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.)

First we found a geo-cache (this was the first one of two we found)

Then we went exploring along Nuie's rugged coast

Some climbing around...

...and a little cave exploration (there are a lot of caves on Nuie)

We spent today driving around the island. John and Lisa from Orcinius rented a car and Ann and I with John and Pat from The Rose all drove around the island, “checking it out”. We started at 0630 by going to the local Farmer’s Market. There is not much on this island in the way of fresh food at the regular markets. They only have tinned foods. The local Farmer’s Market has produce that people bring in from their gardens. It’s very small. Ann and I got some bananas, papayas and a few other miscellaneous things, but it’s pretty basic. Truthfully, there were more people than vegetables at this market.

Then we had to wait until after 0800 for someplace where we could get coffee to open. There’s also very few restaurants and coffee shops on this island. In fact, we dove around for hours at lunch time looking for a place to eat. We finally drove back to the wharf area where there was an Indian food place.

Niue is an independent country and aligned with New Zealand. It only has approximately 1600 people residing on the island. It’s not that small, but there are very few people here and equally few places where you can get food-either prepared or in a market.

Tomorrow we’re going to pack picnics and drive up the “other” side of the island that we didn’t see today and find a good spot to just snorkel and have a picnic.

We also signed up for a (hopefully) unique experience this coming Tuesday. We’re going on a whale watching tour. The unique part is that when you find whales you get to jump out and swim with them! Stay tuned on that one.

So, up at 0545 this morning and now it’s 2300 and we’re just back from a “pot luck” on Orcinius. Time for bed. See you later!

Position: 19 degrees, 03 minutes south; 169 degrees, 55 minutes west The weather was not cooperating today. We got up bright and early (okay, so the rocking and rolling of the southern swell woke us up) and started our day. The skies were overcast but we were hoping that it was temporary. We were also hoping that the swell was temporary. To go ashore at Niue you take your dinghy to the wharf and then use a crane to pull it up and out of the water and set it on the concrete wharf. Seems easy enough. Unless there is a 3-4 swell that threatens to wash you into the concrete wall as you attempted to attach the lift.

We opted to wait out the swell and try later in the day. Meanwhile I decided it would be a good day to get laundry done. Bob decided it would be a good day for a good book. Bob was right. I was deluded. I got the laundry done but getting it dried was another thing. I hopefully hung all of the clean clothes out to dry in the wind (since there was no sunshine coming through). Let’s just say that after two squalls our laundry was well rinsed and not very dry. I went out and squeezed everything one more time and tried again. Then the laundry dance started. I sat down with a new book and every time I looked up and spied an incoming squall I jumped and pulled in the laundry. I hung it up all around the inside of Charisma and waited for the squall to pass. Then out it went again. In it came again. At least I got some exercise!

The laundry is now 80% dry and hanging throughout the interior of Charisma.

More importantly, Bob put out the flopper-stopper and we only are rolling in a 45 degree arc versus our neighbors on nearby moorings who look like they are making 90 degree arcs. One boat stopped to admire the brilliance of the flopper-stopper. They think Bob is amazing. I am pretty pleased too.

So we did not go ashore today. Tomorrow Orcinius has rented a van and we are touring the island! The Rose is coming with us – after we both go to Immigration and complete our check in. More details on Niue tomorrow, including landing at the wharf! Wish us luck!

Position: 19 degrees, 03 minutes south; 169 degrees, 55 minutes west

The coastline is so rugged, the only way ashore for our dinghies is on this hoist (Charisma is on a mooring in the background)

Hooking up. If there are any waves at all, this is very tricky-and it's directly exposed to the ocean. Impossible to do when the wind is out of the west.

John showing his special style

Off the hoist and on a trolly and you park your dinghy in the lot

Simple as that

Beveridge Reef (I’ve been spelling it wrong) to Nuie was a little over a 24 hour leg. We left at 1230 on Tuesday and arrived Niue at approximately 1600 on Wednesday. We were helped by a time change that gave us an extra hour.

The trip was a tough one. Squally weather the whole way meant that Charisma was never really balanced for the long haul. That meant that Ann and I were constantly trimming the sails and the wind vane for changes in wind speed and direction over the course of the trip. Charisma didn’t settle down until the last six hours on Wednesday when the wind finally settled into a groove. That means little to no uninterrupted sleep for the last 24 hours. We got here, checked in at customs, made pizza for dinner and now; sleep. Oh yeah, we had a Charisma while watching the rain that’s been forecast start to come in. We got here just in time.

Looks like we’ll be here at least through Monday. There’s lots to do. Snorkeling, hiking, biking, there’s even a tour where they advertise you can swim with the whales. There are a lot of whales here. We’ve heard they even swim right through the moorings. In fact the mooring right behind us is not usable right now because a whale damaged it a couple weeks ago when it got caught in it as it swam by (I don’t know what kind of damage, I just know it’s not useable right now).

OK, time to sleep before I start rambling…

Position: 19 degrees, 40 minutes south; 168 degrees, 25 minutes west

Some squally weather

That’s what I just heard. The boat rolls really hard, you can hear the water above your head gurgle over the side and onto the deck, then the boat rolls the other way and all the water that is inside the scuppers now works its way through the drain on the cockpit coaming and across the cockpit seat. That’s when you hear Ann swear as the river “roars” across her cushion and, well…you get the idea. Tayana River! (And now Ann has a wet rear end!)

As you might surmise, we’re underway again and it’s rough. Seas are about 3 meters and the wind is in the low twenties. We’re flying the jib only and doing our usual 6 knots or so. It’s been squally most of the day. Mostly wind in the low teens but then a big squall sneaks up on you and before you know it it’s raining and the wind is up suddenly to 25 knots. Keeps us busy.

We left Beveredge Reef about 1230. What an amazing experience that was. We were anchored there for three days and other than our friends on Orcinius who came with us, we didn’t see another boat. We don’t know of anyone behind us planning to go either. It’s a little out of the way and not charted, therefore not often visited. But it’s one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen in terms of the stark beauty and the amazingly vivid shades of blue. You have to like blue because that’s all there is other than a tiny bit of coral occasionally visible where the waves break on the reef. Wow, we feel privileged to have been able to go there. It’s not “free” though. There is some anxiety getting in and out. Today there was a three knot current and some whitewater coming out the pass and the pass is not very obvious. At most other atolls there’s some indication of where the pass is since there’s land and you can see a break. Not so at Beveredge Reef. There’s no land, so you have to discern where there are fewer waves breaking and turn in there. A leap of faith at that point-you hope you were right.

Anyway, tomorrow, if the wind keeps up, we’ll be in Niue. We’re looking forward to going ashore after being on the boat for the last five plus days. Scooters! Internet! Maybe we’ll be able to post some pictures. We hope to stay at Niue for a week and just wind down before heading further west to Tonga.

Stay tuned.

Waiting for the wind to die down (sigh)

On the one hand it’s frustrating that we haven’t been able to do any diving because the wind hasn’t come down from the high teens and mid-twenties. On the other hand, we’re getting some boat projects done that have been low on the priority list. We’ve figured out how to use the digital radio functions that allow for automated calling between boats and even more importantly today I finally figured out how to get the SSB to accept Lat/Lon/Time data. OK, sounds geeky, but will be hugely useful. It means when we’re sailing with other boats we know, they can “poll” us on our radio and automatically get our position sent to their boat without us having to tell them anything. Also, it automates the “auto-distress” call. In case, of emergency all we need to do is push the “distress” button on the radio and it will send out a distress call and automatically include our exact Lat/Lon position. I’ve been trying to make this work from time to time for a year and haven’t hit the solution. I’ve felt it was a software issue, but finally today it occurred to me how I could fix it. [For geeks only: I found a way I could “see” the NEMEA sentences in the network box and change them. I found directions on how to access the box, checked and found a GPS position NEMEA sentence was turned “off”. I turned it on, and voila; the Lat/Lon/UTC time appeared on the SSB]. The stupid/frustrating thing was the VHF made by the same manufacturer (Icom) worked fine connecting in exactly the same way. It was just something in the SSB that would only accept a different nav sentence. Oh well-lots of hours wasted, but ultimately success!

Even more important, I beat Ann in Cribbage today pulling even in games won. Go Bob! (From Ann: VERY close win. VERY lucky.)

We’re likely to leave this beautiful place tomorrow. The weather reports are showing that these passing fronts that are throwing so much wind will not abate for the rest of the week, so it doesn’t seem worthwhile to sit here and rock like crazy for a week just to get some snorkeling in. Our current plan is to check the weather reports tonight and unless there’s a really promising window in the next 24 hours, leave tomorrow around 1100 which is high slack water for this atoll. We’re going to try and snorkel around the boat at the very least in the morning since the water is so incredibly clear.

Next stop from here. Niue. Yes, it’s a country so we’re going to have to buy a new courtesy flag. I never anticipated we’d go there so didn’t buy a flag. There are moorings on the west side of the island. As with many of these islands, there really isn’t an anchorage, just coral so mooring is the best option. There’s not even a beach to dinghy into. You have to dinghy to a wharf where you pull your dinghy out of the water with a crane and store it on the dock while you’re ashore. They call Niue “The Rock” if that gives you some hint of the shoreline. Apparently there are a lot of caves on the island that are fun to explore. We’re looking to rent a scooter again and maybe even a car for one day to explore.

We’ll see!

Well, we were hoping that the winds would settle down today so we could dive into these beautiful turquoise waters and see the aquarium that we are sure we are hovering over. Actually tonight as we enjoyed our Charismas in the cockpit we did see a manta ray swim by.

Unfortunately the winds have been blowing 20-25 all day. Early in the day it was also quite lumpy as the waves ricocheted off of the reef and came back at us. It has calmed down quite a bit and we are keeping our fingers crossed that tomorrow will bring much lighter winds.

So how do spend a day like this? I equate it to a rainy day in California. My first reaction is cookies in the oven! Done! Secondly there is nothing like a good book to hunker down with. I am almost done with “Hawaii” by Michener. Good day for reading. Meanwhile Bob has been playing radio/VHF/radar specialist. All day he has had his nose either in a manual or at the electronics panel. He has made some good progress. The radar is now properly calibrated and we can make direct calls to boats via their MMSI number (a unique capability of digital VHF radios such as we have). Given that VHF communications are open to all ears it is kind of fun to think we have a special way to contact our friends without the world following. Of course, those folks who are on constant scanning mode can follow but we’re betting those people are the minority.

It’s a little frustrating to be boat bound in the middle of the Pacific, but then you look outside or sit in the cockpit and watch the clouds float over changing the colors of the water and your frustration lightens. And we look forward to incredible snorkeling soon!

A wet dinghy ride back to Charisma

It feels kind of strange. There’s nothing here, yet we’re snug inside the underwater reef which is taking the brunt of the waves. Not all of them though. We’re about ¼ mile from the breakers in 12 feet over sand (we swung into slightly deeper water). It’s blowing 20-25 knots so even though the ocean swells are getting broken we still have some heavy chop inside the reef.

So, you might ask; “what do you all do on a day like this?” Boat projects, more or less. Ann spent most of the day cooking stuff. She made cookies, tried out a new English muffin recipe (they are mucho yummy), made a cole-slaw to bring to dinner and pancakes for breakfast. I worked on troubleshooting the VHF. We’re finding the range on our new (a year ago) radio is only about 8 miles. It should be more like 20. John on Orcinius had a SWR meter that I borrowed to try and find where the problem was. I found a bad connection in one of the cables that we fixed, but also found the antenna has a problem that is probably up the mast. That’s going to have to wait until we’re in a calmer location to work on. A few projects, lunch, this and that and the next thing you know it’s dinner and time to go to Orcinius for a wonderful quesadilla dinner.

In going to Orcinius, we took our foul weather gear for the dinghy ride over since the waves are so big (for a dinghy). We were soaked, but only on the outside. Coming back at 2200, John and Lisa broke out a couple of lifejackets for us to use since the wind was gusting into the 20’s it was dark and overall the trip was looking kind of sketchy. Just getting into the dinghy was a challenge as their boat was rocking up and down a couple feet slamming the dinghy around. You sort of took a “leap” of faith and hoped you didn’t miss. Then the ride 100 yards over to Charisma in the wind and waves in our little dinghy. Nothing but water coming over the side and into our faces. Once back at Charisma, same problem. Charisma was bounding several feet in the waves and we had to somehow get out of a slippery rubber dinghy that was three feet lower than we were. Fortunately there were no casualties and we’re snug back inside the cabin, listening to the wind howl in the rigging and trying to stand up without falling over.

Cruising’s not all blue skies and warm water. Sometimes you pay for the privilege to be out here.