We left Rarotonga Sunday afternoon, having delayed our departure one day because of heavy seas that came in with a low pressure system. Since I did not have to be on the ship when we were given an extra day off, a friend and I went to the other side of the island where we watched huge waves breaking on the reef and spray going up 50 to 100 feet high. It was very impressive and I was glad to not be out at sea in that weather.
The weather was still a bit rough when we left on Sunday. There was a low pressure system that was expected to stay around for 3 or 4 days; we could not delay our departure that long, so despite the rough seas, we set sail. We had a quick two day run to Palmerston Atoll, another island in the Cook Islands group.
As with all the other ports we've arrived at, we came in with stormy weather. The atoll is surrounded by a coral reef which makes it difficult to anchor. We anchored just off the reef and had to keep a close watch on how the ship swung as the wind changed direction the entire time that we were there. I was on anchor watch the first night that we were there and it was on my watch, from 1 am to 2:40 am, that a serious squall came through.
Winds gusting to Force 5 or Force 6, continually shifting directions, had the ship swinging around on her anchor, coming quite close to the reef. The second mate, Greg, who was the officer in charge of the ship called all hands up on deck, told the engineer to start up the engine and had us standing by to possibly heave up the anchor to move the ship. Several radio calls back and forth to the Captain ashore who consulted with the local folk about the likely direction of the storm, and we finally decided to stay put and ride it out where we were.
I was lucky to be on radio watch which means that I was in the chart house, out of the rain, most of the time. Although, when I had to go out on the quarter deck for a minute or two to tell Greg that the Captain was on the radio, I got soaking wet. Foul weather jacket did very little to keep me dry; even those who were wearing their full foul weather gear got soaking wet. So, once again, we bring a bit of Lunenburg's foul weather with us to the port we are visiting.
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