# 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.