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Firefly - Suwar-WOW



Firefly's anchor was lifted at 0700 this morning (Friday 23rd May) and we left the shelter of Anchorage Island on the fringe reef of Suwarrow lagoon. We, along with several other World ARC boats managed to double the planned stop to 6 days - even that feels too short a period to spend in such a fantastic place, especially when we know its unlikely we will ever return.

On Wednesday morning we went back to the reef where the Manta Rays are frequently seen. Having snorkeled around the reef looking for them - Susie found them 'gliding' in the area under where we had anchored the dinghys! It appears as though the reef is where they come for 'cleansing' - they swim slowly while lots of smaller fish provide a cleaning service. We saw 2 - one about 3 meters wing tip to wing tip, black on top with a strikingly silver/white underbody and the other was smaller with a purple underside. We watched the larger one for about an hour and a half - it appeared to be completely happy with our presence just steering away effortlessly if we got in its path.

On Thursday morning we visited Brushwood Islands in order to visit the bird colonies. Tim and Clare from Ghost joined us on what was a 'twitcher's dream'. On the first island (that we had visited previously) we again saw Boobys and Red Tailed Tropic Birds, nesting, with large white fluffy chicks as well as large numbers flying. Huge numbers of sooty (sorry not spectacled as mentioned in previous post) Terns, mostly flying - but still protecting their chicks who were on the ground, hiding in amongst the mangrove bushes - massive numbers of these chicks that are blackbird size and very mobile on the ground. In fact the Tern chicks did not seem to be the offspring of the Terns, they just seemed too large - however, the adult Terns were watching after and feeding them. In amongst the maelstrom of aerial activity we also saw Brown Noddys and the beautiful White or Fairy tern.

We stopped at a second island and this was was clearly reserved for Frigate Birds as well as Boobys. The Frigates are huge, majestic flyers, normally seen soaring above the other flocks. Here they had a large number of nests and both male and female were taking it in turns to incubate their single egg. Those chicks that had hatched - white, fluffy and 'football' sized were left unattended - probably not needing incubation due to the heat nor having any predators. The male Frigates are easily identifiable due to their bright crimson inflatable 'neck pouch' - we saw several both flying and on the nest with this incredibly visible 'appendage' inflated. As well as Booby's nesting there were more Terns on this island too - here, however, it was more chaotic - the smaller birds flying about frantically probably due to the presence of the Frigates.

Following the bird watching expedition we went on our final snorkeling session - this time around the edge of the reef in the vicinity of the anchorage. As well as seeing the numerous fish that congregate around the coral and spotting several of the ubiquitous black tip reef sharks - we found the wreck of what we believe was the 'Beyond'. Featured in chapter 17 of Tom Neale's book - it was when the Beyond was wrecked that the crew on board became the 'castaways' (the name of the chapter) and spent several months living with Tom before being rescued by a passing NZ Navy vessel.

We continued our regular beach gatherings at 1730 for sundowners and yesterday evening we all agreed to set off for Niue the next day - leaving at the same time in the morning in case anyone had a problem recovering their anchor from the numerous coral heads and needed help - as several of the boats have scuba gear on board - this is a great example of the benefits of the World Cruising rally and the level of comraderie we have. Just before the light went down Susie and I walked up to where Tom Neale's shack was located for a final look around and to savour the experience.

We are now sailing at 220 degrees towards Niue. Its blowing at about 18 knots, the wind is just abaft the beam and we are making about 7.5 to 8 knots - so not bad! The grib files look good, it might possibly get a bit too breezy - but the light winds and squalls/rainshowers that the boats who left earlier encountered will hopefully have moved away and we will be in Niue by early Monday.

Paul and Susie

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