Rain Delay

In reality, it's more than rain. It is very squally and stormy right now over the Suwarrow atoll and surrounding waters. We have officially cleared out with Cook Island Ranger Harry yesterday (Wednesday) with our intended departure today. But it was very windy, rainy and stormy all night long and remains so this morning. No reason to leave in this nastiness.

Last night the boats all moved in new directions with the wind coming from all points at various times. We got close to a nearby catamaran, but still far enough for comfort. We were a bit surprised in the more crowded part of the anchorage, we didn't hear more radio chatter. It is a tight anchorage and the boats have all tended to go to one corner to get out of the fetch of the waves. They set their anchors in the predominant wind (ESE). So these strange directions can put boats on top of each other. Add to the mix of changing winds, the stray large bommie – and chains that are intended to be 150 feet long are suddenly now wrapped and only 50 feet long. So it makes for an interesting place to be on a squally night. But it seemed to be a calm night even in a storm!

We are getting ready for the next long trek from Suwarrow to Niue – about 550 miles. It should take us five days if we have decent wind. We want to get an early start when we leave – but with all this wind change, Michael does need to dive the anchor and make sure we are now not wrapped around any coral. We have our anchor floats on – but where the anchor is could have some issues. We also need to do a last run to shore to pick up a pan (Barbara made a beef stew last night and shared it with the park rangers who crave beef!) Then we'll roll the dinghy up on deck and be on our way.

So it's the waiting game now! Also, we hear a hurricane is heading to Tampa – hope our home survives. Without internet – we can't track it!