I can clearly picture that mug which sat squarely in the corner of my old desk back home (when I had one) serving double-duty as a pencil cup and a glib reminder that "The Key to Life is Plan B". Parked as we were in Bora Bora day-upon-day awaiting a weather window for our Cook Islands' passage, Eric, our resident weather guru and itinerary planner, fueled by frustration finally found a way to invoke that maxim. If the weather south of us was going to be persistently, consistently disturbed, let's go north!

Still, given the geography of the Cook Islands that decision is not made glibly at all. To this point, our South Pacific itinerary had been pretty pat, as evidenced by our propensity to bump into the same consortium of boats in each port as we all marched through the Marquesas, Tuamotus, and Society Islands more or less as a cruising season-driven pack, visiting many ports in each island chain along the way. But now it is decision time as the 15 Cook Islands cover a total land area of just 93 square miles spread over 750,000 square miles of vast ocean - microdot islands in a sea the size of Western Europe. Loosely clumped, they are referred to as the Southern and Northern Cooks but they are still so widely dispersed, most cruisers mindful of the time constraints in continuing westward prior to cyclone season, have time to visit only one. Add in the fact that just a handful of The Cooks having passable anchorages, our choices were already few.

Our original Plan A - a basically straight line course from Bora Bora towards Tonga - had us setting our sights on the road more traveled route to Aitutaki and/or Palmerston in the Southern Cooks. But with these dogged weather conditions south, Eric posed the alternative of heading more NORTH to Suwarrow(the most southern of the Northern Cooks)hopefully keeping this disorganized array of fronts below us.

However, Plan B introduced its own issues. First, we would be committing to significantly longer passages both up to Suwarow and then back down to Tonga, turning 3 day legs into 5 to 6, probably the primary reason we had at first dismissed this choice (and you know how much I love passages!). But better 6 days of fair skies and possibly favorable, sailable winds than 3 of junk, right? Furthermore, off-the-beaten-path Suwarrow is not an official port of entry which would mean seeking special permission to stop there. So, while still in Bora Bora with reliable internet, we researched, located and completed the official Cooks Islands 5-page form to request entry directly to Suwarrow. Fingers crossed.

As we awaited word back. we wondered in retrospect why Suwarrow had not always been our first choice as this uninhabited atoll has long had a near mythical pull for sailors going back to the legendary figure, Tom Neale. David, years ago while still an armchair explorer, remembers enjoying the Cruising World article about this native New Zealander, a modern day Robinson Crusoe, who became so fascinated with Suwarrow that he chose to maroon himself on Anchorage Island - the largest island in Suwarrow atoll. Living alone over 16 years (1953 to 1977, in three separate stints) on this uninhabited island which can only be reached by private vessel - far off the shipping routes - Neale is known to have welcomed and charmed the rare sailors that found their way there, establishing a nautical custom that to this day is irresistible to seafarers. Perhaps in recognition of this allure, the Cook Island government has now made this atoll (11 miles across) a national park and nature reserve and it remains uninhabited except for a seasonal park ranger who serves as much as the island's caretaker and host carrying on Neale's tradition as he/she does a government official.

Receiving a thumbs up from the Cook Islands officials we finally departed Bora Bora last Saturday and we should arrive early morning tomorrow, Friday. It has been a mostly dry, irritatingly slow, lumpy and somewhat frustrating 6 days, as we are still experiencing some repercussions from the multiple competing weather systems well south of us. Yet as a bonus for the tedium of moving at barely jog speed, the guys have hooked numerous mahi-mahi providing meals for days. Overall, it has been an "easy" passage which has allowed plenty of time for us to pass around our free downloaded copy of Tom Neale's, "An Island to Oneself"; his autobiographical account of his first two stays on Suwarrow.

Myself a person who loves my alone time, I am still dumbstruck by such a radical lifestyle choice. Neale claims that while he chose to live in solitude he was never lonely, focused - almost to obsession - on whipping the island into habitable shape. Wikipedia calls Thomas Francis Neale a "bushcraft and survival enthusiast" and there is no doubt, as he details in his account, he needed maximum competency in the skills of self-reliance. However, in essence what I took away is that Neale chose to "make a go of it", taking on this ultimate personal responsibility, returning three times to live on the island (even leaving behind a wife and family) so as to achieve what he wanted most - true independence. While clearly on a much reduced level, is this not what also draws men like my husband (and my son) to sail his own little vessel around the planet.....and to pay homage to the likes of Tom Neale along the way?

Legends aside, I remain a bit tentative about our Suwarrow detour. Anchoring here has a reputation for poor holding which has landed many a yacht on its unforgiving reef; these tales made all the more real as a boat sadly met this demise just last week during a 40-knot gusting squall. As a weighty reminder we are sure to see the wreck as we approach in the morning. Oh, and the lagoon is notorious for its prolific shark population. Let's see how Plan B works out.

P. S. This Author's Suggestion: Just for giggles, Google or Wiki "Suwarrow" and see where we are headed.....Also check out the short 4 minute you-tube video with a montage of photos of Tom Neale living in Suwarrow. Sorry I cannot provide the links as I am remotely posting from somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.