September 6, 2007<\/p>\n
We are still in Suvarov (Suwarrow) in the Cook Islands. We had
\nhoped to leave five days ago for Samoa but the weather has not
\ncooperated. It is beautiful here so we are not complaining
\nabout being stuck in paradise. The wind had slowed to less than
\n8 knots and came out of the north. That brought rain and
\nsqualls, some intense, mixed in with periods of sun. We used
\nthose sunny periods to snorkel all around the lagoon, and took a
\nlong walk along the reef to Monkey’s Island at low tide during a
\ncloudy morning. Then the wind shifted from the south but still
\nlight. We used up quite a bit of diesel getting here from
\nBora-Bora and then subsequentlyunning the generator and making
\nwater, so we do not have nearly enought to get to Samoa without
\na few days of good wind.<\/p>\n
There is one thing fairly new to us that has become an important
\npart of our stay in Suvarov, and that thing is fishing. To
\nillustrate its allure, consider that yesterday, while we were
\nsnorkeling in the most amazing reef, watching colorful fish in
\nthe crystal clear water, Laura turned to me and said “Let’s go
\nback to the boat and go fishing.” Even Laura is smitten with
\nthe fishing bug. It is not just the sporting aspects of fishing
\nthat moitivate us. It is also that the fish that we catch –
\ngrouper – is quite delicious and is far better to eat than
\nanything that we have left on the boat. We and our friends on
\nRisho Manu and Yara are all out of fresh food. Only one of our
\ntwo fridges is running and it has only has some cheese, beer and
\ncoke. We had our last apple with breakfast. We have lots of
\ndried and canned food, but none of it seems as appealing as
\nbaked or barbequed grouper.<\/p>\n
It is fairly easy to catch grouper in the lagoon once John, the
\npark warden, gave us some pointers. From our dinghy, we drag
\n150 feet of 200 pound test line off of a plastic spool (called a
\nyo-yo) with a diving Rapala lure attached. No fishing rod or
\nreel required. Laura steers the dinghy along the dropoff near
\nreefs. We have found the reef just behind the sailboats is very
\nproductive so we do not have to go very far. We are now
\nconfident that if we spend one to two hours trolling a line from
\nthe dinghy, we will land a big grouper. The other day while
\ncontemplating the options for supper just one hour before
\nsunset, we decided to go out for 45 minutes and see if we could
\ncatch something (sort of like a last minute trip to Whole
\nFoods). After 30 minutes, we had a fish on the line and I
\nstarted to haul it in while wrapping the line around the plastic
\nyo-yo. As the fish got almost up to the dinghy I was surprised
\nby the sudden strength of the tug on the line. I pulled up hard
\nand found that there were two fish heads staring to me — one
\nbelonging to a large grouper and the other to a shark with its
\njaws around the grouper. The shark and I were both shocked to
\nsee each other — the grouper already knew what was up. The
\nshark chomped down, taking the back 60 percent of the fish,
\nleaving me to haul in the front 40%. The shark had the better
\npart by far since grouper heads are quite large and are not
\neaten by us. Nonetheless, there was enough grouper left for a
\nnice supper for Laura and I. However, this fish was not as
\ntasty as the others, which we attribute to the trauma the poor
\nfish went through in those last moments. Late yesterday
\nafternoon, Laura and I caught a grouper big enough to feed us,
\nRisho Maru, and Yara plus leftovers. The fresh fish keeps the
\nbeans and rice dinners on hold.<\/p>\n
The wind is supposed to pick up a bit tomorrow and we may use
\nthe opportunity to start off for Apia, Samoa some 520 nautical
\nmiles away. With the forecast winds, it should take us 4 days
\nto reach Samoa. We will miss the annual festival that we had
\nplanned to attend but this loss is offset by the wonderful time
\nthat we have had in Suvarov.<\/p>\n
M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
September 6, 2007 We are still in Suvarov (Suwarrow) in the Cook Islands. We had hoped to leave five days ago for Samoa but the weather has not cooperated. It is beautiful here so we are not complaining about being stuck in paradise. The wind had slowed to less than 8 knots and came out … <\/p>\n