Aitutski

Well we feel as though we have had a week of turbulence where nothing is as it should be.
We had a fairly good crossing, slowing down the last night so we would arrive at Aitutaki after dawn as we had expected. Anne and Harvey weathered their first offshore passage well with Harvey gamely helping Ken do his watch in between nauseous attacks. As Harvey says you always feel better after throwing up.
Our adventures started in the morning as we tried to find the pass into the harbour. We had been warned it was difficult and shallow but as our chart plotter and charts had been so accurate in French Polynesia we thought it would not be too much of a challenge---wrong!!!
As we were trying to make out where the pass was from inaccurate information on all of our charts and an inaccurate GPS position from Charlie’s Charts—our only cruising guide at this stage we heard a clunk as our keel hit a coral head!!!! Yeeks!! Luckily Ken was at the wheel not me and he was able to take us off with minimal damage. We were then told by a boat who had been talking to earlier tell us that the pass is off in the charts by a quarter of a mile—I wish he had thought to tell us before this.
We did make it in OK and Ken dove under the boat and found there was a small chunk of fiberglass out of the keel which he did not think would present any issues and we would deal with it in NZ.
The next issue was the starboard engine which was not starting well so Ken and Harvey replaced the starter. It has also stopped producing power but luckily our game little generator which we had bought in the Galapagos is still working.
The weather as had been predicted became very windy and rainy and although we are happy not to be at sea it is not quite the Pacific paradise we had expected.
On Sunday we went to the local church service—the singing at these Polynesian churches is renowned and it was lovely. The singing was archipelago with wonderful harmony echoing throughout the church. The women who are very large wear wonderful flowered hats and colourful dresses.
After the service we were invited to share the lovely spread of food they had put on. They explained that they each bought a plate which all of the visitors were invited to partake. It was a huge amount of food and as we ate they sat in the double layer of picnic chairs (double obviously to take the weight of these large people). After we finished they then quickly demolished the huge amount of food left. They are very lovely and generous people who are happy with little. Most seem to have family members in NZ and do get to go there each year.
Anne and Harvey treated us to a lovely dinner at the fancy resort for dinner that night. We had a table overlooking the bay and coconut palms which always look idyllic even if the weather is not as sunny as we had hoped.
The next day we set out to rent bicycles for Anne and Harvey only to find there is only one left to rent anywhere on the island at the moment. They rented a motor scooter which as we struggled on our bikes into the wind seemed to be the best solution anyway. We did go to the other side of the island which obviously would be lovely in better weather. The houses are surrounded by flowers and although they do not appear as affluent as in French Polynesia they do not appear poor.
The next morning upon opening up the floorboards to stock up on milk I found it flooded with sea water—obviously the small piece of keel which had been lost on the reef was deeper than we had thought!!!! Ken and Harvey then proceeded to mix the underwater epoxy which we have on board and Ken dove under and pushed it in. After pumping the water out it appears to have held.
Harvey also helped Ken replace the alternator which appears to have fixed the power generating issue with the engine and we seem to have most things functioning again----we had luckily paid attention to Jack who told us to bring as much of a spare boat as we could carry and afford but are rapidly running out of spares.
We did try to dingy out to a small motu (island) near the reef but it was very windy and we felt-- too dangerous to continue so we biked (and motor scootered) along the shore and had a nice time beachcombing for shells.
The island is typical in the fact that many things are sold out until the supply boat gets here—we have had this happen every island we have been to since Panama—they do not have enough money to carry stock so always run out. This island has even run out of fuel—Anne and Harvey had to return the motor scooter on fumes and could not have it an extra day as there is no fuel. Everything here comes from New Zealand via Rarotonga and only once a month. As the weather has been bad the expected supply boat has not arrived—maybe next week? Luckily we did get fuel for the dingy in Rarotonga and have enough diesel from Tahiti. We will have to economize with the dingy if we hope to get to Beveridge Reef on our way to Nuie. The winds are too high to go there now but if they die down we still hope to go there. It is a small atoll where no one lives and the only boats visiting there are cruisers. It is apparently amazing to snorkel and dive in so we will if the conditions are right.
Most evenings have been filled by playing Mexican train (a cruisers version of dominos which we introduced to Anne and Harvey who have become addicted). There seems to be a difference of opinion as to when we should halt the game each evening---it can go on for hours and the timing seems to depend as to who is winning at the time—perhaps a previously agreed upon time would be a good idea.
On Anne and Harvey’s last night we went to a Polynesian buffet and dance show. The vast array of food was good and the dancing featured more wriggling butts. One of the shows featured dancing with fire sticks which was great with the drumming which we have come to expect in the South Pacific—we are not sure of the origin of the fire sticks but on a beach here it certainly fits. They ended with the invitation to the tourists to join in and “strut their stuff” which of course Ken and Harvey both got up and did their best.
We had visited a clam research station—they are trying to restock the clams in the lagoon faster than the locals can eat them and Harvey and Ken went out with them to check the reserve where they are growing them. They got to snorkel—it is still too windy to take the dingy out and the currents are strong with the sea which pounds over the reef rushing to get out the pass.
Anne and Harvey fly out to Rarotonga for a couple of days before heading back to NZ. We hope they get some calm weather there as other than one quick swim they have not been able to make much use of the snorkel gear we set up for them. We have had fun with them and do appreciate that Harvey spent the required hours daily in the engine room. Ken has learned a lot from him and hopefully it will help him fix whatever breaks down next. They left us with huge amounts of chocolate—Anne had taken my request for some to heart and I have enough for a year!!!
We look forward to seeing them again in NZ and perhaps can share some more sailing with them there.
Don and Marcie will come back on Monday and we will head off as soon as we get a weather window towards Nuie and Beveridge Reef.
This may or may not come with pics--the computer is VERY SLOW!!!!!