The island of Niue

We had a lovely few days in Niue, where we picked up a mooring off the wharf along with about ten others. Going ashore was an adventure as one had to hoist the dinghy out with a crane to store it on the wharf. A short walk up the hill brought us to the Main Street which seemed crisp and clean, with low buildings widely spaced along its length offering a variety of services. The most impressive service was from Niue whose little office was open 24/7 as it was also the switchboard for the island's 1,600 inhabitants. Here one could buy wi-fi time, and we were impressed with the ease with which it all worked, unlike French Polynesia.

We walked along to the Niue Yacht Club to pay our mooring fees ($60/3 nights), finding a friendly welcome from Alexi and a charming room full of people reading, doing internet stuff, and enjoying cold beer or wine from the cooler. Dietmar and Emma, who are moored near us on his immaculate Swan 55, were very friendly and later came aboard for drinks which translated into an elegant dinner in our saloon, thanks to chef Mark.

Dietmar, once prompted  is an unstoppable in telling his life story.  Apprenticed as a glassblower to GEC he learned about making SiO2 ovens for processing silicon wafers for semiconductors. Later he had successful years selfing financial instruments and made a fortune.   Then he bought the bankrupt equipment from an old colleague and set up in a farm shed to repair quartz crystal silicon wafer ovens quickly winning business on price and on technical knowledge until he became market leader in manufacture and repair and sold out. He had always planned to sell at 52 and sail round the world, and joined the World ARC.   Unfortunately his wife left him during the trip and he shacked up with Emma who was on a 57' Catamaran with the latest of her rich boating partners.  I suggested that this was part of a Jilly Cooper plot line!

Nearby the Niue Visitor Centre was most helpful, ringing car hire companies and offering to drive us there. Eventually we hired a couple of cars for a day and explored the island. I found the roads very charming, although badly potholed. They were overhung with flowering red hibiscus, palm trees and other lush vegetation, and seemed to sway round the coast line without ever trying to be in a particularly straight line. Tracks led down to the oceans edge periodically, descending the coral cliffs to little inlets. In one we found twenty-one outrigger pirogues on a slipway, all covered with palm fronds. Some were made of glass fibre, but most were hewn from a tree trunk, and were dry, thin and light, with the adze marks still evident inside. The outriggers were mostly thin logs, cross braced with small aluminium tubes to aluminium cross members, and all lashed tightly with thick fishing line. All had broad bladed paddles, shaped to a sharp point, and one had a Y shaped fishing rod.

We met a boy of about 12 years coming out to practice rugby kicks in front of the blue and white church. Mark chatted to him about the game, and it turned out that he is a Lions fan, and could discuss every game they had played and hold forth on the merits of each player, and critique the strategy. His name is Pele Bourne. Wonderful!   We sat near the bell tower of the little church, where an huge old slit drum was rotting, having been replaced by the bell as the means calling the faithful to prayer.

Later we stopped at Sails Bar for sunset drinks, and met two old gents; Stafford ( the owner) and Jim.  Stafford was rather taciturn, but with a dry sense of humour asked us what we thought of the bare-breasted Tahitian girl on the poster by the Gents.  We responded enthusiastically of course, only to be told that she was his first wife, giving us pause for thought.  Then he said that she'd been taken by a shark in the lagoon - Gulp!  However it turned out that he was doing a great job of winding us up.  He then served us two shot glasses of "Whale's Milk" telling us that a Samoan boy would swim down with a pipe to clamp onto a teat so that they could pump out 600 gallons of milk, and later freeze it!
as we got to know him we learned that he is an honorary permanent resident of Kenya, where he goes for  several months every year to work on projects such as improving sanitation and hygiene in villages, dramatically reducing child mortality. Amazing!

Back in town we ate well in Gill's Indian Restaurant.

2nd June 2017

The next day we ferried Dietmar to get diesel in our rental car, and then went to explore and swam in the Matapa Chasm, after a delightful walk along a canyon with a path of crushed coral, surrounded by lush vegetation with a vertical wall of old coral rising vertically in our right.   Down at sea level we ducked under a huge boulder to find clear blue water stretching down a deep rock cleft.  Snorkelling out the water was cold, and as it was a later of fresh water overlaying the salt, it had peculiar optical properties at the interface.   Diving down one entered the warmer layer of sea water.

Then we decided to walk the 30 minutes to Talava Arches. It was well worth it, along a coral trail through forest along the cliff top and then down to pass through great limestone caverns with huge stalactites until we got to the great arch into the sea.  I enjoyed sketching there for a while. there was a Tongan family visiting with their children for the first time since they had left twenty years ago to NZ.

On the way back we stopped at Hio Café for an elegant and delicious late lunch of wahoo, breadfruit crisps and papaya salad and a glass of NZ Sauvignon blanc.

In the village I went to the duty free shop set up in an old shipping container, and bought a dozen bottles of wine (not cheap @NZ$10) and 48 beers (@NZ$10/dozen).  The wine labelled Wine Thieves is unlikely tone very nice.  Dietmar said he'd spent a lot buying really good wines there, but hasn't invited us back aboard to taste any!  We shipped it all back to Tin Tin with the laundry (NZ$60).

That evening we went to Sails Bar again for the Quiz night where Emily and Emma's team won and received a framed photo. Then we dined at a Japanese restaurant with excellent food modified, according to owner Avi, to be acceptable to NZ farmers tastes.  We delivered the car back before returning to Tin Tin for the night.

Then it was a two day sail to Tonga setting off at 08:30 and driving at 16:00. The wind blowing at 50 knots eventually moderated and went from SE to North and then died so that we had to motor a few hours, eventually getting a fresh breeze from the South.

Land sighted 15 miles off was the island of Eua, 311 meters high and only much later did we raise Tonga at just 61 metres high.   We sailed into the Peak Passage and through the Small Boat Channel to find 10 yachts  anchored behind Panga-i-motu island and to our surprise, several large wrecks and  a Yacht Club on stilts!

Anchored in 7 metres of water although we ended up in just 3 metres as it shelved rapidly.   Sat on board sketching happily.   Having crossed the dateline we have lost a day so it's now Sunday 25th June and we have a couple of days to handle formalities and explore before Emily and Julien leave.

Desolate sanctuary at Beveridge Reef

With strong winds gusting 30 knots we arrived at Beveridge reef at 13:00 on Saturday 17th June. Invisible until quarter of a mile away, there was suddenly a line of white surf ahead backed by a vivid slash of aquamarine. At night, unwarned, we would have been wrecked in 5 minutes. As it was I had to gybe in a hurry, and sailed along the line of surf about 100 feet away, until we rounded the northern tip of the reef and entered more sheltered water. We had been given coordinates for an entrance to the lagoon, but it was so rough that I doubted whether we could safely enter. As we motored round the reef just outside the breakers, the sight was dramatic as the strong wind tore the heads off the rollers.

To my surprise I found that the reef was like a short spiral and we curved round into the lagoon through a wide reasonably sheltered channel. Then we motored into the teeth of the gale to an indicated anchorage position just inside the reef, where the water changed from Bombay Sapphire in 12metres to pale aquamarine in 3metres over white sand.

Our anchorage was secure, if a little choppy and buffeted by the endless roar of surf and wind, and we stayed for the night.

Despite the gale we took the dinghy right up to the reef edge to snorkel, and were very glad we did. There was a strong current to fight against, but we were amazed that water was so clear that we could see for hundreds of feet. I saw a reef shark and several new fish, but we soon tired of the battle against the current and went back.

Sadly the vital watermaker has slowed from 90 litres an hour to 30litres. So today Mark is running a full cleaning programme with alkali and acid solutions and we hope to see it restored.

The noise of the surf and the battering of  40 knots of wind are quite exhausting. However it was extraordinary to be able to relax in the vivid blue pool amidst the storm.  The following morning we could see the wreck of a motor boat away to our left, which we had taken for a block of coral last night.

I sat on the transom with my feet in the blue water, sheltered from the wind.  I spotted a little purple bubble float past, but was slow in recognising it as a Portuguese Man O' War, and seconds later another one floated past and stuck to my foot.  The wasp-like sting was OK but shortly afterwards I had a deep pain in my groin as though I had been kicked there and as it rose steadily up I was glad that I hadn't been stung nearer my hearts it felt quite severe.

On 18th June we set sail for Niue, 120 miles directly downwind in this gale, before heading to Tonga. It looks as though this wind will remain unabated for the next week, so it will be a rough ride.   Before we set off we explored up towards the wreck , and then made our exit safely into the calmer seas in the lee of thereof.  However the seas soon built up to be impressive and Julien understandably was anxious about whether we were safe.  But Tin Tin behaved well and "George" steered us along nicely downwind  under genoa alone.  Our top speed for the trip was 15.6 knots surfing down a wave.

We raised Niue on the morning watch and it was impressive to see these hammering the coral cliffs and throwing up great blasts of spray.   Eventually we rounded the second point into Alofi roadstead, which proved very calm with 10 boats at moorings provided by the Niue Yacht Club. I radioed them for advice and was allocated a buoy.   It turned out that a very large yacht nearby had not been asked its size and they had drifted off with the mooring block dangling from the chain. They had driven back onto the ledge, but the mooring buoy was still 5metres below the surface!

Formalities were efficiently arranged at the dock at 14:00.  The dinghy has to be lifted out at the wharf by a crane which adds to the fun!

Aitutaki friendship

Emily, Mi'i and Julien with TinTin in the background. Mi'i made Emily this beautiful hat.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Looking for a reef

We set sail from Aitutaki on 14/6/17 with a wonderful farewell from Mi'i and Richard, who had been so kind to Emily and Julien. They brought us gifts of fruit from their garden in a superb bag woven from palm leaf, and a most elegant hat for Emily in pale green also woven from palm and decorated with lovely red hibiscus flowers. Richard had been in the Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya as well as many other parts of the world, and Mark and I enjoyed our chat with him.

We had refilled the boat's tanks from our diesel cans and were lucky to get help from Aquila who took me to his gas station to refill 260 litres and then delivered me back to the dock. People are so kind!

Now after three windy says of sailing in big 4 metre waves we are approaching Beveridge Reef which has been recommended for a stopover en route to Niue. However it's not an atoll but a semi submerged ring of coral, reputed to have an entrance to a lagoon with great snorkelling. However with the cold wind from the South and vigorous weather and big seas I am reserving judgement till we get there. The challenge has been to time arrival to be in good daylight. Above 7 knots we would arrive on Day 3 or we'd need to go slower at 5 knots and arrive on Day 4. So far it's been a mix of 5 to 10 knots and I think we should be there mid afternoon on Day 3 in 10 hours time.

We are back into our watch regime with Emily and Julien taking one together. The quality of cooking has been amazing. Last night it was too wet to eat in the cockpit so we had the rare pleasure of sitting round the saloon table. It felt very civilised even though the boat was surging along at maximum speed in big waves and it was hard to keep the food on the plate!

in Cook's wake

Now we have set sail from Bora Bora towards the Cook Islands, of which very few offer a safe harbour except Aitutaki where the US military have blasted a narrow channel through the reef which is only 2 metres deep - our keel will have to come up to get in.

I have been reading the Journal of Captain Cook as he made his way to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the sun in 1769. Mostly he notes weather, and navigational issues such as position fixed by the sun and moon and stars. Occasionally a sailor falls overboard and is drowned, but no one gets scurvy due to his insistence that everyone eats the antiscorbutic diet of sauerkraut and where possible fresh vegetables. To get the sailors to eat it he first serves it only to the captains table and then of course everyone wants it. Once in Tahiti his journal becomes much more interesting in his careful description of the people he meets and their customs.

Having read so much about Cook's astronomical observations I got out our two sextants today and Julien and I practiced taking sun sights. However the process of calculating the sight reductions to get our position still requires considerable study and practice.

After three days sailing the wind has come dead ahead, and then died so, much to our frustration, I resorted to the engine in order to keep to arrive at Aitutaki in daylight. After seeing no one for days we were called on the radio by yacht Salty, and spoke to Nic and Donna, who had supped with us a few nights ago. They are not visiting the Cook Islands because the cost of administration is significant, and hence are sailing on awaiting better weather to head west. I have budgeted NZ$500 (£255) just for the formalities of clearing in and clearing out of port authorities.

As I write the wind has backed to the south and the engine is at last silent as the boat heels to a freshening breeze, or maybe as Cook put it - a Genteel breeze.

Talking about Cooks, Julien demonstrated an iron constitution by cooking a delicious lasagne in rough conditions, heeled hard over in a horribly lumpy wave pattern. I still find that I get a bit hot and queasy when cooking.

Blue lagoons

We anchored just inside the pass through the reef at Tahaa, by this little motu.   There was a very happy party going on with a floating thatched hut and I enjoyed sketching this to the sound of infectious laughter across the water.

Bora Bora

The Bora Bora Yacht Club turned out to be an excellent spot to moor our dinghy, dispose of our recycling and general refuse, and above all to connect to fast wi-fi.

As Emily and Julien were going to be off scuba diving we pumped up a second dinghy so that they could be independent. Mark and I had various things to deal with in the yacht club, while it poured with rain, and then after a bite to eat we sped round to the town to find the gendarmerie, where I spent a long time filling in forms to leave the country. With luck they will all be approved tomorrow so that we can leave on Thursday morning for The Cook Islands. However it necessitated scooting back to the yacht club to photograph and email the documents back to Papeete, to a generally unresponsive harbour master. By the time that was over it was nearly 5 pm.

Meanwhile Emily and Julien met Nic and Donna - all thirty somethings- and we ended up having supper together on board Tin Tin, which was great. They are absolutely inspirational adventurers, and for the last seven years have cycled from California through South America, crossed Mongolia alone on horseback for six months, and motorbiked from Malaysia to the UK. Now they are sailing from South America to Australia aboard Salty and are keen on getting their own boat to explore further and even raise a family on board. Extraordinary!

Sailing round Tahaa lagoon

Monday 5th June 2017 To reach Bora Bora we had to go round the island of Taha'a, and luckily we were able to do so inside the lagoon under sail. It was a rare treat in these rather windless days to hoist all sail and heel to the wind and hear the water chuckling under the forefoot. If one imagines a clock, we had entered the lagoon from the outer sea at about 5 o'clock, and had the choice of sailing clockwise or anti-clockwise to reach 7 o'clock. Everyone was keen to go round the long way, and we had just enough time to do so.

On our left the thin strip of inhabited land slid by, with the coast road linking communities. Behind it rose the mountains up to 550 meters, cloaked in various textures of green. The acacia trees give a wonderful layered mantle to the slopes, with elegant white trunks showing bright against dark foliage and dividing into a fan of pale branches under each canopy. Then there are feathery trees that climb the hills giving patches of grey-green vertical texture. Amongst these there are patches of vivid green from a broad leaf tree, that make a vibrant scalloped surface. Along the coast, and occasionally in clusters that venture up the scalloped valleys, rise the palm trees, shiny in the bright sunlight, with yellowish green leaves and highlights of orange at the focus of the fronds where the nuts cluster.

Well marked channel

Our course was well marked by red and green beacons warning of dangerous coral heads, but for much of the time we sailed in inky blue water 100 feet deep. Looking out to the reef where the swell rears up and then curls over in a long tube of collapsing surf, it amazed me that all that energy is dissipated by the coral fringe, and no hint of swell disturbs the lagoon, despite the furious deep roar of the ocean hurling itself into foam. While we sailed Mark zoomed around in the dinghy taking photos.

Bora Bora from Tahaa lagoon

Having navigated safely round to the next pass we dropped anchor for lunch in 3 meters of pale blue water over white coral sand. Across the reef beyond some palm-clad motus, or reef islands, the astonishing shape of Bora Bora rose in a jagged peak to 750 meters, seeming close and huge despite being over twenty miles away.

Julien at the helm through Tahaa lagoon

Knowing that we need to be in harbour whilst still light, we hurried out to sea, and with a fair wind of 16 knots raised the spinnaker and were soon making 6.5 knots in the right direction, rapidly overhauling a large catamaran ahead. We hadn't put the spinnaker up for ages, so Mark took to the dinghy again to get some rare shots of us with the ParaSailor up as we approached Bora Bora.

I felt relaxed enough to enjoy sketching the approaching island, which was a dramatic study in greys and indigo shadows under orange-grey clouds and curtains of rain, with intense evening sunshine breaking through the gloom to light a path on the water.

Approaching Bora Bora 

Just before sunset we motored through the wide pass into the lagoon and picks up a mooring at the Bora Bora Yacht Club. It was my turn to cook, and I rooted through cupboards and lockers seeking inspiration until I ended up making a lightly spiced couscous topped with butter-roasted asparagus and followed by a lemon sponge cake served with fromage blanc and apple purée. The unused tins of spinach, sweet corn and a fig compote that I had extracted remained on the side to puzzle the rest of the crew.

Raiatea and Tahaa islands

Sunday 4th June 2017

We woke to wonderful harmonies from the church wafting over the lagoon as we ate breakfast.  Rather sadly we left Huahiné after breakfast, wishing to stay longer to explore. But we are en route to Bora Bora and a couple of scuba dive appointments for Julian and Emily.

So we set off towards the island of Raiatea and its northern partner Taha'a. I chose to enter the lagoon system in Taha'a, rather than visiting Raiatea and the rather built-up looking town of Uturoa, although reputed to have a great market and some famous bars.

The Tohotaea pass was easily entered between two small wooded islands and we quickly came to anchor in the lee of Motu Mahaea, in pale blue water, rippling with electric green in the sunlight.

Emily and Julian prepared a lovely lunch during which we became aware of a riotous and hilarious party going on near the island. A floating thatched hut on a traditional looking Polynesian barge was the centre of fun, and through binoculars we could see that it was surrounded by groups of people up to their waists in the clear water, the women wearing floral crowns and the men sporting hats woven from green palm leaves. The party went on till sunset, and we were astonished at the constant infectious laughter emanating in great roars and shrieks from the party goers who were all happily drinking away.

The party boat at Motu Mahaea, Taha'a

Later I rowed over and chatted to a man with a water taxi, who told me that renting a floating hut for a party was very reasonable, and that you could get one all day for just $750, asserting that his son often hired one to entertain friends! I don't know of that included food and drink though.

We spent a lazy afternoon snorkelling in the clear cold water coming in through the pass, with hot water ebbing out, where the coral looked very healthy and vast numbers of fish filled the sea like flocks of birds in a blue sky.

Emily paddled Julien across to Motu Mahaea to watch the sunset.

Then the sun set, and peace returned as the moon rose.

Tahiti Farewell - Hello Huahiné

Saturday 3rd June 2017
After a week of dealing with maintenance and repairs we were all glad to put to sea on Friday afternoon. There had been a succession of engineers dealing with generator, engine, refrigeration, electrical systems and sails, plus all our own efforts finding spares and doing much needed maintenance.

Our dock position on a main pier by the Casa Bianca restaurant and bar had given us a constant stream of people passing us and stopping to chat. It also gave us easy access to Happy Hour, at which point the strains of the day could fall away, chatting to other sailors.

On our last night we were joined by Fabien, skipper of an enormous yacht,  Annatta, and its engineer, Toma, together with Etienne, local agent. Toma enquired after "the Hairy Gonad" which puzzled us a little, but Etienne disappeared to his office and came back with a refrigerated coconut and five espresso cups. A couple of wooden plugs protruded like horns from the hairy coconut and, when removed, out poured a delectable liquor with the strength of rum and the aroma of coconut. The rum had been stored in there for two months and was delicious... grateful thanks to Etienne for sharing that delight with us!

During the week Emily and Julien had hired a scooter, and explored Tahiti thoroughly as well as running errands to find essentials in shops all over town. In addition they had a number of scuba dives, and Julien started on the process of getting his PADI diving qualification. I rather wanted to do the same, but there was too much to do on the boat.

Before we left Papeete the security guard had serious words with us, once he discovered that we were sailing to his native island of Huahiné. Apparently there is a sacred site at the southern tip of the island, where underwater tikis exert a powerful mana and we would be in danger if we trespassed. Many boats had disappeared there.

The following morning after a windless night motoring, we gave the sacred site a wide berth, and entered a pass further up. It's a beautiful island and as we anchored in crystal-clear, light-blue water above white sand, the hills impressed us with the richly varied forest cover, made up of so many different textures and shapes of canopy.

Ashore we tied to a dock at the Huahiné Yacht Club, and wandered along the seafront. The music that had been coming across the water emanated from a lustily singing lady, microphone in hand, under an awning, whilst a group of muscle men were pumping iron, and other workout routines in time to the beat. Every so often she would count them down to change position, and the small crowd on plastic chairs and in pickup trucks would applaud.

Our wonderful shirts from Super-U

Huahiné surprised us with its Super-U shop, which opened out inside, Tardis-like, into a vast store stocked with an astonishing array of goods from fishing rods, yoga mats, cat food, frozen foods, and clothes. I found some Tahiti Moorea mugs and a bright floral shirt which, with Emily's approval, I am now wearing. It was election Saturday, so all alcohol sales were banned while the populace decide whether to vote Macron or Marine Le Pen.

Eventually I perched on a dockside bollard to sketch the view of the bay and was soon surrounded by small boys on bicycles, who I organised to select and hand me the right colour pencil as I needed it.

One lad begged the use of my pen and worked up some nice tattoo patterns on his arm, but has to wait till he is 19 to have it done properly.

Not sure about my sketch as I was surrounded by lots of small boys passing me the coloured pencils and advising me.  The canoe was drawn at their request, but it paddled off so fast that I didn't sketch it well.

My sketch from the dock at Huahiné

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