Vaka'eitu

Well another day, another anchorage, actually another couple of anchorages. We came back to the west side of Vava'u on Thursday and anchored off Taunga Island, between two reefs that come out from shore. It was quite protected at the time as the wind was from the east. We had a nice walk along the shoreline and explored the reef snorkelling. Unfortunately by 17:00 the wind switched around to the SE and we lost all the protection from the island. Although the winds were not that strong, we were uncomfortable between two reefs, especially when we were getting blown onto one of them. So, up anchor and back to Tapana Island, 30 minutes away. Friday morning, one of the local fishermen came by and offered to sell us some fish. We got two nice snapper for TOG 10.00. When he came by, watching him get the boat alongside was a good show. They do not have a lot of extra money to replace parts when they fail so locals seem to be masters of the jury rig. The tiller arm had broken off the outboard at some time and had been replaced with a piece of wood. Obviously, no throttle control, so, the throttle was a piece of rope that was hooked to the linkage inside and out through the side of the motor. You pulled on it to go faster and I guess he must have rigged a spring to pull it back to idle. The reverse lock was also gone. When he first came by, he went a bit too far so he wrestled the motor into reverse and then by leaning on to hold it from kicking up and working the throttle rope (which was pretty sticky, i.e. either on or off) he managed to get back to Tarun. When he got alongside, there was a 6+ foot lemon shark in the cockpit that they had just caught. He said they actually caught two of them but the second was too big and they couldn't land it. We asked him what he was going to do with it. His response, "someone will eat it". Later, after walking into the village for some bread and getting a few boat chores done, one of the local carvers came over in their boat. He carved beautiful mahagony figures and his wife did the finishing work. We bought a small carved turtle and tiki for TOG 40.00. There was probably a good 20 hours of work in the tiki alone and the turtle probably took 5-10 hours. Nice souvenirs. Saturday we decided to hook back up with friends and had a nice downwind sail from Tapana to Vaka'eitu. Toketie, and Scarlett O'Hara were there and it's nice and sheltered. Toketie hosted a get together for all the us and another small boat Mai(Miti)Vavau, sailed by a young couple (Amber and James) from Hawaii. They are on a 26 foot Contessa and loving it! We had a bit of a walk on shore this morning and explored the deserted resort. Apparently 4 years ago it was a going concern, today, the bush is taking it back. We decided to pull up the hook after lunch as the wind was clocking around more into the anchorage and most of the other boats had problems with their anchors wrapping on coral. We were lucky and the anchor came right back up. We had a great beat to windward with just the mizzen and a bit of the genoa out. We were able to point 40 degrees off the wind and hit 4.5-5 knots which was not bad for the old girl. We anchored in Port Maurelle where we will shelter form the winds for a couple of days. The forecast is for 25 knots tomorrow and then maybe easing a bit later.

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The Reef

We decided yesterday to move over to the east side of the Vava'u group and explore the anchorage off Ofu Island. All well and good except you have a bit of a tricky reef transit to get from west to east. We have a copy of a copy of an old cruising guide that described the transit in detail so off we went. The sun was not quite in the right position but we could still see water colour change pretty well. Cathy was on the bow for a awhile then she took the helm and I went up the rat lines to get a better view. You transit by heading due east, then a slight jog SSE , then back NE. There are apparently marks but they turned out to look like fishing buoys. There are actually two reef markers and one red buoy. We got through OK and never saw less than 2.5 meters under the keep but still it was a bit nerve racking. We tried to anchor off the village on Ofu Island but the wind was from the NW and it was completely exposed so we headed about a ¼ mile further north and anchored off the south shore of Mafana Island. We headed out exploring with the dinghy and snorkelled a bit and went right to the eastern reef and watched the swell crashing over the reef and against the barrier islands. It was a fantastic sight. The water was a bit cloudy, I guess from all the sea crashing over, so the snorkelling was not the best. Before heading back to the boat we decided to take a walk through the village on Ofu. We landed in front of the new school and the kids of course came over right away. I pulled out the camera and started taking their pictures and they were thrilled. They LOVE getting their pictures taken. I got them to come over and look at the pictures on the screen of the camera and all you could here were squeals of laughter. It was fun. We walked along the track parallel to the beach from one end to the other. The village is very neat, the track bordered with plants, and the houses very well kept. We headed back to Tarun and got a visit from Bill and Sue from Crazy Diamond who had come in after us. They invited us for sundowners and we of course said yes. Well about 17:30 we headed over, settled in and were having a good talk when the wind decided to swing from the north to the south and blow up to about 15 knots. I took a look at Tarun and we quickly got in the dinghy and headed back to haul up the anchor. We were blowing directly on shore. We got the anchor up before we grounded and headed back towards the village. Although we were exposed to the wind, the anchorage was NOT on a lee shore. No harm, no foul!

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Tapana Island Anchorage

We pulled up the anchor yesterday around 09:45 in Port Maurelle and set sail for the 8 mile trip around to Tapana Island. Downwind then hard to weather is the order of the day for sailing around here but we had a great sail, and its good exercise to tack, tack, tack. The anchorage is very sheltered form the seas but enough wind spills over from the east to keep things relatively cool. We went for a short walk on shore and toured around the "Ark Gallery". The artist, Sheri, is a wonderful American woman who first sailed here with her husband in 1983. They have their boat "Splashes" and the floating gallery. They also have around 10 moorings that they offer to guests for 10 Pa'anga a night, cheaper than Neiafu. We got together with Rush and Six Pack last night. We managed to get 10 of us on the aft deck of Rush. Lies swapped, stories told, a typical cruiser get together. Today is chore day, laundry, then into the local village to find the store to try a get a few little things, and generally to get a good walk on land.

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The Tongan Feast

We never did get to shore on Ovalau. Thursday I spent most of the day pulling the port side of the pushpit off and re-bedding the bolts. After 32 years, they had begun to leak a bit. The worst part was taking the Duogen of the back of the boat. It's designed to be done at dock so it was a bit tricky but between Cathy and I we got it off and back on without dropping anything. Friday we sailed over to another anchorage for lunch, Nuapapa South and decided we would like to go back there and spend some time. We have been surprised that we can sail pretty much everywhere here. The winds have been consistent from the E/SE at 15-20 knots. The islands make the wind shifts a bit fun but that's all part of it. We may have used the motor for 20 minutes so far, just to pull up or drop the anchor (ok other than the time we run it when we are making water!). We sailed out of Nuapapa and after tacking hard to get around a few reefs and islands, we ran up to Port Maurelle on Kapa Island. Port Maurelle is a pretty popular anchorage, mostly because it's close to Neiafu and also convenient to the Tongan Feast at Barnacle Beach. Other cruisers we had talked to told us that the feast was a definite must and well worth the TOG 35.00 each. It's held once a week on Saturday night and hosted by Tali. Saturday came and along with Toketie we walked over to check out the area and the nearby village of Falavai. No roads on Kapa, no vehicles either, just paths all over the island. The village is spread out over a large area and each house has a fenced yard, mostly to keep animals out of the gardens. Water is scarce so gardens are protected really well. It's funny really because Port Maurelle was named after the first European to see Vava'u, the Spaniard Maurelle. He stopped here to get water and according to one of the cruising guides, the spring that provided him with water is still here but has been overgrown and is now a swamp. The village itself was very neat and all the common areas were swept clean. Not much trash in evidence. A subsistence economy based on tourism and fishing keeps the village going. There are 4 churches here which is amazing; the Free Church of Tonga, a Catholic Church, a Mormon Church (complete with basketball court) and a Methodist Church.
We went back to the boat for lunch and lazed around for the afternoon until it was time to head in for the FEAST. There was 21 one of us in total off 5 boats. Tali, our host, had a bit of a panic as he had prepared only for 16 initially. Not to worry, there was plenty of food to go around. Just as we were getting ready to sit down to eat, he brought out the main dish, a whole roast pig, just a small one mind you. The food was fantastic and well worth the money. After dinner a couple of the local girls provided us with a traditional Tongan dance and of course we were all asked to donate a dollar or two to help with their school supplies etc. Most were happy to. The trail back in the dark was fun with a long line of cruisers, all with flashlights stumbling along. No damage and everyone made it back.

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Southern Vava'u

We let go the mooring this morning around 10:00 and headed south for a more remote anchorage and away from the crowds in Neiafu. We sailed off the mooring under headsail alone and sailed with a couple of gybes and a couple of tacks we dropped anchor at Ovaka Island for lunch. The anchorage was pretty exposed so we really only stayed long enough to eat then upped anchor to head around the corner to Ovalau Island, a much more protected place. We anchored in 15 meters of water and there is only one other boat here, a Moorings Charter Catamaran. I went for a swim and snorkel around the boat and in towards the reef. There are lots of fish and nice clear water. We will not bother with the outboard on the dinghy as we are close enough to row to shore tomorrow. For now, we are relaxing and getting used to being away from towns and traffic.

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Long Live the King!

Well, his royal highness King Siaosi (George) Tupou V has arrived in Neiafu. The first major event was supposed to be a large church service Sunday night. Well the children's choirs were there, the princess and queen were there, but the king decided not to show for some reason. There was a bit a feeling of resentment in town today. The military parade is tomorrow and there is a street party tomorrow night that we are going to then we are out of here. There are lots of beautiful anchorages in Vava'u that we want to explore so we plan to spend around two weeks out and about then back here to Neiafu for re-supply, then back out again, should be fun. Our snail mail arrived yesterday with David's (S/V Toketie) oldest son. Always nice to receive bills from Canada. We have to spend some time tomorrow trying to straighten out the mess with Cathy's taxes and BC health care. Apparently, they applied the refund due Cathy to the theoretical debt we owed the BC government when they unilaterally re-instated our medical coverage in June after we cancelled it in January. I suspect that getting the money back from them may be a tad difficult.
I am slowly getting the pictures from Niue on the web sire. Some are there now and the rest will be there in the next day or so. Internet here is somewhat erratic.

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Neiafu Vava'u Kingdom of Tonga

We arrived outside the entrance to the Vava'u group at 04:00 yesterday morning so hove-to for an hour and a half to wait for some daylight. We had a good run the last day with 20 hours at 20 knots. We kept shortening sail to keep the speed down and averaged 5-6 knots. The seas were short period and got up over 3 meters but they were dead astern so they k=just rolled under us. The boat was rolling around pretty good though so sleeping was a tad challenging. We tied up at the fisheries dock and waited for customs and immigration to come down to the boat. Just after 09:00 they showed up and the clearance was done. They asked us to wait an hour for the health inspector to come and if they did not show we could go and anchor. We got a 31 day visa with the option to extend which is good as we will be here for 2 ½ months. It is is odd, but the people we know travelling on Canadian passports received a 4 month visa no problem. I guess they want to keep closer track on New Zealanders!! We decided against anchoring as we were really tired and the anchorage is pretty crowded so we arranged to pick up a mooring with one of the local cafes. They are $15.00 Tongan Pa'anga a night (about $9.00 Canadian). We really did not spend any time ashore yesterday; just enough to go and exchange some money and that was about it. Today is exploring day! The Kings Coronation ceremony is happening here Sunday though Wenesday next week so we will stick around for that.

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Underway from Niue to Neiafu

We had an easy last day on Niue on Saturday. Our Samoan friend showed up on the dock early and after we finally found out his name, Metu (last weekend he told us but we couldn't understand) we came out to the boat. His wife couldn't join him unfortunately. He was a bit surprised at what we had on board and he said if we get to Samoa he would love to out sailing with us. He will be back there in 8-10 years I think. He has a job with Reef Shipping and they send him around to different islands for a periods of years. He has two years left on Niue then on to Rarotonga in the Cooks for 5 years. Before I took him back to shore we went over and visited the big ocean canoe from the Cook Islands. Pretty impressive. Ian, the president of the association was on board and toured us around. Pretty basic accommodation in the hulls, 8 on one side, two in a deck house cabin and 6 in the other hull. No mattresses, just camping mats. Ian was trying to work out how to use a new sail that that got from some Hawaiians in Samoa to maybe help them go a bit more upwind. I gave him a bunch of screws and a couple of shackles to get it working. I hope they have good luck getting home. Apparently they are going to try for Palmerston then Aitutaki then Rarotonga.
We started out for Neiafu in the Vava'u Group of Tonga Sunday morning just after 04:00 and motored for a few hours until we cleared the lee of Niue and got into a bit of wind. The winds have gradually built to 15 knots or so and we are running dead down wind with just the mizzen and headsail poled out. We are comfortably making between 5 and 6 knots with the occasional 7. At this rate we are going to arrive way to early but we will deal with that later as I don't want to slow down just yet. My philosophy is sail while you can; you can always heave-to once you get close to wait for daybreak.

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Born to be Wild

Another week gone in Niue, how the time flies. We've spent the week doing a few different things. Monday night was the Hash House Harriers walk/run/cycle, we walked! After a nice 3-4 km walk we sat around at the police chiefs house (who was providing the venue this week) and had a bit of a sausage sizzle. There are Hash House Harrier groups on many different islands and it generally brings the expats together. The NZ Army engineers are on Niue helping spruce things up for the Pacific Leaders Forum so they came by as well. The army guys of course ran, we walked with most of the others. We got back from the walk and the army guys still weren't back. Eventually they showed up and it turned out they got a bit lost and ran an extra 3-4 km. Fit bunch of lads as they say in NZ but they really need a compass or better map reading skills. Most of Tuesday we spent on the boat, it rained off and on most of the day, but cleared up by late afternoon. We went to shore to meet up with my friend Ian that I worked with in NZ and had a wonderful Niuean dinner at one of the local restaurants. It was great to catch up with him and find out where some of the other people were that I had worked with in Wellington. As always, the best of them all are doing really well and I'm looking forward to catching up with them when we get to NZ later this year. Wednesday we decided to rent a motorcycle for a couple of days and see a few more sights on the island. We were going to rent bicycles but two bikes were $20.00 a day and the motorbike was $25.00 a day. For $5.00 we decided NOT to pedal. They rent 125 cc road bikes that are fine for two people. We had a great time running the roads here. So much so that I've decided to re-interpret the song "Born to be Wild" according to the Niuean experience (translations in brackets);

BORN TO BE WILD (Niue Style)

Born to be Wild
(sail to a small rock in the middle of the South Pacific)
Get your motor running
(push the electric start button on your 125 cc Suzuki that has seen better days)
Get out on the highway
(maximum speed 60 km/hr)
Looking for adventure
(getting up a hill with two people on an under-powered 125 cc bike)
Or whatever comes my way
(in Niue's case, LOTS OF POTHOLES)

Wednesday night we parked the bike and hitchhiked out to one of the local hotels for "Whale Watching Wednesday". Another excuse for people to get out during the week. Again, we had a great time talking to people who have made their lives on the island, Kiwi's, Samoans, and yes, even Niueans!
Thursday was Sausage Sizzle night at the yacht club and just as we were heading in, a double hulled ocean going canoe form the Cook Islands came into the anchorage. They had sailed from Raratonga to Samoa for the Pacific Arts Festival and were trying to get back. Well the winds they weren't cooperating for them so after nine days of trying to beat into the wind, they came to Niue instead. There are sixteen of them on board. We talked to one of the guys on Friday and he said that they had a great time in Samoa. They were the hit of the festival, arriving as they did. Friday was checkout day for us as we have decided to move on to Tonga on Sunday, our last stop before NZ. The days started early though as we decided to get in to the other bakery up buy the airport that is only open Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 06:00 and 08:30. We got there shortly after 07:00 and they were already out of croissants but we did get a couple of nice foccia breads. We made it back for the market in town and tried the local coconut porridge, fantastic, found a few veggies and generally spent a lot more time just talking to people.
The really BIG excitement this week though has been the arrival of the SHIP!! It's really quite an event and it's been great fun watching it all unfold. The ship can not come to the pier so they anchor off and a large stern line is taken to shore. There is a big aluminium barge that holds two containers, and a beat up government launch to move it around. They move two containers at a time off the ship by crane, back to the wharf, lift them off by crane and truck them away. Because of the leaders' conference, there were around 8 more cars brought in, and lots of goods. The cars arrived simply tied down on top of the containers on the ship. The last ship delivered a couple of small buses to move people around and apparently one of the buses didn't make it onto the wharf in the condition it left the ship, kind of hit a few things I guess. No damage this time though. It took two full days to unload and then load the returning containers. Friday night was the crowning highlight of our social calendar this week. The high school put together a cultural concert. Entry by donation and it was incredible. Cathy and I hitchhiked up and got a lift with two young ladies who were performing, one in year 11 and one in year 13. They were a bit nervous but seemed really excited as well. The school population is divided into four "houses" and each house had been assigned a dance/culture tutor. Each house performed 4 different items and they split the night up in 4 groups of 4 performances each, each house performing once in each group. They were amazing. What they may have lacked in professional polish (although not much was missing) they certainly made up for in enthusiasm. The entire student population was involved with support of their families and teachers. It was a great night.
Today we expect a couple of visitors on the boat. The couple who picked us up last Sunday and drove us out to the Washaway Café are coming out to look at our boat this morning. He's Samoan and she's Niuean. When we were talking to them last Sunday while they drove us out to the Washaway, I asked him what brought him to Niue and without even a moments hesitation, his wife spoke up and said simply, 'ME" She works at the NZ high Commission. As it turned out, we saw them again at "Whale Watching Wednesday" and we ran into him again on the docks on Thursday as he worked for Reef Shipping and he was down unloading the ship. He asked us then if he could come out and see the boat as he has never been on a yacht before. It should be fun, he's a pretty big guy!

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The Hair Cutting Ceremony

The big excitement on the island yesterday was the hair cutting and ear piercing ceremony. Legend has it, that when Niue was attacked by Tongans or Samoans, they would kill the young boys and steal the woman and young girls. In order to save some of the young boys lives, they used to have them grow their hair long so they could pass as girls. When the invaders came, they couldn't tell the boys from the girls so some of the young boys managed to escape being killed, to go on later to be warriors and kill the invaders in turn. At their coming of age, they held a ceremony where their long hair was cut off and they became a man. The tradition holds and each year, there are typically 3-5 ceremonies on the island. The event has grown to a grand affair and has become somewhat of a banking system. The family holding the ceremony sends out invitations and the invited guests donate food and bring cash contributions. Each person's contribution is recorded and at the end of the ceremony, all the food that was donated is divided up between the guests, according to how much each originally contributed. The cash of course stays with the host family. According to some of the people we talked to yesterday, the event can raise as much as $60,000.00. The general feeling from the people doing the preparation work that I talked to was that the events are getting somewhat out of hand, with families trying to outdo each other.
Cathy and I had decided to go to the ceremony and we made our way to the pier just after 09:00. One of the guys helping out with the lift for the local fishing boats, offered to give us a lift so of course we said yes. He finished his morning tea (a can of Steinlager) and took us down the road. The family had decorated the house and yard and there was a lot of people helping out getting things set up. We wandered out to the backyard where the men were busy preparing the donated pigs. The preparation consists of first killing the pigs (done long before we arrived) then burning the hair off either in a fire or using a big blowtorch. The hair is then scraped off with sharp knives and the pig is cleaned up. The guts are removed and they cleaned pigs are taken down to the sea and cleaned off in salt water. All in all, 50 pigs were donated, slaughtered and cleaned up. Other food donations included cases of frozen chicken (probably close to one hundred cases all told), fish (whahoo, tuna, opau, swordfish). One of the swordfish donated was a good 4 meters from sword to tail. There were also donations of tarrow root, it looked a field of it. All this food was piled up and displayed so the guests could see how much the family had received. The family provided juice and cakes for all the guests and these were brought around during the opening speeches by the family, the local clergy, etc. Typically long winded, the speeches took the better part of an hour and half. In the meantime, the young boy and his sister were sitting on display waiting for the big event. The ear piercing was first and was a simple affair. She didn't flinch! The hair cutting ceremony took a lot longer. The young lads hair had been combed out and bunches of it were tied off in blue ribbon. In turn, people came up and cut off a piece to take home with them. We didn't stay to the bitter end but saw enough. The host family specifically invited their overseas visitors to get a close up view of the event which was very nice. Like everywhere and everyone we have met here, the welcome has been extraordinary.

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