Palmerston Atoll - Is There Any Other Place Like It?

In the mid 1800s, Englishman William Marsters picked up three wives from Penrhyn Atoll (Northern Cook Islands) and settled on Palmerston Atoll (Southern Cook Islands). He built a home and a church out of some huge timbers that he salvaged from a wrecked freighter; while the church was recently demolished and rebuilt for safety reasons, the main house still stands, despite being battered by countless cyclones. William divided each of the atoll's islets into three...equal land for each of his wives. Apparently they didn't have cable TV (they still don't)...old Billy fathered some 26 children. Recognizing the potential for genetic disaster, William made strict rules about marriage...anything goes as long as they aren't your Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Son, or Daughter! Today, the atoll is inhabited by 67 people...all with the surname Marsters! A dream come true if they ever want to put together a family tree.

Yachties are treated like royalty on Palmerston, since the only other visitors are the small cargo ships that bring supplies a couple times per year. Their tradition is to personally greet each arriving vessel and to host them during their stay. We were met by Bob Marsters, William's great great great grandson, who is the head of one of the three families (they still track everything by the original wives), awaiting us in his boat outside the reef at sunrise. After showing us exactly (literally) where to drop our anchor, Bob organized the customs, health and immigration inspectors for our clearance and even brought them to our boat. He and his wife, Tupou, also provided us with transportation ashore (we just needed to call on the VHF radio) and a fish feast for lunch both days we were there...always with a huge smile. They ask for nothing in return, but most cruisers repay the hospitality by giving surplus clothes, food and/or fuel.

The reef at the anchorage was impressive, going from surface-breaking crest to plunging wall in less than 100 m horizontal. Our depth sounder read 12 m, but the bottom disappeared over a vertical wall to 90 m right behind us. After the relative scarcity of marine life in Bora Bora, we were happy to see the thriving undersea world of Palmerston.

We had the anchorage, and the atoll for that matter, to ourselves for the first day, which is always great. After having so much fun the first day, we managed to convince our friends Morgan and Mel (on passing Speedbird) to stop for the day. They were not disappointed...we had an awesome dive and the Marsters brought lunch out to the boat. Morgan and Gary went on a spearfishing mission and brought back a nice red snapper for the road. We would have loved to stay longer, but we received notice that a storm was on its way...with virtually no protection at the anchorage, it was time to get out to sea and get ready.