Hi all, we've been here a week already, time flies by quickly at this place. We are anchored off what would be a deserted island were it not for the other 16 sailboats and 2 park rangers. The closest inhabited island is around 200 miles away, the only access to here is by boat so no other tourists get here. The majority of boats here are American followed by Canadians. The island is about 500 ft by 1/2 mile, where 1 side faces the ocean, one side the pass, and one side on the lagoon (we're anchored in the lagoon side). The lagoon is about 6 miles in diameter with only one pass for boats which is adjacent to our island. The place is protected as a natural park by the Cook islands hence they've placed a couple of wardens here to watch over the yachties. They are a great couple of Polynesian guys who act as tour guides without the fee for extra activities (we plan to give them something before we leave). We had to pay a $50 entrance fee for the park but I'm sure this hardly pays for their salaries and the supplies that they come with (They arrive in May and leave in November with no intermediate supplies from headquarters). There is a club house, which is a post and beam building, the main floor has no walls on 3 sides, and there is a full enclosure on the 2nd floor. The main floor is the hang out for social gatherings, crafts and meals. Since being here we have done the following:

-husked, graded and squeezed out fresh coconut milk and then used it in a pot luck sampling with a crowd of 20 or so -gone snorkeling with sharks, they are black tipped reef sharks 3-6'long that do not bother you -fed sharks fish carcasses on the other side of the island (away from the swimming) -had an evening pot luck dinner with entertainment provided by 2 young Canadian girls performing 3 different Polynesian dances (3 separate outfits) from they're skills picked up last spring in Huahine, then they got all the other ladies in the crowd to join in for a wiggle -Gone fishing 2 different mornings with John, one of the guides. Fishing here is different, a rod will not work. You only have about 30 seconds from hit to landing the fish in the boat or its lost to the sharks. The first morning only Liam and I joined John. He picked us up at Gromit at sunrise and ïmmediately gave us our instructions: "when you pull the fish in pull the line in fast and with your baby fingers out, that way if you loose a finger its a small one and not your thumb or index finger", "OK", I said. Five minutes from Gromit John landed about a 20lb tuna and 30 seconds later I lost my lure and about the same size fish 10' from the boat to the sharks (broke the 150 lb test, I was still letting John do all the pulling in after the finger warning). We then used one of the Rapala's that Ed sent Liam, we kept on getting heavy hits but nothing was hooking up. After pulling in the lure one of the 3 hooks of the treble hook was gone and the other treble hook had all of its hooks bent open. Within another 30 minutes we had another 10lb tuna and about an 8lb grouper. I'm getting a lot better at filleting, I can't imagine trying to fillet a 2 lb bass back at home let alone buying fish in a grocery store, Today Maia and mom joined in as well. I had the new handline setup, about 100'of 3/16"rope followed by about 12' of stainless steel wire and a swivel. Worked great, we only got 1 10lb Tuna (Maia caught it, I pulled it in). Fishing here reminds me of the early morning trolling days with Dad, Ed and Dallas up in Burleigh Falls. Hopefully these memories will stick with Liam and Maia. You have to have room in your freezer or belly prior to going fishing around here. -had a departing boat return back from the ocean through the pass to give the community 3 20 lb yellow fin Tuna that they had just caught on the outside but had no freezer space. Great Sashimi slices while you fillet. -had an afternoon excursion into the lagoon on a snorkeling trip with the other guide James and about 12 other yachties. -the girls got there layered haircuts by mom under the guidance of another yachtie -done hand laundry on shore using the water from a huge rainwater tank in the shells of an old life raft -got weatherfax interpretation tips from another boat as well as 6 BBC documentaries on the south Pacific -the girls had a craft day on shore with about 10 others, Zoe got some new bead ideas and Maia was drawing charcoal portraits (Liam was hunting with his bow and arrow and then we went and pulled down 5 green coconuts for drinks) -evenings have been 3 nights of Cornelia's reading from a novel by Tom Neal, a Kiwi who lived on this island for 5 years by himself in the 50's as well as a few movie nights. We had 1 of our bottles of Coke here and the 2nd is slated for Beveridge reef. No 7-11 around here -scrubbed the hull using a borrowed hooka diving system where the compressor sits in your cockpit and you get 2 50' long hoses with 2 regulators so now you can stay down while getting the algea off your hull (this task is akin to cutting the grass at home, the stuff just grows, especially at the waterline!!) The kids all got to dive down as well, there is always a shark in view but once again, the black tipped only go for fish, we're starting to get use to it. (just prior to going in the water I could see 7 sharks (3-6'long) in view)

To date, this place may be our most favourite of all. We will be staying for at least another one more pot luck which will be mid next week where the girls plan to repeat their dance for an always changing crowd. (boats are always leaving and coming in)

If this all sounds like its peaches and cream well there was a cost. Everything went well on the 680 mile passage here however it was hard in that the seas were confused and no one ever felt 100% (no one ever threw up either). The first few days and the last few days were the worst. We sailed for 2 days with no sails up at 4 1/2 knots. This was the price we had to pay to get here but it was worth it. Hopefully the next passage has better weather.