Niue Blues & Tongan Beauty
Rich's 2025 World ARC PatBon Blog
Richard Hurd
Wed 11 Jun 2025 06:26
Long time, no chat. How are you all? Hope well😁. Once again, apologies for the radio silence from Hurdy, but a lot has been happening here in my little part of the Pacific paradise. Last time I sent an update, we had just departed Bora Bora in French Polynesia and were heading to the smallest nation in the world, Niue.
Olli’s girlfriend Lucy, who is from New Zealand had passed on several “hot tips” on where to go, dive and what to see on the island, so it was deffo a place I was keen to visit. When we departed from Bora Bora, it was clear that there was some foul weather coming in from the south - strong winds and very steep seas, something we’d rather avoid if at all possible. The ARC fleet had been split into two, due to the small number of mooring buoys in Niue’s tiny harbour and Pat Bon was in the first half of the fleet who departed 3 days before the second half. There was a lot of fleet chatter on the WhatsApp groups about the severity of the weather with all the forecasts predicting different things, but it was clear the second half of the fleet was going to face a rougher time, with the first half probably beating the system. Sadly, even though Pat Bon was in the leading group, her skipper decided to sail direct to Vava’u islands in Tonga and miss out Niue altogether. Most of the yachts in first half of the fleet did stop and had a wonderful time and even though they may not have stayed the full 3 days they were permitted. The second half of the fleet scattered however to avoid the weather; some going to the Cook Islands, some to US Samoa and others just heading way north of the rhumb line to avoid the worst.
We arrived in the main town of Neiafu in the northern archipelago of Vava’u, Tonga after 9 days of sailing and covering about 1,400NM from Bora Bora. As we missed Niue, we were the first boat in, closely followed by Wilhelm and Nicole aboard Bluewater Mooney. We had several cracking days sailing at last, using all the sails aboard Pat Bon, so great fun and we avoided all the serious weather. So too did most of the boats that did stop in Niue! Unfortunately on our first day in Neiafu, the dinghy seat slide out while we were hoisting into the water and tried to guillotine my big toe off! Expletives were uttered, along with a fair bit of spilt burgundy onto the foredeck! Luckily nothing broken, but a nail hanging off and split in half. That sadly meant that diving was out and I spent the next few days hobbling around. There was a great welcome from both the locals, but also the expats and ‘live-aboards’ at anchor in the main harbour. Advice aplenty!
Tonga is a wonderful place and the people are so friendly, something noted by Captain Cook, when he first arrived in 1773, as he named the islands “The Friendly Islands”. However one Tongan chap we were chatting to said that “they were trying to lull him into a false sense of security, so they could fatten him up for the pot😜”! In fact Able Tasman, the Dutch explorer found the main island of Tongatapu about 140 years earlier than Cook.
Scott, one of the live-aboard guys in Neiafu suggested we go to a tiny island called Vaka Eitu to meet David and Hika who organise traditional Tongan BBQ’s under a 300 year old banyan tree on the beach. We sorted a date and I invited the ARC fleet to join us. Sadly not all of the fleet had arrived due to the weather, but we had 13 boats and 52 people for a great hog roast and underground fire pit feast around the fire. Luckily Gio aboard Luminous III organised another BBQ, where most of the other yachts were able to join.
Then it was time for me to fly down to Tongatapu to meet Paula, who was arriving from the UK. A tiny 10 seater aircraft flew south above the amazing blue lagoons of the Ha’apai atolls and then into the administrative capital of Tonga. A bit of confusion on my part, meant Paula had to stay a couple of nights in Nuku’alofa, the capital city, so I decided to fly and join her. We stayed in a lovely guest house overlooking the ocean and next door to the Royal Palace. We hired a car and took a spin around the island and went to see the landing areas for both Captain Cook and also Able Tasman. As it was a Sunday and, Tonga being a deeply religious country, everything is closed for the day, so we weren’t able to stop and visit these sights, but we both enjoyed our travels, including some disused farm tracks that identified as main roads - not a very happy passenger sat next to me!
We returned to Vava’u on Monday and got ourselves sorted aboard Pat Bon. Sadly, over the next couple of days, Peter, the skipper made it clear that he was not keen to stop at the Lau Islands on route to Fiji. He and Val were not interested in the islands and while there was a bit of scheduling confusion from the organisers, he simply wanted to go to the main islands to find a smart marina and restaurants, rather than visit some of the most stunning islands in the world. I had previously told him that one of the main reasons for Paula flying to Tonga was to see these islands, so as a compromise was not forthcoming, I took the decision to leave Pat Bon! After 5 months aboard and having some great adventures, I was not willing to miss out on visiting the islands and their peoples on my personal odyssey across the Pacific.
That could have been the end of things for us, 3 days after Paula arrived, as we didn’t have any alternative rides available and we could have missed a whole lot more if we had to fly between Tonga and Fiji. We booked ourselves into the lovely Tongan Beach Resort for a couple of nights, to take stock of the situation and put out some feelers. Sure enough the wonderful ARC fleet came to the rescue and we were quickly able to secure passage from Fiji to Vanuatu aboard Luminous III and Simon aboard One Distraction said we’d be welcome to join him for the passage to Fiji and to cruise the islands we so desperately wanted to visit. He has Richy and Michelle aboard and ARC Yellow Shirt Lesley has also been travelling with us for this leg.
At the leg prize giving evening, I was very proud when I was awarded the “Spirit of the ARC” flag for my efforts of bringing the fleet together with the two BBQ’s I arranged, here in Tonga and also in Nuku Hiva. A real honour to be able to put my motif on the flag, before it is passed on to the next winner.
So here I am, sat in the cockpit of 1D after just clearing into Lomaloma on the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau islands. This is not a Port of Entry for Fiji (you always have to enter a new country via a Port of Entry), but due to the relationship that the World ARC has with the Fijian authorities, they fly a team to Lomaloma especially to clear the ARC fleet in here. This means we can cruise in these islands without the need to go to one of the main islands to the west and then have to beat back east for 80NM into the prevailing winds to see the Lau Islands.
We had a great sail over from Tonga, which took about 40 hours. It’s always fun getting to know a new yacht and how they sail, especially for me coming aboard 1D, as an Oyster has always been one of my dream yachts…….and she didn’t disappoint! We had the gennaker up which was great fun and we also goose-winged the genoa and main when the wind permitted. She really is a beautifully appointed yacht, a real Rolls Royce of the yacht world. Although Paula and I are in the bunk room, we are both really happy aboard One Distraction and look forward to some great adventures amongst the wonderful Fijian islands these coming weeks. The fleet next come together in Musket Cove on an island near to Nadi on 3rd July, for the start of the leg to Vanuatu and another change for us joining John and his crew aboard Luminous III.
Swallow Cave in Vava’u
A Tongan sunset - just wonderful.
A view of the fleet anchored at David and Hika’s island for the BBQ
The hog roast
Being awarded the “Spirit of the ARC’ prize by Lucy, the acting Governor of Vava’u.
Chilling at the Tongan Beach Resort with a nice G&T
One Distraction taken in Huahine, French Polynesia.