Quick Update Saturday 16 August 2014
Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Sat 16 Aug 2014 20:05
Due to the weather conditions we decided yesterday that we would not stop at
Palmerston but go straight to Nuie. The mooring buoys at Palmerston are
only tenable in east or south east winds. If it is blowing from any other
direction your boat is swung round onto the reef! Even no wind is a problem
because the strong currents then take over and your boat is still swung
round accordingly.
Palmerston atoll sounds very interesting though. It was first populated by
William Marsters, a religious Lancashire sea captain, and his three wives
that he brought with him from Penrhyn - another Pacific Island. Presumably
he found a way of reconciling the three wives and his religious beliefs.
Marsters fathered 26 children and the island population (51) are largely
descendants, 4th and 5th generation. The original Marsters house is still
standing and in good repair, being made from the massive beams of
shipwrecks, it will be there for some time yet. No one seems to know what
happened to Marsters' ship, maybe it just sailed off without him.
Most of the mooring buoys are owned by two of his descendants, brothers
Edward and John Masters. Edward is the local policeman. They then look
after you during your stay including picking you up from your boat to go
through the pass in their 'tinnie' rather than taking your own rubber dingy.
We hummed and hahhed and kept hoping the weather would look more favourable
but decided against it. Then immediately started wondering if we were just
being a bit wet and what if things were different by the time we got there?
Yesterday evening Moana Roa called us to say that as they had sailed past
earlier in the day they had heard a conversation on the VHF radio between
another yacht and the Marsters brothers with the yacht was being advised not
to stop because they could not guarantee the security of the boat on the
moorings. So, that confirmed our decision and we rolled out a bit more sail
to crack on towards Nuie. We look like arriving there on Tuesday (local, ie
Wednesday in UK).
We are now in what is called the shear line between two weather systems, the
South Pacific Convergence Zone. This particular nuisance moves around the
South Pacific and is what caused us our horrible sail from Fakarava to
Tahiti. There can be no wind at all, no wind and lots of squalls either
with or without strong winds. Or strong winds. Plus or minus gusts and/or
huge amounts of rain. Unsettled weather in other words. We have had steady
winds of around 12 knots overnight which has been great but surrounded by
squalls which for some reason have not actually hit us. This is a first in
our sailing history because usually any squall in the area will defy the
laws of nature and come straight for us.
According to Dancing Bear and Moana Roa who are about a hundred miles ahead
of us the shear zone is roughly fifty miles across (although it could be
thousands of miles in length) so hopefully we are well on our way through it
now. The sea state is still slight with swells of only 1 - 1 1/2 metres
which is fantastic so whatever squalls come our way we will still be
relatively comfortable.
We have had two fish suppers so far with at least two more to go.
Delicious!