Maupiti to Tonga with a stop off - 19:02.98S 169:55.59W

Seaflute
Wed 4 Oct 2017 02:02
Maupiti to French Polynesia ….With a stop off.
We left Maupiti on the 31st of July very reluctantly, it would have been
great to stay a few days longer. However, we were governed a little by the
need to get to Tonga in time. We had a passage of thirteen hundred miles to
Tonga and had decided to try and stop somewhere on the way to break the
journey. The only viable option was to stop at one of the tiny Cook Islands.
We chose Palmerston Island which had a very interesting history and we had
received good reports from a number of our rally yachts who made earlier
passage and stopped there. So our course was plotted for Palmerston seven
hundred and thirty miles away.
Palmerston Island is a tiny Motu inside a solid reef with only a few shallow
passes into the lagoon. It is inhabited by the descendants of William
Marsters, a Lancashire sea captain who settled there with three Penryn
Island wives in 1862. He fathered 26 children. He divided the motus and
reefs of Palmerston between the three families and established strict rules
regarding marriage between the families. Today there are about 50
inhabitants on the islands including 23 children, all are descendants from
“Father” Marsters. This must surely make for some interesting studies in
sociology!
The four day passage to Palmerston was notable in that it was Jack’s first
overnight passage and his first experience of “solo” watch keeping. The
weather on passage was mixed with days of strong wind and rolly seas, then
days of no wind ….and rolly seas. The most wearing aspect of life at sea is
a rolly sea, it makes “everything” you do on board doubly difficult. Cooking
becomes a herculean task and loud expletives are regularly heard from the
galley amongst the crashing and banging of pots and crockery as they fly
from whence they were placed. We always try and stock the freezer with some
pre-cooked meals before a long passage and on occasion we were very glad we
had.
After four days at sea we approached Palmerston from the East. Worryingly
the wind had veered dramatically over the previous twenty four hours into
the West. Not only did this make progress difficult, it meant the mooring
buoys on the West of the reef which are normally sheltered would be exposed
to the wind and swell. Because the sea shelves away very steeply just metres
from the reef, anchoring here is not an option. As we rounded the South
Eastern point of the Island, we were encouraged to see two yachts on the
moorings, furthermore one of them was a fellow Oyster, “Sea Avenue”. As we
were about to call up Bob Marsters on VHF to request permission to pick up
one of the moorings, he called us and notified us he had been monitoring our
approach. He directed us to a buoy at the Northern end of the mooring field
which he suggested would be the most sheltered. A few minutes later we
picked up the mooring line attached to the buoy. First impressions were not
good. The line was so encrusted with weed and barnacle’s it was impossible
to gauge its condition. On further inspection, the actual mooring line
itself had two visible joins (knots) in it. I was not happy based on what I
could actually see, so goodness knows what horrors could be lurking below
the surface. We settled back on the mooring line as the wind and tide pushed
us back towards the reef. By the time the slack had all been taken up, I
gauged the distance from Sea Flute’s stern to the reef to be less than fifty
metres. We took respite from the rolly sea for an hour and had a cup of tea
whilst considering our options. Eventually I had to make the very unpopular
decision that we couldn’t stay. Even with a twenty four hour anchor watch in
place, if the mooring gave way, before it would be possible to be alerted to
the fact and the engine started, we would be on the reef! Obviously not a
risk worth taking so we let go the mooring and set a new course to the West.
As though someone had heard the dismay of Sea Flutes crew, after three days
at sea, having made landfall were not even going to step ashore, we were
compensated by a large Humpback whale and her calf rolling and frolicking in
the surf not fifty feet from us. We hovered for some time watching their
antics. The young calf was obviously mimicking the actions of its mother
which was very comical to watch as they rolled around flapping their fins in
the air, as if waving to us.
Whilst heading loosely west, we explored any other options to break the
journey to Tonga. We had heard a good report from some Ozzy sailors about a
submerged reef called Beveredge Reef which had some amazing diving
opportunities. The difficulty we had now was anticipating what the effect of
the now much stronger wind speed and direction would have on this anchorage.
As if by magic, to make this decision easy for us, at that very moment we
received an email from a fellow oyster who unfortunately had to divert there
to repair a steering cable failure. He had reported that unless you had an
emergency as they had, you definitely would not want to be there. I can only
imagine how terrifying it must have been for them manoeuvring through a
narrow pass between dangerous reefs with only the autopilot and no other
means of steerage!
The only option we had left to break the journey was a small island called
Niue. I hadn’t read anything compelling about Niue. The mooring situation
was the same as Palmerston, ie mooring buoys and to cap that, there is no
possibility of a shore landing with your dinghy and the only option is to be
“craned” ashore which you do yourself. The crew were very keen to stop
somewhere if we could and particularly after the disappointment of
Palmerston, we set course for Niue.
The next three days sailing was fairly steady but the heavy swell from the
south continued which made life on board a little wearing. As we neared Niue
the weather became grey and overcast and made it doubly difficult to spot
the island which is only twenty eight metres high at its peak. Niue is
geologically defined as a raised reef. This mean it was at one time a
submerged reef that became raised as a result of recent volcanic activity.
The Island is surrounded by Coral and lava cliffs and on this particularly
grey and actually chilly day, as we closed on the island, I was reminded of
sailing along the Jurassic coastline of Dorset in the UK. The dramatic rock
formations and caves were fascinating to view through binoculars as we
sailed around the island to the sheltered West side towards the mooring
field and the main village of Alofi.
Rounding the North East corner we were suddenly in the lee of the island and
for the first time in six days Sea Flute was progressing smoothly onwards
with no roll! This new found tranquillity was delightfully shattered by
three Humpback whales spouting immediately off our starboard beam. We slowed
as much as we could by easing the sails to stay abreast of these beautiful
creatures as they cruised along the surface parallel to our track. Welcome
to Niue!
Arriving at the mooring field I was very pleased and surprised to find two
free buoys right in front of the commercial dock. As noted in the pilot
guide I called Niue Marine control and much to my dismay was told we
couldn’t take either of these moorings as by sods law, the once a month
supply ship was due at the dock the following morning and would need all the
space available. As a special concession we were allowed to anchor in a
narrow dredged channel in front of the quay for one night as long as we
moved early the following morning. The mood on Sea Flute was sombre as the
realisation dawned we may only have one night at anchor and then have to
continue towards Tonga.
After Tom had dutifully snorkelled over our anchor to ensure we were well
set and had found something other than broken coral to hold Sea Flute in
place, we set off ashore to see what lay in store for us. I had fashioned a
bridle to enable “Hypher” our tender to be attached to the crane, however
without having seen the setup it was my best guess as to its suitability. On
arrival at the dock I was pleased to see the arrangement was very civilised
with an easy ledge for passengers to disembark and the crane hook positioned
for easy attachment. The crane was operated by an electrical controller
which one of the crew operated whilst others steadied the tender up the face
of the dock. Once on top, it was lowered onto a trolley and wheeled away to
a tender parking area…Easy! Maybe not so straightforward in a heavy swell
and a good dinner ashore!
We walked up through the stacks of shipping containers which were awaiting
the incoming supply ship to the customs shed to hopefully meet the customs
and immigration officer. Ten minutes later, Matthew, the happiest
immigration officer on the planet had completed all the formalities for us
and we left his office with a Niue stamp in our passports. First port of
call from here was the Niue Yacht Club. Reputedly the smallest and most
remote yacht club in the world and according to the pilot guide, the
commodore Keith, an ex- pat Kiwi was a font of knowledge on the island and
officially managed the mooring field. On arrival at the “club” we discovered
that Keith was on his annual holiday back in NZ and had been deputised by a
very enthusiastic but totally “unknowledgeable young lady. She had been
thrown into a flat spin panic by the earlier than scheduled arrival of the
supply ship but she was very helpful in letting us know when she thought
some of the other vessels currently on moorings were planning to leave.
Furthermore she called them up for us to confirm this and very soon we had a
plan that would allow us to skip around a few moorings but enabled us to
stay for four or five days which is what we wanted all along.
Before leaving the club, I purchased a life time membership for twenty NZ
Dollars including a club burgee which is now proudly flown from Sea Flutes
rigging.
We had arrived on a Sunday so everything was closed except an Indian
restaurant which was more than fine by me especially when I then discovered
they also had a fridge full of ice cold Kiwi beer. Well the Indian food was
not quite as we know it but tasted delicious all the same. The place was
spotlessly clean and on the wall was a large TV showing BBC World News. How
civilised.
Walking back along the main street towards the dock, we took stock of the
facilities here. Several stores that looked to be well stocked, a good range
of eateries, a bank, a police station and of all things ….a tourist office.
The yacht club had recommended a visit to the tourist office in the morning
and they could furnish us with a whole raft of information about the island
and some maps.
The next morning saw us enjoying eggs benedict with a cappuccino in a very
busy café opposite the tourist office where a very helpful young lady had
given us heaps of good info, booked a rental car and organised dive trips
for us and best of all a whale swimming trip.
Life seems to be very comfortable for the citizens of Niue and I suspect
that’s why everyone we met bar none were incredibly friendly and helpful.
The population of the Island is just over 700 People. The demographic is
very biased towards the older generation as the youngsters leave the Island
to pursue careers in New Zealand. The NZ government have worked very hard to
promote Niue as a holiday destination and on the basis that every available
room on the island was booked until the end of November they have been
fairly successful. This must be tempered by the knowledge that there are
only thirty four rooms available on the whole Island. Niue is financially
supported wholly by New Zealand but is technically a separate country. The
citizens of Niue also have automatic right to NZ citizenship and many of
them have taken advantage of this much to the cost of the population of
Niue.
Over the next few days we took advantage of our hire “bus” to tour the
island. The only road circumnavigates the island with one option to cross
from North to South. Every few miles there are signs to a cave or gorge on
the coast and we had been given guidance from the tourist office as to which
were the most accessible and best to visit. We have visited many caves and
grottos on our trip so far but Niue didn’t disappoint. It seemed each we
visited was more impressive than the last. Any one of them in the UK would
have been a major attraction in its own right. Here we were able to explore
and climb around the caves unfettered. The sea and lagoons surrounding them,
a picture of azure blue and turquoise and ridiculously clear water. Whenever
we got too hot we could dive into the clear pools and cool off.
Because of the ridiculously clear water surrounding Nuie we were very keen
to dive here. We booked with James and Tiggy our friends from Miss Tiggy to
do two dives. One of the dive sights was aptly named snake gulley, I have
never seen Sea snakes before and we were all quite keen to see them,
although Lindy was rather nervous at the prospect. Swimming through tunnels
and gulleys with snakes in every crevice and around every corner was to say
the least, nerve wracking but also fascinating to see these beautiful
creatures who were completely unfazed by our presence, this was just as well
as they are extremely venomous! (We found out later that three drops of
their venom would kill seven men).
The event we were all most looking forward to was the opportunity to swim
with Humpback Whales. There are very few places in the world you are able to
do this and the process is strictly regulated. A limited number of boats are
licensed and trained to offer the opportunity and we had booked a trip with
Buccaneer tours who we had dived with, reputed to be the best on the Island.
We went with some friends Charles and Nicky on Calliope and between us we
made up the full complement of the maximum of seven permitted in each group
of swimmers. We underwent a formal briefing at Buccaneers base which
included a lot of information about the whales themselves but majored on
what you were and weren’t permitted to do. In essence we were not allowed to
pursue the whales in any way but just position ourselves in their vicinity
and hope they will come to us. Buccaneer have spotters on the cliffs of Niue
looking for whales and directing the fast RIBS towards them. Within ten
minutes of leaving the shore we were heading towards a spout we had spotted.
As we got close the whale dived and gave a magnificent view of his huge tail
as he did so. Our guide Jose said he was confident he had just gone to the
bottom and would surface again. He jumped into the water and snorkelled
around the area. He quickly signalled for us to follow suit and there
beneath us was this huge whale lying stationary right under us. He then
slowly swam upwards surfacing just metres away from us and steadily swam
away, completely unfazed by our presence. He then did a deep dive and this
time Jose confirmed he was off elsewhere looking for a mate. To say we were
awestruck by this experience would be an understatement. It’s impossible to
describe the majesty of these beautiful creatures witnessed at such close
quarters.
We then waited for quite a long time without any sightings and were
beginning to think we had had the best of it when a call came in on the
radio and we hurtled off in the RIB once again. We had been directed to a
location just off a rocky headland where the spotter had seen two whales on
numerous occasions during the day. Jose explained this was a popular spot
for the whales to sing and to enable their song to carry along two sides of
the Island. I noted we could see our mooring from this point also. Jose once
again leapt into the water and began to scout around the area. He signalled
to the boat that he could hear whale song which encouraged us greatly. He
stopped abruptly and called to us to enter the water quickly but quietly and
swim towards him. Before I could see the whales I could hear them. I have
never heard whale song in the water before and I can only say it’s the most
magical sound I have ever heard. I quickly spotted a Humpback whale about
twenty metres below me, he was head down with his tail pointing towards the
surface. I knew from the briefing this was the position they adopt to sing.
A larger whale was below him. The singing whale began to slowly gyrate
towards the surface tail first singing all the time. I was transfixed
watching this but soon realised if I didn’t move, he would surface with me
on his tail. I grabbed Lindys hand and we swam to one side and continued to
watch them both ascend gracefully to the surface. We swam alongside them for
as long as we could, even though swimming very slowly for them, it was much
faster than we could manage and they all too soon disappeared out of sight.
Interestingly as they started to move away from us, their song changed in
both tempo and pitch as if it was their way of saying “OK time to go!”
The following morning I was awoken by a now very familiar sound. The whales
were singing and the sound was resonating through the hull of Sea Flute. I
woke Lindy and told her to listen. When she realised I was not alerting her
to a possible intruder, she quickly recognised the sound and beamed from ear
to ear. For Lindy to be happy after being prematurely awoken in the morning
is a very rare occurrence indeed, so this proves what a really special
experience this was!
The time came for us to leave for Tonga and we reluctantly waved goodbye to
Niue. This Island had been an amazing discovery and I am so glad events had
conspired to deliver us there. I will be strongly recommending to the next
rally participants that they make time for a stop in Niue to enjoy the
treasures this Island holds and the fabulous warmth and hospitality of its
people.
We sailed away late in the afternoon for the three hundred mile passage to
the Vava’U Island Group which is part of the Kingdom of Tonga. We had twenty
knots of wind from the south east and the forecast promised us sporting
sailing for the next two days. It didn’t disappoint!
More about the journey to Tonga in the next blog.
Bye for now from Skipper Peds and the Fluters.

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