Cook Islands

The beautiful and rugged coast of NiueRaro: Oct. 6 - Don and I arrived back in Rarotonga early in the morning on Sunday, accompanied by our passage crew of Ross Miles and Dave Beller who joined us at LAX.. We cruised with Ross on the pivotal voyage down the coast of Mexico and Central America on Zeehaen in March 2000; the trip that convinced Don and I that we wanted to do blue water cruising and...

22 October, 2002 /

Don and June at Raina Beach Apartments in RarotongaWell here we are, back in Raro for the third time; Don and I have lots of friends here. One of the first things that we do is search out our friend, June Baudinet. We invite her to dinner on our second night in town and catch up on what's been happening in Raro. In addition to running her business, Raina Trading, she has been busy building...

21 September, 2002 /

Anchored outside the reef in AitutakiDuring the coarse of our travels this past year, three islands have become very special to us and Aitutaki is one of them. While the island of Aitutaki is very beautiful, it is always the people that engrave an indeliible memory on our hearts. Like Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands and then Kauehi in the Tuamotu Archipeligo, Aitutaki felt like home from our first day on shore.We arrived the...

07 October, 2001 /

Memorial on the waterfront in RarotongaI sent out an email describing our feelings of isolation from friends and family in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States. While we were receiving almost daily CNN news reports that described WHAT was happening back home, we felt cut off from understanding HOW those horrific events were effecting the people we loved. I asked: "How have lives changed?" The following is the thoughtful...

04 October, 2001 /

Starr at the wharf in Avatiu Harbor, RarotongaDon and I are certainly not "ugly Americans", but we are fairly typical Americans in our inability to speak languages other than English. In our six months of travel in French Polynesia, we never learned to speak French. Our wonderful new friendship with both Pere Joseph and Rataro in Ua Pou and Edward in Kauehi was possible because they both spoke quite good English. What a relief to...

28 September, 2001 /

Passage to RaroRough and rolly. Not nice. Six to ten foot waves on the beam, winds gusting to thirty-five knots. Big waves bang against the side of the boat with a loud "crash". For sixty-five hours, 540 nm, when we move about the boat we need always to keep a hand free to hang on. At night in bed, we do a lot of "mattress surfing". In the morning, we wake up with sore toes...

21 September, 2001 /