As we posted earlier, we diverted to Suwarrow based on the weather.  This is one of the northern most Cook Islands.  Remote is an understatement.  Suwarrow is 700 miles west / northwest of Bora Bora – that’s the same distance as San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.  It’s another 450 miles east of American Somoa – the distance from San Francisco to San Diego.  This is not coastal cruising – all open ocean, no options.

We are finding without exception – all the places we end up without planning are truly the exceptional experiences.  Suwarrow is a national park for the Cook Islands, an atoll with inner lagoon.  The Cook Islands government staffs the island with a ranger who can provide clearance for international yachts.  As we quickly found out the relationship with the ranger is mutual.  He is dropped off in May and picked up in October.  When we arrived he had only 10 gallons of gasoline for their generator and fishing boat.  He depends on the cruising boats to help with fuel and supplies.  We were more than happy to contribute 5 gallons of dinghy fuel and a tube of Wasabi (not sure what was more valuable – lots of raw fish consumed here).

The rangers live in a open air house with an upstairs “bedroom”.  The “Suwarrow Yacht Club” has many flags, and we happily donated our used Gray Matter pennant to the rafters.

Saturday with donated dinghy fuel, Charlie the assistant ranger went fishing for the Saturday BBQ.  He came back with a 30+lb Wahoo.  The 9 boats in the anchorage contributed to the “pot-luck” and we BBQ’d the Wahoo.  3 hours after dinner with Harry the head Ranger playing non-stop guitar, we were still singing / dancing and drinking.  Special for us – it was the eve of Christine’s birthday – so all 9 boats and crew sang Happy Birthday.

The boats had a diversity of nationalities; 3 – USA, 3 – Australia, 2 – Switzerland, 1 – Norway (26 feet, with no engine or refrigeration – defines HARDCORE).

Sunday we finished our stay in Suwarrow by diving with the giant Manta Rays inside the lagoon.

The remoteness builds an instant bond with all people – by the time we departed Monday morning, we had many good friend in the anchorage as well as two rangers we’ll never forget.