Aitutaki - Cook Islands

17/12/2023

Above: The Cook Islands west of French Polynesia

The Cook Islands is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand, who annexed the islands in the early 1900s. The NZ dollar is the official currency and Cook Island’s Maori and English are the official languages.

Cook Islands comprises 15 islands whose total land area is only 236.7 square kilometres (91 sq mi). Of the 15 islands, 5 are uninhabited (two of those are submerged reefs anyway). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,960,027 square kilometres (756,771 sq mi) of ocean. That’s a lot of fishing ground! Two Thirds of the 15,000 strong population live in the main Island of Raratonga, with Aitutaki the second most populated. The islands are spread over a huge distance so visiting them by yacht means choosing to stop at one, maybe two islands as you make your way west. We chose Aitutaki, well maybe it chose us, as the weather really did have a lot of influence on our journey from French Polynesia onwards.

Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Note the reef entrance and Arutanga Harbour NW side.

Leaving Maupiha’a

A rainy passage

From the shelter of the lovely lagoon of Maupiha’a in French Polynesia to Aitutaki, Cook Is. is 360nm, a 2-3 day journey. We got away just after 8am motored through the cut - it’s always much easier going out because you have your previous track to follow! Light airs were forecast and we two sail reached with the gennaker for a while then tried goose winging but as boatspeed dropped below 2kts it was time for the Volvos. Lovely sunny day. Gentle seas. Just waiting for a fish to jump on the line... Had a southerly squall come through just before 11pm bringing 25kts and a nice dump of rain. It sat on top of us for a while and then moved on. We thought it was the anticipated change and hoped it would leave us with a bit more pressure but it left us with 11kts from 040 TWD. Hmmm. Wind remains just a little too light for us to make decent speed so we motor through the night and the following day as well. At least the sea is flat, the sun is out, the batteries and water tanks are full. A good day to catch up on washing, although it is slow to dry. The wind is trying to build and starts gusting into the low teens and we finally got the motors off around 8pm Sunday night, when we unfurled the Genoa. Beautiful sunset but a very dark night with heavy clouds and no moon. Wind is variable in speed and direction: 10-19 kts from 80-120 and our boat speed varies a lot too. Seas have become very lumpy and uneven but thankfully not slowing us down too much. We are keen to arrive before dark into this tricky harbour and ahead of the next southerly front. At 4am watch change we swap to the gennaker to get some extra speed and ensure timely arrival. Took it down early Monday morning and went back to the genoa as the wind was getting up and we had squalls approaching. Had rain on and off most of the day and big seas but we were able to keep the speed up and as the pressure backed off, and go back to the gennaker again. Visibility was poor and we could not see the low island of Aitutaki until about 2 miles out. What a relief though. Got some protection from the wind and swell as we rounded the top of the island around 3pm. We can see the waves breaking along the western reef.

Still dredging the pass

The Aitutaki Pass

Aitutaki Pass, from the reef to the habour

Aitutaki is a tiny, teardrop-shaped island protected by a fringing reef and some smaller motus, with a huge lagoon surrounding it’s southern half. The pass through the reef and into the harbour is probably one of the most daunting we have seen. It is really quite long, over a mile, and very narrow and shallow. They have been dredging the channel for some months now and the dredge is still in place when we arrive. We have researched this one carefully, even finding a recent YouTube video someone had posted of their entrance captured on GoPro. Very helpful!

We came through the long and narrow pass Aitutaki Channel without incident although it was raining my the footage of our grand entrance was a little disappointing. Andy from SV Second Sun got in touch on the radio and gave us a few tips as well. As there were 3 boats on swing anchors in the tiny harbour we anchored outside the breakwater, between bommies. It is so well protected from the swell in here, and for the moment the wind too. We felt like we were sleeping on land! Customs & Immigration had knocked off for the day by the time we were anchored so we will go to see them in the morning.

Very calm inside the harbour

Arutanga, Aitutaki, Cook Islands

Tried to contact Port Authority in the morning and they finally answered around 10 and told us to go ashore to Customs. Officials were very helpful and organised the health chappie to come to us for the health check, which involved filling out a form and paying a fee... After that we met Victor from Biosecurity at the dinghy dock and took him back to the boat. He looked at our fruit and fridges and my plants, told me he was supposed to take them but we assured him we would not take them ashore. He let us keep them, which I think he probably does with everyone. He was happy that our boat was very clean and not going to be an issue. It rained pretty heavily on and off for the rest of the day so we didn’t really do much, just cleaned up after our passage and sorted things out on board. Had 25-30kts gusts and we think we dragged a little so we moved the boat forward to another clear patch in the channel, and seem to be holding better.

Watching the barge unloading

A delicate operation in challenging conditions

In the morning we noticed a big cargo ship moored outside the reef near the entrance. Conditions are pretty bouncy out there, and the ship is a few days late due to bad weather. The supply ship is way too big to come in through the narrow pass and into the tiny harbour so a barge goes out to shuttle the containers off the ship and back into the harbour. We watch in awe as the tiny barge comes alongside the container ship with both bouncing up and down in the swell. A crane lowers two containers onto the deck of the barge and they are ferried into the harbour and quickly unloaded before the barge heads back out for another load. This goes on all day and is truly amazing to watch. I guess they have no choice if they want to fill the supermarket shelves. Everything comes in by cargo ship, including fuel and cooking gas, fresh and frozen food, building materials etc.

Lagoon glimpses, amazing water colour

Walk across the island

We walked across the island from the harbour to the other side, which did not really take that long. The island is like a country town, some of the houses are quite substantial and others are made from shipping containers, which seem to be plentiful. Almost every house has a couple of graves in the front yard, presumably grandparents or parents. We can catch glimpses of the vast lagoon through the trees and houses that line the shore.

Traditional Waka

VIP guests arrive

We were on the dock chatting to some fellow cruisers just as a traditional Waka style sailing catamaran was coming in to the harbour. It’s a group of volunteers that does special trips for mentoring of young, troubled kids. They have come all the way from Samoa, well north of here, on their way to Raratonga, to the south, but conditions got pretty rough so they have stopped in to Aitutaki for a breather. Once the word of their arrival came through, a group of supporters organised a welcoming party of school kids to come down to greet them. They sang a traditional song and one young boy did a kind of mini-Haka. What a lovely, spontaneous moment we shared. Later in the day we are invited aboard for a look. The boat is a catamaran with a huge wooden oar style tiller, all carved with traditional motifs. No autopilot. It has centreboards which are raised and lowered with some levers on the deck. No winches whatsoever, even for the anchor. Tough work!

Delicious lunch at Avatea Cafe

Road tour

Local boat by the lagoon

Our fellow cruisers who are anchored in the harbour both have rental cars and have kindly offered them to us while they do other things. We were able to do a refuelling trip (with Gerry cans), a provisioning run and then a complete circuit of the small island in the space of a few hours. Enjoyed a scrummy lunch at Avatea Café which was a really lovely spot set in a lush garden. Then around the south of the island along muddy, grassy roads, dodging goats and scuttling crabs. Then we headed up the east coast winding up into the hills, stopping at the view point, which is not particularly high. It’s not even the highest point on the island but we can see down to the eastern side of the huge lagoon that surrounds the Aitutaki. From there we went up to the north of the island and past the airport, just as a plane took off. We continued on down to the southern end of the peninsula where there is a lovely beach in the lagoon. We also found the Aitutaki sailing club which has a single Hobie cat! Stopped at a hardware store on the way back and like most places it has a mixture of stock including grocery items, household appliances, frozen meat, animal feed and wine. You have got to make it worthwhile opening!

High 5 for effort!

This is how its done

We invited fellow cruisers from SV Second Sun and Dappere Dodo aboard for drinks. They brought the kids which was a bit chaotic but very lively and fun. They headed back just on dusk and we all met at 8pm on the dock and drove up to the Tamanu Hotel to watch the Island Show. This was a dance troop with men and women doing traditional dancing, along with the live band. It was quite good as far as tourist fare goes and they got us up for some audience participation at the end which was fun and very amusing. Us honkies must seem so stiff and stilted compared to the professionals! A lovely evening.

Some time for reflection

Waiting on the Weather to change (Again)

Spent a morning aboard planning and trying to figure out the weather. With the change over from La Nina to El Nino the usually consistent "milk-run" easterly weather patterns are just not happening. Instead we have a steady stream of southerly fronts coming through and sometimes they are pretty strong. Picking a weather window for a 3-5 day passage is challenging and frustrating, but we just have to be patient and make the most of being where we are. We are still outside the small harbour and had to re-anchor a couple of times as we are getting spun in circles by the current, and wrapping our chain around bommies. The harbourmaster must have seen our shenanigans and called to check if we were ok. We tried putting a float on the chain to stop it wrapping around bommies but it got tangled up in everything and ended up going under the keels making the situation even worse! It’s raining and unsettled still and we have to shake ourselves out of a bit of a grey mood. We can see a whiff of a window this coming Friday so fingers are crossed.

As its Sunday, I decided to head to the Baptist Church Service in the afternoon, with Paul and the kids from Dappere Dodo. The church-goers assumed I was the mother (or maybe their grandmother), which was a bit weird! The service was very lively with several, colourful musicians and singers, loud and proud affirmations and lots of praising the Lord Jesus. We were welcomed by name as guests of the congregation which was lovely.

Look at that water

Aitutaki LagooN

Honeymoon Island

Its not permitted to explore the vast lagoon using your own dinghy, and you must do an organised tour. In any case its probably better to do a tour as it would be impossible to find the spots they take you to. Its actually pretty large area to cover with plenty of hidden hazards, so its great to be wizzed around in a big power boat by people who know where they are going! Started around 9:30 ish and first stop was snorkelling with the GTs or Giant Trevally. Obviously the fish know where to come for a feed, and they certainly look pretty healthy, (apart from the one with a big chunk out of its back) and they are very big fish! There was one lonesome Bump Head Wrasse swimming very slowly with them as well. The water is surprisingly cool and I am wearing a stinger suit. Next stop is Honeymoon island. We are dropped off on a long white sand spit that we can just walk along and get picked up by the boat at the other end. Apparently you can have private accommodation here, or used to be able too and at some stage it hosted the odd honeymoon. Nearby is the spot where they filmed Survivor in 2007.

Giant Clam

Next we stop to snorkel at the giant clam farm. It seems that the native clams have died out for some reason and so Australian giant clams have been introduced to replenish stocks. They are very colourful and often quite speckled patterns. We can see the empty shells of the dead clams as well as some healthy looking live specimens.

We stop for lunch at an small motu where we find some nesting frigate birds with a few very cute, fluffy little chicks on the ground. Lunch was great! BBQ tuna and chicken as well as salad and fruit. What luxury!

Purple Coral

After lunch is our final snorkelling spot amongst the purple coral garden. It is quite a long channel and tough going as we weave away along and into the current, but we make it to the end. Some really nice coral along the way. Interestingly there are no reef sharks here in Aitutaki Lagoon, not sure why.

Final stop of the day is the famous One Foot Island, which (you will never believe it!) is shaped like a foot. We walk around the whole island with its narrow channel on one side and beach huts scattered amongst the trees. It’s a popular destination with day trippers and the water is crystal clear.

Time to Move On

We spend the following day prepping for our next passage, sorting out reeflines, topping lift (which broke on our passage here) prepping the main and checking halyards etc. We finally have a “sort of” weather window to head to our next destination, Beveridge Reef. It’s a totally submerged reef between Aitutaki and Niue and if conditions are right we can enter the atoll - it is teeming with sea-life and sounds amazing. The big question is, will the weather cooperate so we can make it into this unique location??

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