June 6th We did not catch the flight for Garry and Rachel no wind ran out of fuel . ran out of water and food. Bobbed around on a mirror sea for days we had to shoot the Giant Tortoise that we picked up in the Galapagos just to survive.
Just kidding.
When I tried to send the last update I could not get an HF SSB email connection to Niue, Manihi or Honolulu. Between this time and when I next tried to send the update then wind arrived. I did not update the blog entry to say the wind has arrived. I am sure you have all heard the expression You should not let truth stand in the way of good story.
Whow! Did the wind arrive! I was talking to some of the other skippers after we arrived at Niue and several agreed that over the last 100 miles to Niue they enjoyed the best sailing conditions of the whole trip so far. No squalls, constant 15-18 Kts, constant direction, no chop on the sea and little swell. For one five hour period we covered forty miles nautical miles which is an that is an average of 8 Kts.
Niue is delightful it wins hands down as the most welcoming, friendly and relaxed place we have visited.
Captain Cook when visiting the island back in the 1700s did not get such a good reception. He came ashore offering nails, and other gifts but was greeted with spears.
For us Customs, Immigration and Heath came down to the dock to meet us so we could fill out the required arrival forms etc. Some of us who were checking out within a couple of days were given a lift in the government vehicle back to their main office to complete the departure forms. So we checked in and out of the country within a couple of hours and where then free to wander the island and leave when we wanted to. I wish other countries would follow this example.
Niue is quite small the road around it is only 65Km long. We considered what we wanted to do in Niue, we could only spend two days there because we had to press on to Tonga to catch a airline flight. Through the world cruising club there existed and opportunity for $30 each to have a 3 hour tour of some of the sea water caves or we could rent a bicycle for twenty dollars each and cycle about. The tourist guide maps are very well done and gave the position of all the places of interest including the sea water caves. The road signs are the same style as in New Zealand, probably made by the same company. We decided that the better deal was to rent a car for $55 that could take all 5 of us and use the high quality tourist maps and be our own guides.
We decided that Garry should be the driver because he was used to driving on the left hand side of the road. When it came time to rent the car, the rental company did not even want to see Garrys drivers license. I said Niue was friendly it gets even better read on.
We had heard that international visitors wanting to drive in Niue still needed to obtain a Niuean drivers license which cost $20. We asked the rental car company if we needed to get one. She said it is up to us and seemed not really concerned that we did not have one so we did not get one.
We picked the car up at 4:00pm so that we could tour some of the sights on the south eastern part of the island before it got dark. We saw some very interesting scenery and coral rock formations. It seemed we were on another plant. We expected R2D2 from Star Wars to come around the corner at any time.
The next morning we set off up the North Western coast to see the many sea water caves that were a Must see while in Niue. We got about 2 miles out of town the came across a Police Road block doing checks on cars. On NO! we do not have Niuean drivers license, this is going to involve a fine for sure.
Garry was asked by the police lady for his drivers license. He handed over his New Zealand license. She asked if he had a Niuean drivers license he replied no.
Oh here comes the crunch.
She said No problem can you stop by the police office on Monday and buy one. I could not believe it no fine. Yee haa. It gets even better.
Garry replies We would be happy to do that but we are leaving tomorrow. The police lady thinks about this then replies, OK then do not worry about it, drive on and enjoy your stay in Niue. Unbelievable! Do you believe me now that Niue is the friendliest place you will ever visit?
We visited several of the sea water caves and swam in the water of the chasms. The sea water is crystal clear with visibility up to 60m because there is no run off from any muddy rivers or streams. Niue is a large hunk of raised coral and is a honey comb structure, any rain is captured by the billions of holes in the coral rock so no rivers or streams are created. The water collects in underground caves and eventually makes its way to sea.
We went swimming in one of the sea chasms which has fresh rain water from the underwater caves running into the sea chasm beneath sea level. The mixing of the fresh and salt water generates a weird effect on your vision. When swimming about with a mask and snorkel all of a sudden my visibility under the water went very strange. I thought I had a problem with my eyes. I surfaced and looked about, my vision was normal. I dived again same effect everything was hazy. I looked up again my vision was normal. This was later explained to be caused by the different mixing of the different layers and different temperatures of fresh and salt water.
We did enjoy our stop at Niue very much. We used the car to get some provisions and left for Tonga the next day.
The sail to Tonga went smoothly. The only problem was the Watt & Sea hydro-generator keep coming out of the water. One of its support brackets was slipping. Using some timber and screws I had on board Garry and I made up a brace to prevent the support bracket from slipping. It looks ugly but works well. I have heard from the manufacturer of the support brackets and have a solution that should allow me to remove our temporary brace.
Tonga is a fantastic sailing ground. More than 150 islands to explore in protected waters. We are approaching there winter and the temperature is lovely. Is it the first time in nearly 7 months that I have put on a night shirt.
Garry and Rachel caught their airline flight but not before Garry caught a couple of really nice fish so the freezer is getting full. We have picked up new crew Jon and Deborah who are friends of my Brother Allan.
The day after tomorrow Andria arrives to join us for cruising around Tonga until the 23rd June. So tomorrow is a busy day, cleaning the boat, skippers briefing, and World cruising club dinner and prize giving.
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