After leaving Mauphiaa the choice is then whether to take the course via the Northern Cook Islands (usually via Surrawow and then on to Samoa) or via the southern Cooks via either Rarotonga, Aitutaku or Palmerston Island or a combination thereof. The only place with a decent and protected anchorage is Aitutaki which has a shallow channel and a very small shallow lagoon once inside (all too shallow for Monkey Fist). Also the clearance fees here are a little steep at $400 so most people are reluctant to spend this money for a short stay. Recent reports of mooring “Med style” in the harbour at Rarotonga have reported conditions bordering on untenable, so we decided to head via Palmerston Island which only has a roadstead anchorage suitable in reasonable weather from the southeast. Still our good friend Matt Cronin on Polo Flat recommended it to us which was all the encouragement we needed.

Palmerston Island is about 540 nautical miles to west of Mauphiaa and, as has been the case so far this season, we had excellent wind for this passage – between 15 and 25 knots either from abeam or astern so it was another good speedy passage (I'm touching wood as I type this). Considering many people we have spoken to have not had such good wind this season then we consider ourselves very lucky. It has been a very inconsistent season it would seem for wind.

The population of Palmerston is 51 people everyone either descendants of or married to a descendant of William Marsters who arrived there in 1866 and had three Polynesian wives. The people don't have much in the way of material possessions but they are well looked after by the Cook Islands government. They make a little money by charging yachts to use moorings but most income is from reef fish fillets that they freeze and send to Rarotonga, but still the income is minimal. They do have a solar power station and they do have a small but well equipped health clinic staffed by a registered nurse, internet and telephones but it is very isolated – the only way to and from the island is via the unreliable trade boat that arrives every few months. Isolation is one of the key criteria in deciding where we conduct our Eyeglass Assist program and so we arranged in advance with one of the residents (via email) to service the community.

In the end we only two and a bit days in Palmerston due to weather considerations. We could have stayed longer but it would have meant a delay of another week at least and and as we were already behind schedule our time was limited. So most of the short time that we spent there we were running one of EA program and managed to help everyone on the island who needed glasses.

One thing that always becomes evident when visiting such communities is, without exception, the people's sense of humour. Everybody is quick to see the funny side of things and have the ability to laugh at themselves. And the people of Palmerston have a wicked sense of humour. We always have a great deal of fun and there is plenty of laughing and joking and it is a very positive experience for everyone involved. And so it was that only 48 hours later we were yet again on our way.

The photos: It's difficult to see but the bottom photo is of a yacht that was wrecked on the reef in 2011 at Palmerston when the mooring line chaffed through (the owner of the yacht's fault). The locals salvaged what they could and dragged what was left of the hull onto the island. Such a sight always makes you stop and think about your own situation.