Niue
Friday, October 7, 2011 –Alofi, Niue
While Mother Nature forced us to leave Palmerston early, she did at least give us some
favorable winds to start our journey to Niue. The first day was amazing as it was sunny with
flat seas and 8-10 knots of breeze out of the north. The second day started off again with
flat seas and 8-10 knots of breeze out of the north, but we had these great little rain showers
that would come over the boat about every hour. It was perfect, hot and sunny for a while
and then a nice pleasant rain shower to cool us off. Unlike most squalls there was very little
change in the wind as they passed overhead. Thank you Mother Nature!
But how quickly she changes her mind... Around 2pm we had just passed through another
pleasant little rain shower and suddenly the wind shifted about 90 degrees to port. It was
still only blowing at 8-10 knots, so we adjusted course and figured that the wind would shift
back after the rain shower cleared. Bill on Solstice was about a mile behind us and upon
seeing our course change he called us on the radio. Just as I was picking up the radio to talk
to him, the wind shifted another 90 degrees to port and start blowing hard. I quickly told him
that we had strong winds and I would call him back after we reefed the sails. For the next
20 minutes we had sustained winds around 30 knots with gusts to 40 knots. Oh well, so much
for our wonderful sailing conditions. After about an hour the wind settled down to 15-18 knots
out of the southeast and stayed there for most of the evening. On the third day the wind
dropped to 10-15 out of the southeast and we arrived in Niue just as the sun was setting.
Geologically speaking, Niue is like no other island we have visited thus far as it is the largest
raised coral island in the world. Imagine a 10 mile long by 10 mile wide slab of coral that is
raised out of the water about 100 feet and surrounded by really deep water. This makes for
an extremely rugged coastline with no real beaches or natural harbors. But what it does have is
an amazing reef system, unmatched underwater visibility, thousands of caves both above and
below the water, and a spectacular rainforest. As with the Cook Islands, Niue is a
self-governing nation in free association with New Zealand. The islanders speak Niuean, which
is similar to Cook Island Maori, and they speak English as their second language.
There is no harbor for cruising boats and the main anchorage area is on the leeward side of
the island (western side in this case). In typical tradewind conditions, the anchorage is very
protected because the island is so large. But similar to Palmerston, you are completely
exposed to the west. Niue has also put in moorings to protect the coral, however the moorings
are placed a good distance from the reef and they are in very good condition. Northeast of the
moorings is a small concrete wharf where you have to use a crane to lift your dingy up and onto
the wharf to gain access to the island.
While we were there we met an Austrian couple, Heinz and Sylvia, who were on a catamaran
named Mambo. They were in Palmerston with us briefly and were the boat that broke loose
from the mooring. The five of us rented a car one day to explore the island. We did an amazing
reef walk, went swimming in several reef pools and cave pools, hiked through a portion of the rainforest, and explored a large chasm on the eastern side of the island. Bill and I went diving
one day with the local dive operator. We got to see lots of sea snakes, dolphins, some sleeping
whitetip reef sharks, a lion fish, and some lobsters. We also explored a few nderwater caves.
I can’t believe that we have been here a week already and the time has just flown by. Niue is
definitely one of my favorite islands. Unfortunately we have decided to leave Niue sooner
than
we want to because a cargo ship arrived today. Niue only gets a cargo ship every couple
of
months and while it is here cruisers have no access to the wharf. So with no access to the
island we are headed to Tonga tomorrow morning. It should be about a 2 day trip so we will
update you when we get there….