The BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year is one of three "yachties" stranded in Avatiu harbour.
Tobias Bernhard was forced to stop in Rarotonga on his way to an assignment in the Tuamotu Islands of French Polynesia.
He lost the mast to his boat, the Nexus, in heavy seas and had to dive into a five metre swell to retrieve it before sailing through Cyclone Trina to make dry land.
He arrived on Friday, when he joined American couple Baker and Cindy Hardin in a wind-lashed Avatiu harbour.
The Californian couple have been here for over two weeks. They dropped in for a week on their way to Tonga, and were caught out by the bad weather.
The sailors have spent the last few days assessing the damage to their boats and preparing to sail again when they can.
Both Tobias and the Hardins agreed that the bad weather had been amongst the worst they had ever experienced in a combined 15 years at sea.
Tobias, whose boat is a converted longline tuna vessel, said that he was only planning to stop here to refuel before disaster struck.
He said: "The boat was caught in the edge of the cyclone and early in the morning I had a rigging failure and the mast went over the side of the boat.
"The wind and the seas were not overwhelming, but they were a contributing factor.
"All of a sudden there was a crash and the mast went under the boat. I had to go into the sea to get it.
"I didn't really have time to think, I was just operating on adrenaline. If I had not done anything the rigging could have holed the boat." he said.
The 37-year-old leapt into the Pacific and swam beneath the yacht and tied a rope to the mast before hauling it back onto then boat.
It was only when he later established radio contact with Rarotonga that he realised there was a cyclone in the area.
He was then faced with the choice of toughing it out at sea or sailing for the Cook Islands. He chose to push for dry land through the weather system.
"It was pretty nasty," he said. "The winds were from the south and I had to go straight east, which is probably the worst thing to have to do as the swell is to the side, and I was on my side five or six times."
He eventually made it to Rarotonga about 12 hours later.
American couple Cindy and Baker Hardin have been here for over two weeks.
They called in on their way from Moorea to Tonga, where they intended to spend the cyclone season, but unfortunately the cyclone season came to find them.
Cindy said: "The first week was beautiful. We were going to leave on Tuesday, but it started raining so we thought we would wait... it's been pretty stressful since then."
The couple said their boat had pulled its anchor on Thursday morning and after colliding with another boat in the harbour they lost their outboard motor.
They then anchored in the middle of the harbour, but after they left the boat the wind changed again.
Cindy said: "We were in town and the wind changed again. We just banged on the window of a car and shouted that we had to get back to the harbour pretty damn quickly.
"We couldn't see the boat when we got back, but she had been blown onto the sea wall.
"I just lost it, I was already wigged out from the morning!"
"It was pretty intense, two dramas in the same day is too much really," Baker said.
But the couple were full of praise for the help and support they were given by other sailors at the harbour, including champion junior sailor Jan Sijp. They helped the couple retrieve the Lite'N'Up and moor it safely until the weather passed.
Their boat has now been given a mooring and the outboard motor retrieved and repaired.
"It is our hairiest experience on the boat so far, the boat has been in three hurricanes before but it was nothing compared to this," said Baker.
"The dramas have been one thing, but the people have been great. They have helped us so much. We really want to say thank you to everyone."
Once the couple have repaired the minor damage their yacht sustained they hope to be heading for Tonga by the end of the week.

-Jonathon Harwood, Cook Islands News.
© Cook Islands News Ltd 2001