Suwarrow Atoll. Ever heard of it?? Tom Neale, a Kiwi, came here, abandoned his wife and kids mind you, and stayed here by himself for .....years. He wrote a book about his life here. In it he recalled a family that lived here and during a cyclone the father was forced to tie his son to a palm tree. I read Neale's book, a number of years ago, and it left me thinking that going to such a remote and precarious Pacific atoll would only be for those with big boats and serious wanderlust. But here I am. We are ..... nautical miles from Bora Bora and ....nm from Samoa. Remote. I like that feeling now that we've made it here.

Patience arrived at the atoll in the late afternoon, about an hour before us. He managed to negotiate the pass before sunset, but for us it was too late so we hove to and drifted in a SE direction off the east end of the atoll until sunrise the next morning. Ernie, our good friend told us the pass was easy, and the landmarks to look for (notably 2 leaning 'sticks' both painted white) marking reef. After sailing the last ....nm on the wind and in 1-2 m swells we turned 90 to lineup the pass, douse the main and headsail and within 1 mile went from 11,000' to 200' depth, then motored through a 200m opening in the reef into a flat, calm and sheltered lagoon. 10 other boats are here. It's a National Park now, as part of the Cook Islands - a dilemma for us seeking wilderness. Gone is the freedom to explore and even step afoot on the small islands spread out along the lagoon's encompassing reef, other than the main one near the designated anchorage. No seashell collecting, tossing of food scraps overboard, anchoring anywhere we wish, then having to pay to stay, for two weeks. We are 2, perhaps 50 years too late. There are just too many people on this earth, and fishing boats all around these waters that steal the fish (mainly tuna) and more and more cruisers encouraged to come here because some guy wrote a book about it.