Rapa Island FP
Rapa Island - Landsat Image S-07-25_2000)
Rapa Island - Marplot Map
Rapa (27˚36'S., 144˚20'W.) is an irregular, circular form about 4.5 miles in diameter. There are several deep indentations in the shore; the largest is Baie de Haurei on the E coast.
Winds—Weather.—The prevailing winds from October to April are from the E, but about once in three weeks, during December, January, and February, W winds occur for a short period. From May to the middle of September, W winds with heavy showers prevail, blowing down the valleys into Baie de Haurei; the strongest W winds are felt in July and August. From native reports, typhoons are sometimes experienced. Gales of cyclonic character, though not common, occur at all times of the year. The climate is generally temperate but moist; rains are frequent. The island is often covered with clouds and fog when the weather is clear a few miles out to sea.
Aspect.—Ahurei (Haurei), a village, is situated on the S shore of the bay, 1 mile WSW of Pointe Maomao. The aspect of the island is remarkable; where the steep sides of its high, jagged peaks reach the coast, they become great cliffs falling almost vertically to the sea. The island rises to a height of 650m in its W part. The mountains on the E side of the island are generally either bare or with a growth of stunted trees. On the W side, they are covered with a rich vegetation, and most noticeably with forests of large tree ferns.
The shore is bold and has no off-lying dangers beyond 0.5 mile, except in the approaches to Baie de Haurei, where spits and shoals extend nearly 1 mile seaward. A shoal covered by 30m of water (locally called Maaki Shoal) is located 20 miles ENE of Rapa Island.
Baie de Haurei (27˚37'S., 144˚20'W.) (World Port Index No. 55857), open to the E, is entered between Pointe Tekogoteemu and Pointe Maomao, 0.6 mile SSW. It is protected from the prevailing E winds, and from the heavy sea, by the shoals in the approach. The land surrounding the bay rises rapidly from the shore. The white dome of a weather station is visible on the S side of the bay.
Depths—Limitations.—The entrance is narrow and tortuous, and has a least depth of 5.8m. Three sets of range beacons mark the channel, which is only 90m wide and should not be attempted with any type of cross wind. Shoals, with a least depth of 1.2m, are prevalent along the edge of the channel. Shoal water extends 0.4 mile S of Pointe Tekogoteemu, and 0.5 mile E of Pointe Maomao.
Pilotage.—A pilot is recommended for vessels without local knowledge. The pilot may be requested in advance by radio through Tahiti. Local pilots may be available, but it should be kept in mind that he will have little experience in handling vessels other than local craft. It is strongly recommended that before the channel is attempted, a preliminary reconnaissance be carried out to verify the beacons, and mark the edges of the shoals to be avoided, when altering course from one alignment to the next.
Anchorage.—Anchorage outside the shoals is available, in depths of 11m, with Pointe Maomao bearing 279˚, 1 mile distant.
Within the bay, large vessels anchor when a stone temple with a gray roof situated on the S side of the bay bears 213˚, in depths of 10 to 15m, indifferent holding ground. With E winds, the anchorage inside the bay is protected, but with W winds, violent squalls may blow down from the high land. Vessels over 100m in length should not remain anchored overnight. (SD Pub-126)
Additional information about Rapa from the Aranui website.
The only island in French Polynesia that is below the tropical zone, remote Rapa stands proudly alone at 1,074 km. (666 miles) southeast of Tahiti, 600 km. (373 miles) distant from Raivavae, its closest neighbor. The crescent shaped island has a circumference of 18 miles (30 km.), and there are 12 deeply indented bays along its fjord-like coastline. There is no fringing reef in these cold waters and several sugar-loaf shaped islets lie just offshore. Rapa was first sighted by English Captain George Vancouver in 1791.
Rapa-Iti, as the island is also called, has a strong cultural connection to Rapa-Nui, the Polynesian name for Easter Island. Rapa’s 500 inhabitants are strong survivors, descendants of fierce Polynesian warriors and kings, hardy sailors and pearlshell divers. The entire community owns the land and the simple houses are grouped together in Haurei Village and in the smaller village of Area, which is reached by boat across Haurei Bay. There is a town hall, post office, infirmary, weather station and school. A cooperative store provides the villagers with basic supplies and many of the homes have television and telephone service. Archaeological ruins include the remains of seven famous pa fortresses built on superimposed terraces among volcanic pinnacles. These structures were found nowhere else in Polynesia except New Zealand where the Maori people settled. Mt. Perahau, the highest of six peaks, hides among the scudding clouds at 650 meters (2,145 feet) above the island. Herds of cattle, sheep and wild goats roam the velvety green mountain ridges, and farms of coffee, taro, cabbage, apples, oranges, and peaches supplement a diet of fresh salmon, cold water lobster, mussels, oysters, crabs, bêche de mer, shrimp and sea urchin, with occasional portions of beef and tender goat meat from the cooperative store. The South Seas staple of canned corned beef is scorned in favor of fresh food. Because it is below the tropical zone, the coconut trees on Rapa do not produce many nuts.
The temperature in this southerly clime can drop to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) during the Austral winter of July and August, when violent winds blow across the turbulent open seas, bringing cold temperatures up from the South Pole.
There is no airport on Rapa and supplies are brought in by cargo ship from Tahiti. There are no tourist facilities other than a bed or room in a private home. Even though this lonely island almost at the bottom of the world is difficult to reach, there are still venturesome souls who heed the call to those far away places.
Written by Jan Prince; Photos by Tahiti Tourism Board, Danee Hazama, J. Sekkaki, D. Travers, J. Bourke, L.Pozzoli
Rapa Island - ISS Image ISS004-E-12979
The "ace-in-the-hole" image. This project took about 6-hours to complete, but it was one interesting journey. The cloud covered base image left too many serious gaps in the shoreline of Rapa. I got a cloud free WVS-2 image that showed the eastern half of the island and I was able to digitize a portion of the shoreline. In addition, I located an nautical chart reproduction
I remembered space shuttle imagery, so I checked it out. There was an image that was virtually cloud-free. A few problems. The image was turned the wrong way. And it need to be skewed and stretched. After lots of work in MS Paint, I got the image squared away. I imported the image into Marplot, georegistered it and digitized the shoreline. I then imported both my new shoreline and the PGS shoreline into Global Mapper where, using the PGS map file along with my new shoreline, I was able to fill in the cloud gaps with accurate shorelines. It is truely a slick effort. Rapa Island hasn't had it's shoreline digitized and mapped like mine effort ever.
PS - Why Rapa Island - Back when I was a young man feeling my "oats", I read about Rapa. The article stated that because of the lack of work on the island, the young men were leaving to get employment. Once they had been away for a few years, they didn't return. The article went on to state that there was a serious problem within the existing population - there were 7-women to every man on this island. Furthermore, the majority of these men were old. I knew that I had found paradise. I do not have more current information
Enjoy!
Labels: atoll, Australs, EVS, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia
