_________________Sailing LandFall

Tuesday 9/10/2013 17:30 19 31.745 S 173 50.840 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:19%2031.745S%20173%2050.840W Posting by Barb: It was a two hundred fifty mile sail to Tonga which we did in forty five hours. The winds were great although at the end it was very rolly. When we left Nuie we had made arrangements to stay in touch with SV’s ‘Huck’ and ‘Iolea’ using SSB at 7:00 and 19:00. It was comforting to have that check in and to be in touch with other vessels when visually there is nobody else out here. Rosemary had a rough start and was seasick an hour after leaving. She managed to get through the first day and on the second day she slept for most of the day. By the end of the passage she was feeling better and able to move around the boat with some comfort. On our way to Tonga we crossed the dateline. This means we added 24 hours to our clocks. So basically we are a day older without actually having the luxury of living the moments of the day. We arrived safely and were anchored in Ha’Ano, Tonga by 9:30 Tuesday morning. I have already seen 4 Humpback whales so I am very excited about being here!

Tuesday 9/10/2013 17:30 19 03.204 S 169 55.384 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:19%2003.204S%20169%2055.384W Posting by Barb: We arrived in Niue at 3:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday August 27th. There are no anchorage options in Niue so we simply had to grab a buoy from a West facing mooring field. Customs was a breeze which just required the obligatory paper work all done with a smile and right by the dock, under a shaded picnic table. The dinghy docking was a different story. The dock was a large 100 x 300 foot concrete block and approximately 25 feet high. There was no place to tie the dinghy but what was available was a crude dinghy lift from the water to the dock. So here is the process: 1. Motor up to the concrete wall of the dock and if the wind was from the West then the waves would throw you at the wall. 2. The ladies, Barb, and other passengers get dropped off on the ladder and would have an easy climb up. 3. The captain, Dennis, would have to grab a large hook and attach it to a dinghy bridle and then somehow with a lot of luck jump and land on the small, slippery concrete step landing 4. Barb or some local would then push the ‘up’ button found at the base of a crane. The crane would lift the dinghy up 25 feet plus more so that we could lower the dinghy to an available dinghy cart. 5. Dennis would then push/pull the dinghy cart to an available dinghy parking spot and then push the dinghy off the cart. 6. The large hook would then have to be swung out past the dock and then lowered for the next boat waiting in line. We did get a few Westerly, gusty days so Dennis did take a nose dive into the water. But to be fair all of our male friends ended up in the water at one point or another. Aside from the daunting dinghy docking and the very rolly anchorage, the island was beautiful, the water crystal clear, the people were genuinely friendly, the yacht club was a great place to hang out and the showers were hot! Niue has great hiking trails through lush forests which led into rocky limestone terrains. In some places the rocks protruded quite high and there were plants growing in crevices which gave the appearance that somebody had strategically placed potted plants to decorate the drab gray rock. Most trails ended at an entrance to a cave or to a chasm which included some snorkeling options into underwater caves. We were able to get to the hiking trails with a motorcycle that we rented for 4 days (Dennis has a motorcycle license, not that he needed one as they didn’t ask for any Id’s). One of the things that Dennis and I love to do when we get to a new anchorage is discover and indulge on the island’s fine cuisine. The first night that we arrived we had dinner at Jenna’s buffet. The menu included local food such as coconut crab soup, meat lasagna with no tomato sauce, sashimi, chicken stuffed with papaya, papaya and taro root casserole, corn fritters, spring rolls, soya-ginger beef, poisson cruz and taro. The night ended with local entertainment and then restaurant guests (only the ladies participated) got a chance to go on stage and learn a local dance routine. One of the dining highlights was a Sunday afternoon at the “washaway Café” (it was here that I sighted my one and only humpback whale in Niue). It’s an open café nestled into a little hill facing the sea. They have a lunch menu and a serve yourself bar. Serve yourself means grabbing yourself a beer and writing it in a book which gets tallied at the end when you are ready to pay (I found that trust and honesty was part of the Niue culture and this was evident in most of our dealings with the wonderful local people). We shared a table with a Slovenian couple Anton and Vesna on SV Mala. They were a very interesting couple that has travelled all over the world by ground, air and sea. They gave us a delicious parting gift of a homemade Tuna Pate (the recipe which I will get and share).

We had a great time hanging out with Paul and Kate from SV Iolea and Joe and Heidi from SV Huck (a 43 ft. Shannon which Dennis explored from top to bottom). We also got a chance to re-connect with our good friends Rick and Kyra and that’s always a day of laughter. We will definitely see them all again in New Zealand.

After 10 amazing days in Niue we had to leave as our October 10 deadline date for New Zealand is fast approaching. We leave with three on the boat. Yes, we decided to take a New Zealand girl, Rosemary, to Tonga. She was very keen on getting on a sailboat and learning to sail so we decided we could manage to squeeze her in. I just knew that if she really wanted to sail then Dennis would be the one to teach her. Anyone that knows Dennis will agree with me. So you will probably hear more about Rosemary in future blogs.

On a last note about Niue, the Chief of Police and Dennis are on a first name basis. Our friends in Nuie want to market T-shirts with “Have you been saved by Denny” written on it. But the details of those stories I will leave to Dennis as it is his  moments to share.

Next stop Ha’Ano, Tonga.

no-footer

Monday 8/26/2013 20 00.497 S 167 44.872 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:20%2000.497S%20167%2044.872W posting by Barb: We approached Beveridge Reef at 7 in the morning. The wind was blowing 20 knots out of the north, great wind for sailing but not so great when trying to maneuver through a narrow east – west pass into the lagoon. The sky was grey without any sign of the sun coming out. The reef was not charted on our plotter so we were using a paper chart that we obtained from the Harbor Master in Rarotonga. So the combination of the paper chart, grey sky, rough seas and the fact that no sign of land could be seen, even with the use of binoculars made this a very unnerving navigation through a pass. As we approached the entrance we could finally see the surf and teal water on both sides of the pass. Once through, the lagoon was calmer and that gave us some comfort. We had to navigate to the other side of the lagoon to anchor in a spot as recommended by the paper chart. We could see a mast from miles away so we knew there was another boat there. We dropped anchor a safe distance from the other boat and far enough away to give them the calm and serenity that such an anchorage can provide. It was eerie to be anchored in the middle of the South Pacific with no sign of land only surf breaking all around us. It rained heavily the first day so we just made it a movie, book, reflection kind of day while we listened to the rain beating on our deck. It was the first heavy rainfall that we had experienced since the Marquesa Islands and we were happy as it cleaned our heavily salted deck. On Sunday morning we got up early and did some maintenance to the boat as we waited for the sky to clear. By ten o’clock we were in the dinghy and heading to explore a wreck of a 90 foot trawler. Dennis was in his glee climbing around in knee deep water, sending crabs scurrying, and getting wet from the surf crashing into the boat. I stayed high and dry on the stern of the wreck trying to take pictures of Dennis to capture his fascination of ‘wrecks’. We both wondered if lives were lost when the trawler ran aground on the reef. We were not surprised that such a thing happened considering that all that can be seen all around is surf. From there we dinghied to the other sailboat on the reef, stopping along the way for Dennis to do some snorkeling. After a quick hello to our neighbors, a couple from Germany, we headed back to the pass to do some snorkeling there. The current was strong so snorkeling was a little unsettling and a few times I felt panic as I had to swim hard to get back to the dinghy. Dennis, always being more vigilant, stayed closer to the dinghy. We decided to drift snorkel with the dinghy for a while. I started to notice the fish getting bigger and even saw a grey shark a safe distance below. When I came up for a look Dennis was already in the dinghy and indicated that we had drifted outside of the reef and we were in the open seas. I scrambled into the dinghy and felt the fear creep in knowing that if the dinghy outboard motor failed us we would continue our drift to Tonga as there would be no way of rowing against the current. The 2 minute dinghy ride back into the reef was probably the most scared I have been since we departed 6 months ago. We both agreed that it had been a foolhardy snorkel drift and things could have turned sour very quickly. Monday we pulled up anchor early in the morning and started our 159 mile passage to Nuie. I found the anchorage in Beveridge Reef a spiritual, peaceful and enlightening experience, as we sat in our little boat, anchored in a calm lagoon, only 500 feet from a wreck, completely surrounded by nothing but the roaring surf and the vastness of the ocean. Beveridge reef is a little oasis in the middle of the South Pacific.

Friday 8/23/2013 02:30 20 31.148 S 165 50.820 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:20%2031.148S%20165%2050.820W Posting by Dennis: It has been a very slow passage so far. We left on Monday at about 10 in the morning. We ended up motoring for about sixteen hours. It gave us time to wake water and to top the batteries off really good. The best thing was that we caught two more tuna. So we picked the biggest one and let the other one go. The fish are a lot more fun to catch when you can slow the boat down and not just drag the fish along as the boat is sailing at six knots. So we have been eating a lot of fish again, not that I mind one bit. On Tuesday we sailed most of the day with wind starting just off the starboard bow and it has been slowly clocking around to the Southeast. By the time it is done we will have been on every point of sail. We made less than sixty mile on Tuesday a slow but nice sail. On Wednesday we made a whapping 80 miles and then yesterday we made a respectable hundred and twenty. Now the wind is off the stern and is very light and variable. The roll and banging is not pleasant at all. It makes sleeping pretty hard but we only have a hundred and fifteen more miles to go so we will make it. All in all it has been a very enjoyable sail, pretty relaxing with plenty of time to read while on watch. I even watch a movie early this morning. Well that is all for now.

Sunday 8/18/2013 21 12.286 S 159 47.105 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:21%2012.286S%20159%2047.105W posting by Barb: We arrived in Avatiu Harbour, Rarotonga on early morning Friday August 8th. The winds were blowing hard from the North – East and the harbor was rolly and stirred up. We had help to moor med style to the concrete dock. We were squeezed in between two other mono hulls and it was not an easy feat backing in with the winds blowing 20 knots . The next day the sailing vessel Minnie B left and as they pulled up anchor we realized that they were also pulling up our anchor. We were set adrift and had to tie to our neighboring sailing vessel Dolphin of Leith until we could re-anchor. We set out our second anchor and then Dennis re-anchored the main anchor using the dingy. All of this was done in a small harbor with large swell. Our anchor was pulled a second time when the Dolphin of Leath left but this time we were better prepared for this scenario and also had our second anchor out. So the med style anchorage in Rarotonga is not ideal largely due to the minimal amount of space for sailing vessels but it is a beautiful island and worth the anchorage challenges. Rarotonga is luxuriantly green and the people here are extremely welcoming and friendly. It is great to be in an English speaking country again. There are many NZ tourists walking the dock and all are eager to hear the cruisers stories. We have managed to get invitations from several NZ people to come visit them when we arrive on their island. There are currently 9 boats here including us in this small square basin so it does encourage socializing and we have met some great people. We spent a few days next to a wonderful family of 4, mom, dad and children aged 2 and 4 on the Dolphin of Leath. The boat is a 106 years old 30 foot wooden boat and it was sailed all the way from the UK on the way to New Zealand as well. We rented a scooter for a day and got to see the island in its entirety. We traveled on the main road, side roads and a few dirt roads that threatened to take our muffler a couple of times. No scooter adventure would be complete unless we could get the bike dirty. We completed the cross country hike which included a climb up Te Rua Manga (the Needle) and a return trip from the other side of the island on the cross country bus. We did the hike with our friends Kirsten from SV Silhoutte (heading back to Seattle via Hawaii and Alaska) and Anthony from SV Wild Fox (also heading to New Zealand, solo sailing) and shared many a chuckle. The hike was much easier than the Bora Bora hike and I felt in much better shape this time, maybe because we weren’t trying to keep up with 20 year olds. We have eaten out often and for the most part the food has been very good. But our favorites have been the Boogie Burger which was a double homemade patty served with Ketchup, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, shredded carrot, beet and a fried egg. It was an interesting combination and very good. We also had a fantastic dinner at a small restaurant outside of town, by the airport called Nu Bar and Bistro. My steak dinner was so exceptional that I had to personally thank and compliment the chef. And of course, we have enjoyed the many Happy hours at the bar and on the boats with our friends. Tomorrow we leave here and head to Beveridge Reef, 465 miles away. The winds are supposed to be light so it will probably be a slow sail. It will be interesting to see which anchor we pull up besides our own. Our neighbour SV Wild Fox will be leaving at the same time so we hope that is one less anchor to worry about.

Wednesday 8/7/2013 07:30 19 13.514 S 156 53.302 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:19%2013.514S%20156%2053.3027W Posting by Dennis: We left Maupiti a couple of days ago, planning on going to Maupihaa but the wind was out of the southwest which made the very narrow pass just too risky to do. So we continued toward Rarotonga, which is an additional 425 miles to the southwest. Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook islands and it is were we need to clear customs. The wind has gone from out of the northwest, to the southwest and now from the southeast, so we started out doing a tight beat and have gone around so now we are running with the wind just off are stern. Until now it has been blowing fifteen to twenty knots but now it is only about eight knots which makes for a very slow sail. The day before yesterday just as it was getting dark we caught two Wahu at the same time. We let the smaller one go. My fish cleaning skills are definitely improving. So we have been eating fish ever since. Thursday 8/8/2013 12:30 20 36.691 S 158 45.311 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:20%2036.691S%20158%2045.311W We are still plugging along now at about three knots, which is ok because we would have arrived in the middle of the night now it will be closer to morning. We have been eating some form of fish now for every meal. Barb made some fish chowder yesterday, it is really good and I am looking forward to having it again tonight. She even baked bread yesterday since we were not rolling around too much. If anyone can tell me why our bread always gets so dense please do. It rises and when we punch it down it does not seem to rise the second time. It tastes good but it is not for sandwiches, that’s for sure. All in all it has been a pretty pleasant sail. Not anything very exciting has happened. We have had plenty of time to read and just sit and look out over the endless sea. Friday 8/9/2013 10:00 21 12.286 S 159 47.105 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:21%2012.286S%20159%2047.105W Arrived at Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands early this morning and am in the process of clearing customs.

Sunday 8/04/2013 10:00

16 26.596  S 152 14.476 W http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2026.596S%20152%2014.476W

Posting by Barb:

We had to do another motor from Bora Bora to Mautipi, about 27 miles. It gave us a chance to fill up the water tanks, heat some water, take long showers and wash clothes. It was amazing how wonderful it was to take a hot shower in the cockpit without much thought about how much water I was using. The pass into Maupiti has a poor reputation because in rough conditions it can be hazardous. We came through while it was calm and it still looked daunting to me as the waves crashed on the coral nearby. Two days later another sailing vessel came through the pass with full sails and they ended crashing into one the channel markers. It made two large gashes above and at the water line. It also ended up blowing out their jib sail with the force of the impact. Dennis and I noticed that they were in trouble as soon as they anchored nearby. Dennis dingied over and spent an hour or more helping them get their sail down which seemed to have snagged high on the mast. They will probably be here a couple of weeks fixing the 2 large gashes on the side of their boat. These incidents make us appreciate how far we have come and it makes us realize how quickly things can change. We take nothing for granted. Maupiti is a beautiful, quiet, peaceful island. We got a chance to walk and dingy around the island, walk the beautiful white beaches and snorkel with huge Manta rays. There were only 6 boats anchored here so it was very different from Bora Bora. There are several tourist Pensions here which are quaint and beautiful and much cheaper than Bora Bora. The winds today are calm and we have decided to leave for the last of the French Polynesian islands, Mopelia. The pass into Mopelia is supposed to be one of the trickiest because it is very narrow and the ebbing current can reach 6 knots. It will probably be another 100 mile motor but if we had the winds for sailing it would probably make the pass dangerous.

We hiked to the top of this mountain

Tuesday 7/30/2013 05:00      Posting by Barb:

16 30.112 S     151 45.347 W

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2030.112S%20151%2045.347W

We have been running around the little village of Vaitape stocking up on a few fresh things that we can get. Here we have internet so we have been calling family and trying to catch up on what is happening in the rest of the world. It is amazing just how little all that news has any effect on our lives. On Sunday fourteen of us headed out for a fairly tough hike up to the top of Mt. Otemanu. The trail head started from a paved road across the police and fire station. There was a big sign there warning people not to take the hike without an appropriate guide and to check in with the police. We ignored that. For Barb and I it was a hard hike but then we were the only people in the group that have made the 50+ age group club. It was a very steep trail as you hike up over two thousand feet, with no switch backs. At times you have to use ropes to help pull yourself up and other times you use roots, branches, or whatever you could find to hang on to. The trail meanders its way through the jungle and steep cliffs to the top where we are rewarded with a spectacular 360 view of Bora Bora. The view gives us a new perspective of the island, the channel, the coral and the many many resorts found around the lagoon. After an hour of wandering around the top taking pictures it was time for our descent. Going down was tougher than going up as now we have no choice but to ‘look down’ at the steep trail. We crawled and slid our way down envying the few of us that were barely in their 20’s running down the trail. They don’t have the fear of broken bones yet. The full hike took us about 6 hours and we got back to the boat feeling the well deserved muscle ache. We have exceeded the last day of our 90 day visa to explore French Polynesia. We are now planning our next leg of our travels which will probably take us to the Southern Cook Islands, starting with the island of Rarotonga. It is kind of a sad time as we say goodbye to our good friends Rick and Kyra on SV Nyon. Here we will be parting ways as they head to the Northern Cook Islands and then farther westward.

Sunday 7/28/2013      12:00

16 30.112 S     151 45.347 W

     http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2030.112S%20151%2045.347W

Check out the new pictures in our photo album!!!!

View from Mt Otemanu, Bora Bora

Tuesday 7/23/2013 19:00    Posting by Dennis:

16 30.662 S     151 46.260 W

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We have left the island of Huahine with a very strong wind from the east, blowing around 30 knots. This wind has been blowing ever since Pat has left. It makes doing anything pretty difficult. You can’t go very far in the dingy because you get totally soaked and the snorkeling is not great because of the poor visibility due to the stirred up water. Anyway we left Huahine and sailed in pretty big seas with a very stiff breeze. The seas were a little over fifteen feet but at least they were not as confused as they have been. We were running with a triple reefed main and the yankee totally rolled out. The rum line put us running tight downwind so we were gybing back and forth across it. The speeds we were doing were really great though as we surfed down the face of the waves. After we had been out a couple of hours Barb noticed sea birds circling above our trolling lures. We are a little cautious with the sea birds as we have already had the experience of catching and releasing a sea bird. When she went back to pull on the lines she realized that we had a fish on. She started pulling the line in but this time the fish was really fighting back. It would jump out of the water to try and shake the hook. She was yelling at me to hurry because she thought we could lose it. My job while she plays the fish is to empty the cockpit, get the washdown pump set up, hose down everything so the blood and fish slime does not stick to everything and get the gaff ready. Barb managed to pull the fish close to the boat and as the boat rolled and surfed down waves going seven knots or more, I managed to gaff the fish and heaved it in the cockpit. It was a beautiful 20 lb Dorado flopping all over the boat. It took me over an hour to fillet the fish and clean up the boat. It is tough filleting a fish, bent over with your head between your knees, fish at your feet sliding this way and that while you roll around in the waves. Every once in a while, when a particular large wave rolls the boat, you have to catch yourself so you don’t crash head first into the coaming on the other side of the cockpit. But I managed to get the job done and we had fish to eat for the next few days for breakfast, lunch and dinner (starting with a fine meal of Poisson Cruz). The rest of the sail was pretty uneventful, just fantastic speeds as we rounded the north end of Bora Bora on a beam reach. The island looks so majestic with the mountain rising out of the water in the distance. It is a very impressive sight to say the least.