Position: 18 degrees, 26 minutes south; 172 degrees, 38 minutes west

Today was a stunningly beautiful day. All blue with patches of whitecaps. It was hard to take your eyes off the scenery.

We had good conditions. The wind and waves eased a bit and we took out a reef going down to just one, and let the jib all the way out-while still on the pole. We’re basically going straight downwind directly toward the Vava’u Group, Tonga. Tonga. All I ever knew of Tonga was what I saw in National Geographic! Pinch me, we’re going to be there tomorrow. The islands of Tonga are described as some of the most beautiful anywhere in the world. Hmm, after where we’ve been this should be interesting to see. I was just skimming one of the guidebooks that John from Orcinius downloaded and kindly gave a copy to us-and it claims there are something like 90 islands here with only a handful being populated. Sounds like we’re in for some interesting exploring.

We’re basically staying in this area for a month or so until late October when the weather too make the passage to New Zealand opens up. Most boat insurance policies state you have to be out of the cyclone zone in the South Pacific by early November and ours is no different. New Zealand is one of the places out of the cyclone belt and we’ll look to go there from November through April or so and then when the cyclone season is over we can move up North and visit Fiji and maybe Micronesia. We plan to fly home for the holidays in the meantime and then back to NZ to do some land touring before hauling out Charisma for bottom paint and other miscellaneous boatwork.

It’s now evening of our second day and the wind has dropped to 10 knots. The waves are down to about a meter. We’re just making 4 ½ to 5 knots. We have about 70 miles to go, so hope the conditions hold. If they do, we should be in the town of Neafu where you clear into the country, by mid-afternoon.

A final thought: we cross the international dateline somewhere along the way, so we either lose or gain a day, I’m not sure which-and our time zone goes from -11 hours zulu to +13 hours zulu. So-we’ll be thoroughly confused by the time we get in so I’ll just say Happy Birthday Mom (whose birthday is on the 19th). I’ll call when we get in to wish you happy birthday in person, but I’m not sure which day that will be LOL. (Looks like we arrive Tonga on the 19th – Happy Birthday, and then the next day in the United States it is the 19th – Happy Birthday again! But we don’t think you gain an extra year in age!)

Position: 18 degrees, 49 minutes south; 170 degrees, 31 minutes west

Wing and wing heading for Tonga

We left Niue today at 1445. The wind was forecast to be a bit high, but it goes to nothing on Tuesday and it’s a two day trip (250 miles) to Tonga, so today it was. It’s actually turned out so far to be pretty standard. 20 knots wind and 3 meter seas. It should ease tonight into tomorrow down to around 16 knots and 2 meters. Right now we’re DDW flying the jib on the pole, furled about 20% and main on the other side with two reefs. We’re doing about 6-7 knots and rolling a lot in the somewhat confused sea. There’s a clear dominant swell right behind us, but there are also several other wave trains from the left and the right, probably due to the island, although it’s now about 40 miles behind us.

Daylight has turned to darkness, but what was 70% cloud cover today has turned to 100% clear tonight. The Milky Way is shinning directly above us from south to north, cleaving the sky into equal east and west hemispheres. It’s a beautiful night.

We’re headed to the Vava’u Group of islands in the Republic of Tonga. Neither Ann nor I have a clue about what to expect. We have a bunch of electronic guides that we need to read and a Lonely Planet guide, but having read none of the above, we no idea what we’ll find there. All I know right now is how to get to the place where we check into the country. I set a “route” in the GPS, so I know the total miles are 250, and I know once we get “inside” the islands there are a few navigation aids. Few is the keyword here. There are two buoys that mark a narrow pass, two ranges that we pick up to thread the pass-the first being “red over red” and the second, marking a right turn is “white over white”. We then have a single green buoy (you leave green to starboard in this part of the world, exactly the opposite of in the US) that marks the final pass into the anchorage. That’s it on paper anyway, real life we have discovered can be quite different which is why we only enter these areas in the light of day.

OK, time for me to get some sleep. Ann’s got the first watch. 2200 to 0200, then I’m up till sunrise, more or less.

Maybe we’ll catch a fish tomorrow.

Today is an easy day. We’re just sitting on our mooring. Well, sort of. The supply ship came in this morning at 0600. Orcinius, The Rose and we were on the “first three” moorings and the three of us were asked to move off to make room for the ship. It’s about 500 feet long and carries containers so it’s pretty sizable. It was fun having a morning coffee and watching him set an anchor and a stern line to the wharf (a good two hundred meters or more) in order stabilize to offload containers.

We were pretty close and were asked to move to help make room for him to maneuver, so we slipped our moorings and moved about 1/4 mile down the line to the last three moorings and reset. Just as well as the supply ship was very noisy. All the loading and unloading of containers makes quite a racket.

Tomorrow we’re thinking of leaving for Tonga, weather permitting. It’s been “spitting” all day today and if tomorrow looks the same, we’ll probably stay another day for better weather. The only problem (and it’s a judgement call) is that once the “good” weather kicks in, the wind drops. The “judgement:” part is that leaving on Sunday will have substantial wind and big seas-approaching 4 meters-but Monday through Wed then has lower seas and lighter winds. 2.5 meters and 12 knots respectively. We’ll see.

That’s it for today from Nuie.

View from Charisma's cockpit

Several people have asked whether the story about the whale encounter at the mooring at Nuie in true. While I haven’t been able to read the whole story, here’s what we have heard from where it happened.

A whale was cruising through the mooring field and become entangled in one of the moorings (#3, right next to ours). This happened a month or so ago in mid-August. There is actually a part of the bow that was torn from the boat nailed to the wall up in the Nuie Yacht Club.

Seems like the whale just panicked a bit and lashed out to get unstuck. Not surprising but when a creature that big panics, there’s a certain amount of havoc.

There is a juvenille whale in this area and that’s likely the culprit, in fact he may have been the same one that cruised by about 30 yards outside our mooring this evening. A 30 foot, 10 ton teenager testing his capabilities. Hmmm, sounds like me about 30 years ago!

Easy, quiet day after the craziness of yesterday. We checked out for Tonga with customs and immigration since they are closed through the weekend and we are likely to leave on Sunday. Had a really fun night on Orcinius with Sockdolager and The Rose. Pot luck followed by pictures that everyone brought. The evening was highlighted with some beautiful singing and guitar by Karen from Sockdolager. Also a whale swam through just outside the moorings at sunset. Overall, a nice respite from yesterday.

Earlier in the day, I brought the completely chafed through bow-line from “Sunrise” that we fixed yesterday at (ironically) sunset over to them so they would have a souvenir. They were very appreciative as they realized that their boat would not have made it through the night on the other half-chaffed through mooring line. Turns out they are from the Bay Area and as I was leaving they said to “watch Latitude 38-you will be in it”. I guess they are going to send a story. Will be interesting to read their version of the crazy weather day

Ann at The Arches

A wild ride at our mooring (photo courtesy of Sockdologer)

John and Pat from The Rose had their snorkel gear. A little later the waves were breaking over the wharf

Pat diving the wharf. You can just see John two waves out

Due to the threat of adverse weather today, Bob chose to stay aboard Charisma while Lisa and John from Orcinius and John and Pat from the Rose and I went ashore. Getting back to our boats required a much bigger effort than we ever dreamed!

But at the risk of forgetting to tell you about another amazing Niue adventure let me tell you about our return later.

So Bob dropped me ashore and I joined the others as we headed to an EarthCache on Niue. I know, we are hooked. But EarthCaches don’t have treasures like the GeoCaches, just something interesting to see and report back about. We ventured out to a spot on the Northwestern coast of Niue called Talava Arches. We trekked down a nicely laid out path (complete with specific “rest-areas” that the Johns took to heart and rested) to a spot that dropped down into a cavern that looked out to the ocean. Three arches graced the area and stalactites and stalagmites decorated the caverns. It’s truly amazing what the combined forces of wind, waves and salt water can do. Off to the right of the caverns was a sunken caldera that was filled with vegetation and surrounded by coral rocks. You had to be very careful traversing the area because one slip and you could slice up your leg on this coral. As always, stunning, wild and wonderful.

We also stopped by a “bore” on the interior of the island that was a water source. Because the island is made up of volcanic uplifted coral the rain water runs right through it and collects deep under the surface. The bores bring the water to the surface for use. Our trip took us deep into the rain forest and back out to the highland fields. We actually found a corn crop planted in the middle of no-where. We discussed how interesting it would be to try to introduce sustainable farming to this land. Taro and papayas appear to be their only crops. This impacts the island greatly because everything must be brought in by boat or plane. As an example, eggs brought in by plane are $12.50 per dozen. The plane comes every Friday. Eggs brought in by boat are $8.50 per dozen and arrive about once a month. A box of 120 gallon size garbage bags is $90!!! How do they survive here? But I digress. As we ended our day of trekking and a little shopping (yes, I paid $12.50 for eggs but they are needed in ginger cookies!) we arrived back at the wharf prepared to get in our dinghies and get back to our boats. When we checked with Bob to see if he desperately needed anything (we were really done shopping but just in case…) he asked that Orcinius give me a ride back. No problem, we thought.

The weather conditions at the wharf were not great when we left but the winds had shifted to the west and the swell was up to about 5 feet up against the wharf. “No problem”, says John, “let’s launch the dinghy”. Well we gave it a good try but almost dumped John out of the dinghy as a wave came barreling into the wharf as we lowered him. “Up, up, up!”, he hollered! No, we will not launch the dinghy right now.

Meanwhile John and Pat from The Rose have decided that without an engine on their dinghy and with a dog that needs them on their boat they will don their snorkels and fins and swim out to their boat. Are they nuts???? I guess not, because they made it look easy. Pat even offered to swim to our boats and bring us our snorkeling gear. She said it was easier than chasing the whale yesterday. John, Lisa and I passed on her offer assuming that by high tide (about 5:30) the waves would subside a bit. So we wandered off to the yacht club to waste time. The yacht club was filled with cruisers hoping for the waves to subside so they also could get back to their boats. We counted four other dinghies on shore still.

As 5:15 approached we returned to the wharf only to find that the situation had deteriorated. Yuk! Bob, come save us! So we called Bob to see if he thought he could swoop in and rescue us. This is how it happened. First Bob collected life jackets off of The Rose so that Lisa and I would feel safer. Then he aimed for the wharf and looked like the knight in shining dinghy some to our rescue! It took two attempts to throw the life jackets ashore and then the fun began. Here were my instructions. “When I come by thestairs throw yourself in the dinghy. Aim for the bottom, do not be concerned about landing in a sitting position.”

Because I have seen this man in action I had total faith and although I was scared to tears (literally) I was willing to go first. Also because Lisa and I were both trying to work up the nerve and scaring each other. So Bob starts coming in on a swell and maneuvers the dinghy toward the wharf, swoops in, I leap and voila! I am safe in the bottom of the dinghy! Yahoo!!!! Bob delivers me to Orcinius which is the closest boat and goes back for Lisa. It works the same; maneuver, swoop, jump, success! Lisa has also landed in the dinghy and is now at the bow whooping for joy! Bob drops Lisa at Orcinius and goes back for John. Lisa and I watch with bated breath as Bob heads for the wharf, and pulls away without John. Darn. He sets up on the next set of waves and swoops in again and John makes the leap! Yeah! Three for three! Lisa and I celebrate with a shot of tequila!!!

As Bob drops John at Orcinius I jump in, John jumps out. We make it back to Charisma and the swell lifts us up and almost onto the boat! Phew!!

Then the call comes from Sockdolager, “Charisma, the boat just up wind from you has chafed through one of its two mooring lines and they are ashore. Just wanted to let you know.” What now? Not enough excitement yet? John and Bob end up grabbing a new mooring line from Orcinius and replacing the chafed line on this boat. Good thing because his back up line was also chafed half way through! I do not know how John hung on on the bow while the boat hobby horsed into the water burying the bowsprit. Meanwhile Bob was in the dinghy hanging on for dear life as he threaded the new line through the eye-splice on the mooring cable to be reattached to the mooring. Very treacherous. Luckily the rescue was completed just as light was fading and John was returned to Orcinius and Bob returned to Charisma safely! Even the sushi that I picked up for Bob (instead of ice cream – yes, they are both sold at the same place) had made it safely back to Charisma. The rest of my groceries are in the refrigerator at the yacht club until tomorrow when we can safely retrieve them!

So now we are relaxing and letting the adrenaline subside and waiting for the wind to shift directions and the swell to lessen.

(From Bob: How sketchy was this whole maneuver? Those who know me will know by this answer. I wore a life jacket when I got into the dinghy).

Oh yeah! What a cool and fun day.

First we dove again this morning. I went to 80 feet this time and we had a blast. So fun to look up through 80 feet of clear blue water and see Ann on the surface towing the dive flag waving at us. We decided that she was our guardian angel. And she took her job seriously, watching out for all of us. We have some good pictures too. I’m hooked on diving. Lisa loaned me her PADI textbook and I read all the parts that had stuff I didn’t know. Having done some “resort diving”, I’ve had some training and shallow dives, but 80 feet was really fun. We got to look into some crevices and see some crab like things that you don’t see at the surface. Also, we had the sea snakes come join us. They are actually a type of eel, but they look just like a snake. They are very inquisitive too and it’s kind of hard to NOT have them swimming around you. Like sharks, you kind of get used to them.

So that was the morning. We took a break for lunch and some miscellaneous projects and then at 1500 the whale sightseeing boat picked us up (we met at Orcinius and the boat picked us up from there saving us the trip into the wharf and having to haul the dinghies out of the water) and off we went. I think we went about 5 miles down around the point and there we found a whale. He was very shy-the boat skipper said that it looked like a recently weaned adolescent and that sometimes they are curious and sometimes cautious. Ours was cautious. We followed him for a while-he would dive and not come up for 15 minutes, so there was a lot of “looking around” time, but finally the skipper had a feeling for where he’d be and we slid over the side-as Ann put it; “…in the middle of the Pacific Ocean”. Wow, the water was blue! While we were tooling around, I dove down into the blue depths. You could easily get lost in the blue because there’s nothing else. Anyway, it took some strong swimming to catch up with mister whale, but we finally got close enough to see him in his environment. Majestic! He didn’t stick around so it was just a short experience, but what an experience. The most amazing part was the whale song. You would hear it as you were swimming-so you knew you were on the right track. You could even “range” on it by turning your head. There was definitely a directional component to it. But the most amazing part was as we got close the sound went from something you “heard” to something you “felt”. The song became a part of you-it enveloped your entire body and seemed to resonate inside you. Amazing and spiritual. Not something any of us will soon forget.

So, after spending many hours in and under water today, I think we’re going to sleep very, very well tonight and maybe we’ll have whale dreams! I hope so. They are beautiful and majestic animals.

I'm a convert. This is FUN! (actually I've done "resort dives before, so have some familiarity-we're going to certify over the holidays)

We dove to 85 feet

I had a fun day in that I got to go SCUBA diving with Orcinius and The Rose. Turns out Orcinius has an extra BCD/Regulator/Tank and they are XL and fit me like a glove (a special thanks to John and Lisa for helping me and watching after me in the water to keep things safe). Since I’ve had some training in diving over the years, I was fairly well versed in how to operate the BCD in order to descend and level off at the depth I wanted. The important part is the leveling off part. So, for today, I got to 50 feet. I didn’t want to push it, so let that be my max depth, but it was very comfortable and we’re going to dive again tomorrow, so I think I’ll go a little deeper since the bottom where we’re diving is more like 70 feet. Ann flew cover for us by snorkeling on top and towing the diver buoy so people would know we’re under water. She “encountered” a poisonous sea snake. She’s getting pretty blasé about it. Her thought: “it was pretty”.

Oh, did I say we’re diving right off the boats? It’s so beautiful right here in the mooring area. Fish, coral, (poisonous sea snakes) it’s all right here in the middle of the moorings. So, hopefully we’ll do another dive in the morning tomorrow and then in the afternoon we’ve signed up to do a “whale encounter”. Specifically it’s supposed to be swimming/snorkeling with the whales. We’ll see.

It also turned out that John made a deal on the rental car and we now have it until Friday. So, in the afternoon, we had a mission. Actually two missions. One: go back to the geo-cache spot where we left off yesterday at dusk and see if we could find the treasure. At 1600 Lisa called on the VHF. She had emailed the guy who “hid” the cache we were looking for and he responded. He confirmed we were “spot on” in our calculated position based on yesterday’s antics collecting clues all across the island, so we decided to go back with more light and see if we could find it. Yesterday we just ran out of time and light. We were climbing around the cliffs in the dark and finally decided someone was going to get hurt-so we stopped. Today with more light we hiked back down the trail to the spot near the water that the GPS said was “the place” and within five minutes found a little “cave” with a Tupperware container holding the “treasure”. OK, a little short on the treasure part, but we signed our names into the book, added a couple more treasures of our own and took a picture with all of us holding the cache. That’s two down. There are two more in Tonga and “the girls” are determined to add one of their own. They are already talking about putting it inside a sea cave that you have to swim into to find the treasure, so anyone thinking they want to follow our directions-be prepared. These ladies are TOUGH after enduring 7000 plus miles of sailing across the Pacific!

I mentioned two things- the second important thing we did today was to get Ice Cream! It’s becoming an important daily event to hit one of the two ice cream shops on the island -when they are open! They are never open when they say they are going to be, so it’s always an adventure finding the one that’s open. It’s almost as complicated as the geo-cache game. Today, we had to drive to the “other” side of the island for our fix. The one on this side was supposed to be open, but wasn’t.

Oh well, we’re definitely on “Island Time”. You just go with the flow.

The group happy to have found the second geo-cache

Tonight’s blog is written by Ann because as Bob and I discussed it he was far less enthusiastic about the geocache experiences we’ve had over the last two days than I am.

As we said in the last blog there is the opportunity to hunt for geocaches on this island. Actually there are four geocaches hidden somewhere on Niue. The other day we found one! This was my first experience with geocaching and I am hooked! I have always loved a good scavenger hunt and this is just that on steroids! Kind of like the TV series Amazing Race only without the million dollar prize. (sad face)

For the last two days we have been driving all over the island looking for our second geocache with Orcinius (Lisa and John – our most excellent driver) and The Rose (Pat and John). It seems the girls were a little more into it than the guys but when you start climbing down into chasms and across coral spirals it is hard to stay uninvolved. What a great way to see an island that is so unique. Niue is an upraised coral atoll. It is full of rugged coastlines and beautiful reefs waiting to be explored. The island has lots of sea tracks which are trails down to the reefs through the rugged cliffs. Every time we got to a new location via a sea track we all agreed we were so glad we made the effort.

Some of these hikes are 10 minute hikes to the reef, some are as close as the bay in front of the Wash Away Café – the site of the only self-service bar around. Probably the only self-service bar in existence. Yes, you actually go in and make your own drink, record it on the ledger and pay for it later. And, it is only open on Sundays. The view from the café tables is stunning. The waves approach, cresting on the reef and washing up to shore. The snorkeling looked inviting but we were on a mission!

Our next stop took us to Togo Chasm. Lisa likened it to an approach to a Disneyland ride – probably Indiana Jones, but possibly with a touch of The Lord of the Rings thrown in. We hiked in about 20 minutes through uga infested jungles (ugas being the blue coconut crabs we were sure lived in the nooks and crannies of the coral walls we passed by) out to the cliff. The last 300 yards were surreal. We came out of the jungle and crossed through coral spires that really looked like they might be made of limestone. The shapes were incredible – one looked like a dragon about to bite your head off. And when we thought it could not get better we reached the cliff and were granted an incredible view of the crashing waves from a few hundred feet above them. Walt Disney would have been jealous!

The trail continued down through the spires to a very steep ladder with 27 rungs. (The number of rungs was needed to solve the clues for the cache.) The ladder took us to a nice sandy beach situated between two walls that went straight up about 300 feet on each side. In this lovely chasm were very tall coconut palms. We crawled through some caves and over rocks to a place where we could sit and watch the crashing waves from sea level. Very invigorating!

The next few clues were less obvious and led us to a small village on the east side of the island. After climbing into abandoned buildings looking for clues we enlisted the help of a few island teenagers (they thought we were nuts!) and obtained a few very important pieces of information and an actual answer to a clue question! We really should have kidnapped them and ensured ourselves their continued assistance.

Unfortunately dwindling daylight brought us to an abrupt halt. We all agreed we needed to keep the rented van for another day. Which brings us to today. We woke up with renewed spirits and the girls determined that we needed to back-track for two stops. Ouch. But back we went. Thank goodness that the ice cream store that had been taunting us with “the island’s best ice cream” was finally open and on our route to retrace our steps. Today’s hunt also took us to another chasm – Anapale Chasm. This chasm really was straight out of Indiana Jones. Narrow, winding stairs led us deeper into a chasm where the light could hardly reach the fresh water at the bottom. The bravest trekkers in the group- Pat, John and John (Lisa, Bob and I just think they were nuts) actually stepped into the water and swam further into the chasm squealing about the ice cold water all the way. The most important part though, was that we were able to count the number of posts on the stairs – another clue.

So that is how our entire day evaporated before our eyes and we found ourselves close but the cache not found as the last of the sun disappeared from the horizon and darkness settled on the island. We finally called the search off before any of us could get hurt. We had spent at least 45 minutes using the clues and doing the mathematical equations to obtain the last GPS coordinates to find the cache. Unfortunately we never did succeed. But we all agreed it was fabulous way to see the island and appreciate its unique features. We never did get to snorkel in these spots but are looking forward to some easy snorkeling in the next few days. We also think we should create our own geocache somewhere and make it really hard but very interesting!

My day ended with calling home to wish my youngest son, Andy, a happy 25th birthday. When asked about his birthday dinner plans he told his co-workers that his mother was not around to celebrate. In fact, he told them she lived in the ocean; she is a mermaid. So from a mermaid anchored at Niue – good night and sweet dreams!

Ann has become an avid snorkeler (snorkelette?)

What a beautiful spot in which to snorkel

The day started off well when Pat from The Rose paddled over in her dinghy with fresh, sourdough, apricot cinnamon rolls, hot out of the oven. She showed up in a rain squall no less!

The squall delayed our wanting to go ashore, so after she delivered more rolls to Orcinius we all agreed we would stay on the boats “another hour to wait for the rain”. In reality we wanted another pot of coffee to enjoy with the lovely cinnamon rolls.

About 1030 we all rendezvoused ashore and jumped in the car for a planned day of snorkeling. We had packed picnic lunches and planned to hit a couple spots along the coast where we could hike down to the water and swim. The only hitch? A flat tire along the way.

An hour later, the rental company brought a new car for us to use. They figured that would be the easiest way to get us going again since our car didn’t have the right tools for changing the tire. Even if they did, the spare was one of those “little” ones and the roads here are a bit rustic and hard on tires.

While the switch was being made, Ann, Lisa and Pat walked off down the road on a geo-caching expedition. Once we got the new car, we caught up with them. They had zeroed in on an area and were looking intently for the cache. Us “boys” decided we would retire to the conveniently located Coral Gardens Motel and Bar for a cool one. They had a nice little bar out back on the cliff overlooking the Pacific. Beautiful view, nice company, cold beer. After the first beer, the “girls” came back empty handed but they knew they were close and wanted some help. OK, says we, but first another round. After another beer, we all headed across the street and into the jungle. After half an hour of tromping through the jungle and the spider webs, John from The Rose found the cache. Success! Okay, we had help from the cache creator too – Stafford, the owner of the Coral Gardens!

After taking pictures of us with the cache box, adding stuff to the cache and putting it carefully back in its hiding place, we headed on down the road. There are a bunch of dive spots and we found a nice one. Exceptionally clear water, some caves, lots of fish, a nice picnic spot and the poisonous sea snakes the island is famous for. They are beautiful black and white stripped and about three feet long. I found one and followed. They are very poisonous, but their mouth is so small they really can’t sink their teeth into a human, so not as dangerous as they sound. This one wasn’t all the aggressive either, so we just followed it until it swam into a cave.

After a swim and our lunch we were back in the car for some more sightseeing. We found our way down into our first island chasm complete with steep cliffs and caves! Very fun to explore. All-in- all a very nice day. More of the same expected for tomorrow after Ann, John, Lisa and Pat go to church.

Enjoy your weekend!

(By the way. To our families; our cell phones don’t work here and the internet is dog slow, so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us until somewhere in Tonga about 10 days from now.)