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