Niue and ENGLISH!!!

Our arrival to Niue was unique, we were utterly amazed at how flat the island appeared. Niue was formerly an atoll, but volcanic activity raised the whole lagoon area a few hundred feet. So the island is a big plateau. It is quite large but many people have taken advantage of the free association with New Zealand to go and live there, thus population is actually declining. It definitely retains the feel of an old South Pacific Island. It is not a huge tourist destination and many of the natural features are protected. Overall it was a beautiful island to visit and hearing English after so many months of French was quite an experience. Niue was devastated by a cyclone in 2004 but the landscape has recovered, the coral is still in the process however. The waters are very clear because rain simply percolates through the limestone of the island without taking runoff sediment. There are tons of sea snakes in the water but they pose no threat really and we saw a number of turtles there. The limestone also has created beautiful caves all around the island. The problem with Niue is protection at harbor. Only Alofi Bay has any moorings for yachts and most other places are too deep to anchor. The whole east side of the island is shear cliff and the west side drops off quickly as well. Our visit was cut short because of weather, westerly winds were predicted. With the swell increasing as well as the wind at our mooring we decided to head out to sea, start sailing for Tonga. Our other option was to head to the east side of the island, hove to, and wait out the weather, but we decided to set sail in the evening. We went right into rain squalls and bad weather. The wind was a steady 40 knots, rain, and confused seas for all of the next day. We hove to twice but then decided to see if we could sail out of the weather, finally by this morning the weather cleared. Everything on the boat is salty and sour so we will have some cleaning when we get to Tonga. The weather was particularly hard to handle on our first 24 hours out to sea, we had no time to get out sea legs back on. Even with our second reef in the main and our jib reefed way down we were still overpowered, burying our rail. With the rail underwater we had some intake problems, our sink overflowed as well as a head. The boat handled well so that was comforting but a third reef point on the main would be useful. Overall it was a good experience to have because it brought to reality our sail home if we are going to undertake it. On a well equipped boat, set up for wet seas possibly with inside steering, the trip would be a fun sail. Either way it could also be cold and miserable. We definitely got a feel for how the boat handles and what sailing becomes in that kind of weather.

Giovanni

Niue Here We Come

We said goodbye to French Polynesia and sailed out from Bora Bora on March 11, bound for Niue. Niue is a small island nation in association with New Zealand. It is supposed to have spectacular diving and snorkeling because all of the groundwater filters through the limestone rock on the island. It is situated west of the Cook Islands, mostly South of Samoa and east of Tonga. Our crossing so far has gone well. We have done consistent 150-mile days. Winds have not been too light or strong, but occasional rainsqualls have stirred things us a bit in the last few days. It is a 1065-mile trip. The sailing has been mostly down wind, varying between off a stern quarter and dead down. We never hoisted our main, but instead put up a second jib. My dad brought back the old jib that came with the boat when he went back to the States in December. Somehow we had forgotten it when we originally left. With two headsails up on spinnaker poles, there's no flapping and banging by the main and sailing during the night is comfortable. In a rainsquall yesterday while I was on the helm we heard a bang and then I see the spinnaker pole flying forward. “All hands on deck!” The sheet to the second jib had snapped, we hadn't attached two sheets because it was our second sail up, so the sail was out of control with wind and rain incoming. We managed to bring her down and put her away as well as securing the pole, which broke free from the mast for an unknown reason. Maybe it just wasn't quite secure to begin with. Now the sail's back up. Two sheets this time. We also got a big hit on our fishing rod but the line snapped, very disappointing. We are still about two days out and we'll probably have to head to nearby the island and wait out the night. It will be strange hearing English spoken again. Our whole trip has been in French Polynesia up until now, so we have become quite accustomed to hearing French. This will be a change. Right now we are still in our planning stages for the end of our trip but we will get the boat back home instead of leaving it somewhere. We can either sail it or ship it. It depends on crew and what we are up to. It is a long sail, but coming in under the Golden Gate is quite appealing.

Giovanni