Sailing Aitutaki | Pitstop
The middle part of the Pacific is called ‘The Dangerous Middle’ and the last few weeks we have really come to understand why. Our friends got hammered by a system heading west and now it is our turn! We had always planned to skirt by the Cook Islands as a possible port of refugee as there was a system predicted on Monday. The system seems to have intensified with every forecast update. With 90 knot winds predicted there was no real option to keep sailing, so we made a u-turn and sailed 6 hours back to the Cook Islands where we would spend 7 days waiting for some cleaner weather to continue our journey west.
Once we arrived outside the tiny pass into the ‘harbour’ (marina under construction!) we radioed port control and requested permission to enter. We could almost smell the fresh food, coffee shops and little snack shacks that were ready to greet us! Unfortunately permission was not granted. There was a cargo ship positioned 500m offshore loading the cargo onto barges which ferried the goods through the channel into the harbour. Until this operation was done, we would have to heave too and wait. By the time they’d finished the sun was set which made the already challenging pass somewhat more challenging!
After navigating the pass we were greeted by some cruisers to help us med moor to the mud banks which went surprisingly well to say how little control Nanuka has going astern!
A lovely week was had sheltering from the weather, exploring and really making the most of the coffee shops!