Niue
Wayward Adventure
Fri 14 Aug 2009 00:30
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19:03.132s 169:55.360w
Arrived Niue yesterday just before sunset. We
were pushing to make it before dark because we left a little later than we would
have liked from Palmerston. We wanted to go ashore and say goodbye to our
adoptive family and trade some goods as their supply ship only comes every three
months. As Lauren already said about Palmerston, we had a memorable few
days there and even attended their church service on Sunday and afterwards they
fed us.......again. For people who have a limited supply of goods because
of the remoteness of the island, they sure are extremely generous.
Reluctantly it was time to go as the weather looked like it might change later
in the week. To make it to Niue in the daylight hours we would have
to either slow down(and add another day) or push it alittle, we decided to
push it and yesterday we hauled ass, hitting 10.4 knots a few times.
We made it in and dropped the hook as the sun was setting behind
us. It is ill-advised to make landfall at any of these islands in the dark
as they are not marked by lights. Even with gps boats are wrecked
every year in the South Pacific by overconfident skippers trying to make
landfall in the dark rather than just waiting it out. Anyways, I cleared
customs today and it was quite painless, the procedure at the Warf is different,
as far as parking your dingy goes. When you pull up there is a small crane
with a hook dangling a few feet above the water. You attach the hook to
your dinghy lifting harness and then climb the stairs till you get to the
crane controller and push the button and lift your dinghy out of the water and
up onto the Warf next to all the other dinghies. Never seen that one
before. Definitely fun the first few times but I can see that becoming a
pain after a while. Where we are anchored is a whale refuge and
whales have been surfacing right next to the boat. Last night in the pitch
black I went outside to take a leak and almost shit myself as well when a
whale exhaled not 50 ft away. Sorry, but it's true. We intend on
staying a week or so then on to Tonga. We are disappointed that we could
not go to Bevridge reef but the weather would not allow and we will
survive not going. Take care,
AP
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