Aitutaki Passage Day Two

The wind has dropped, as predicted, and were loafing along at five knots. We had hoped to make it in tomorrow, but with the drop in speed we won't be in until Friday. Which is fine. It's peaceful out here. The three of us are lazing about and producing meals that use up our fresh foods (rumour is we can't bring fresh fruits, veggies and meat into the Cooks--but how strictly enforced this is I don't know...), reading books, and napping.

I think I slept 20 out of the first 30 hours of this trip--deep crazy-dream-laden sleeps that were difficult to rouse myself from but incredibly luxurious to slip into. I decided I must have been really tired--that late-ish nights with friends and a really long afternoon at the spa somehow depleted me. In retrospect, I think my latest efforts to combat sea-sickness may have been the cause. I switched up my meds and when the new ones weren't working I simply popped the old ones as a chaser. I'd been trying to address some of the side-effects I seem to be getting from Stugeron (headaches and fitful sleep) and while I'm neither headachy nor tired now--I think I'll skip the cocktails in the future...

So, where is Aitutaki, you ask. It's in the Southern Cooks. Which may mean as little to you as it does to me. But looking at the chart I can tell you it's a 100 miles or so north of Rarotonga and 180 miles east of Palmerston Atoll. We had planned to go to Raro--but a weather system is due which could make that exposed harbour uncomfortable. So our current plan is to divert to Aitu. Why there, you ask. Basically, it's about the only option that we feel comfortable with between here and Tonga. Many boats just push through and this is what we'll do if a predicted low peters out, but as it stands it looks like we'll duck into Aitu, let the low roll on over then be back on our way to Tonga with maybe a quick pitstop and look-see at Niue.

What's it like there, you are probably wondering now. Me too. And considering you are probably reading this online and have access to faster internet than I've seen in some time, my guess is with a few clicks you'll know way more than me. Which is fine. The last few times I researched a place and got excited about going there, something happened and we never made it. So I know nothing other than they speak English, use New Zealand dollars and might take my fruit. Beyond that it's pretty much a mystery that will unfold when we get there. Which in its own way is cool.

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