# 27 Niue

We left Palmerston on Wednesday 1st September. The passage from Palmerston Atoll to Tonga started well with light northerly winds. On the second night dark clouds spread out across the horizon as a front approached. Soon it was upon us with winds of 20 - 25+ knots soon coming from the SE. The weather files had shown 8 - 11 knots for this period. There was another weather front on its way which we would hit on Saturday. We decided to divert to the island of Niue and hope to shelter in the only anchorage at Alofi. We (Freezing Rain and us) pushed ahead hard to reach Alofi by Saturday morning arriving just as the weather changed with torrential rain and high winds. We were happy to tie up to a mooring. You cannot anchor due to the coral chasms which jamb your anchor.


Our friends on Narid and The Road decided to continue on to Vavau, Tonga, thinking that we were being over cautious. In the evening we spoke with them on the HF radio to find they were in 30 - 40 knots and seas of 4 - 6 meters! The Road had had items washed off their deck and both had had their cockpits filled with water from the breaking seas. They still had two - three days of 25 - 35knots to go before arriving in Tonga! We enjoyed a rum & coke and were thankful we'd made the decision to stop at Nuie.

Niue is the largest raised coral atoll in the world. On Monday we visited the Togo chasm with Freezing Rain and Trim. The weather is looking very bad for the next week or so. We'll stay until it settles down before heading for the two day trip to Vavau. Right now the wind is whistling through to anchorage but we are safe and secure.

# 26 Palmerston Atoll, Cook Islands

After a five day (champagne sailing) passage we arrived at the isolated Palmerston Atoll 0n Friday 27th August, 2010. We picked up a mooring on the west side of the atoll near Palmerston Island. Bob Masters and his daughter Taia were there to greet us and became our host for our stay at the island.

We had a great time at Palmerston. A truly different experience. In some ways the tropical Pacific atoll that we imagine, in many ways, not. We went crabbing, coconut crabbing and bird picking with our hosts and their children. We were made unbelievably welcome by the inhabitants. We helped unload and then load (with frozen fish fillets) the first supply ship to visit the island for about 8 months.

The inhabitants originated from William Masters and his three wives who settled at Palmerston in the late 1800's. There are now 67 inhabitants, all related.

Palmerston is a great stopover and a truly unforgettable experience.

The weather grib files we received via our HF radio and Pactor modem were showing signs of bad weather on the way so we left Palmerston (along with Narid, The Road & Freezing Rain) on Wednesday 4th September bound for Tonga.

# 25d Bora Bora, Society Islands

On 18th August we sailed the 25nm trip Bora Bora. We anchored in 4m above sand at the SW end of the main island.

We leave for Tonga this afternoon and will have no internet access for 10 - 14 days. Sorry we couldn't add more info and photos but the internet access here is very bad.

# 25c Tahaa, Society Islands

On Tuesday 17th August we motored to the NW anchorage of Tahaa and anchored in 2.5m sand. Just beautiful!

# 25b Raiatea, Society Islands

We left Fare, Huahine, for Raiatea early Saturday morning (14th) in the rain. We had a brisk sail across to Raiatea in about 15 - 20 knots SE winds. By midway the rain had cleared and we entered the pass into the fringing reef at Raiatea about 1100hrs in bright sunshine. We motored to the town quay and tied up alonside.

I had cracked a tooth on our way into Huahine so our priority was to get that fixed on Monday. We found a dentist and he fixed the tooth so we were able to leave for Tahaa Tuesday. We also did a final stock up of supplies as we'll soon be on passage to the Cook Islands and Tonga (about 14 days passage).

# 25a Huahine Socitey Islands

Tuesday 10th August we set sail for the ovenight passage to Huahine. Initially conditions were good with 13 - 16kn E as forecasted. By midnight winds were around 20 knots and we were getting increasing numbers of squalls to 30 knots! As daylight broke we sailed i nto the lee of the island with rain and squalls. We were pleased to enter the pass into flat waters at 0730. We then motored south behind the fringing reef to the SW corner of the island and Baie D'Avea.

We enjoyed a lovely couple of days in the sheltered bay. On Friday we motored to Fare the main town (near the pass) ready for our passage to Raiatea.

#25 Moorea, Society Islands

We finally managed to get the our course computer (with new PCB) returned from Raymarine and refitted on 5th August.

We set sail for Moorea on 7th August after commissioning the new unit and it performed well on the passage. The seas were very uncomfortable and from time to time Joule rolled violently before reaching the lee of Moorea. We anchored in just over 3m of crystal clear water behind the fringing reef near Opunohu. A truly beautiful anchorage.

Whilst in Tahiti we managed to get a new laptop PC bought in from UK by Kathy (Legend II), so we are now able again to send and receive emails etc.

For the last two days we have had strong winds. We hope to be able to head for Huahine tomorrow night (Tues/Weds).