Astra Blog: Palmerston Island to Niue 17.09.08 – 19.09.08

At 1310 both Astra and Zulu slipped their moorings at the same moment and bore away for Niue.  Both crews frantically rushed to get their largest spinnakers up and we were off again!  The conditions were absolutely idyllic: bright sunshine and 15-20 knots of wind.  We even had a pod of humpback whales for company!

Eager to make the most of the pleasant weather and restock our freezer, we fished like mad almost the whole way, catching three 3-4ft mahi mahi, a small skipjack tuna and a 20lb yellowfin tuna.  All this meant a lot of hoisting/dropping of the spinnaker, a lot of fish fighting and one hell of a mess on Astra’s aft deck!

We managed to fly the spinnaker for 360 of the 400Nm but due to a complete lack of wind were forced to motor the last bit.  We arrived as usual in the dark and at 2320LT we tied up to the largest mooring in the south pacific.  It was so large that Ash, who normally doesn’t struggle with such things, was nearly dragged over the side with his arms and legs wrapped round it before George and Jeremy could come and secure the monster.