Early on the morning of the sixth day at sea I stood on the bridge of Aranui 5 and watched an uneven grey shape materialise on the horizon, in the apricot-coloured dawn, beneath a vast bank of purple altocumulus. This was Pitcairn Island, refuge of Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers in that most compelling of true-life maritime dramas, the Mutiny on the Bounty; and for most, if not all of the 216 passengers aboard Aranui 5, the principal focus and attraction of this voyage across French Polynesia and beyond.<\/p>\n
It was 6.20am and we were 30 nautical miles to the northwest of Pitcairn, with the bows of the Aranui rising and falling in a distinct swell. As the island took on a deep-green colour and unfolded into three dimensions of ridges and cliffs, with a shifting hem of foam along its shoreline, I recalled the words of the Aranuis captain, Christophe Dupuy, the day before. In Pitcairn, the challenge is to get you ashore, he had told me.<\/p>\n
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A rare voyage to Pitcairn, the lonely island with a dark history - Telegraph.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Early on the morning of the sixth day at sea I stood on the bridge of Aranui 5 and watched an uneven grey shape materialise on the horizon, in the apricot-coloured dawn, beneath a vast bank of purple altocumulus. This was Pitcairn Island, refuge of Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers in that most compelling of true-life maritime dramas, the Mutiny on the Bounty; and for most, if not all of the 216 passengers aboard Aranui 5, the principal focus and attraction of this voyage across French Polynesia and beyond. Continue reading