At approximately 1pm on July 11, 2024, a small island appeared on the horizon off the port bow.  After consulting with the First Mate, it was determined to be Maupihaa (or Mopelia) island.   

 

That tiny dark line in the middle is Maupihaa  

Some light research on the Europa’s downloaded Wikipedia (c. 2014) tells us that this is coral atoll of about 2 sq. kms that was originally settled by ancient Polynesians (evidenced by fishhooks and other archeological artifacts.)  In 1985, the population was 10.    

Captain Samuel Wallis sailed here in 1767, claiming it for the Crown and renaming it Lord Howe Island.  (Fun fact: Blue Watch leader James re-claimed it for the Crown on July 11, renaming it Admiral James’ Island just because why not?) 

Maupihaawas the site of an interesting shipwreck during WWI when German swashbuckler and infamous raider, Felix von Luckner landed here in 1917 with his ship the SMS Seeadler.    

Luckner would rig up a long boat with a sail and sail over 3200k to Fiji with a small crew, pretending to all he encountered that they were Dutch crossing the Pacific on a bet, and fully intending to capture a boat to rescue the rest of his crew and prisoners.  Alas, he surrendered to a British lieutenant and spent the rest of the war in a New Zealand prison. 

His prisoners and crew somehow managed to capture a French schooner named the Lutèceand sail it to Easter Island, where they were imprisoned by Chilean authorities. 

Sounds like a treatment for a Tom Hanks movie, doesn’t it?