were all ok.  We kept the engine running in case we dragged and had all our instruments on to plot our position as it was difficult to see in the pitch black.

 

Disaster struck at about 2am on Amiable, an Australian boat at anchor behind us.   We first met Liz and Steve in Portobello in Panama and have cruised with them, on and off, ever since.   They are regulars on our SSB nets and part of the huge Australian contingent heading home.  The worst thing about anchorages such as this one is the scattered coral and Amiable fell victim to it snapping their anchor chain on a bombie and being blown onto a reef.  It was with sick fear we watched all this unfold at the same time listening on VHF as the entire fleet kept an eye on what was happening.  There is nothing worse than seeing your mates in such peril and being unable to help.  Conditions were too atrocious to attempt any kind of rescue and Steve and Liz had to sit it out until first light – Amiable taking on water but in no immediate danger of sinking.  They were remarkably calm and mightily relieved when Suvarrow caretaker Harry rescued them at dawn.

 

It always makes us laugh when people ask us if we get scared when we can’t see land.  We feel far safer at sea in such conditions than in an anchorage.  The only times we’ve been terrified on Bandit are when we’ve been at anchor – last night and another time in Solomons Island in the States when we dragged in 63 knots.  Both times you feel helpless relying on one piece of equipment to secure you – the anchor.  First thing today we put out a second anchor but our primary anchor has held firmly and is buried in coral sand.   David checked it along with a few observers – the anchorage is full of sharks.

 

Everyone in the anchorage is feeling fairly fragile and tired today and doing all we can to support Liz and Steve.  It is a shocking sight to look out and see Amiable being bashed on the reef just behind us.  David and the others are about to launch a salvage attempt to try and retrieve personal belongings but the boat is a total loss and, with Suvarrow being as remote as it gets, there’s no chance of salvage.