36th Post. Society Islands to New Zealand

The Society Islands – (Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa & Bora Bora) - proved to be a fabulous cruising ground. Lots of well sheltered anchorages. some interesting walking, many distractions and little in the way of an internet connection. Hence the long delay in publishing a new Blog page.

The Society Islands,

another fantastic anchorage

Bora Bora, though given over almost completely to tourism, proved to be great fun. We were advised that it provided wonderful diving and snorkelling. I had been disappointed with my diving experience in the Galapagos. Having no diving qualification, I was limited to a very tame (though expensive) dive with an instructor; student ratio of one to one.

Pippa and I therefore decided to sign up for a five day Padi diving course.

It was hard work, but great fun. We learnt how to cope with all sorts of emergencies underwater. High on the agenda was running out of air, loosing your goggles and helping your ‘buddy’ during those and other emergencies. The only real accident was when Pippa accidently kicked my 2^nd stage regulator (mouth piece to you) out of my mouth.

The diving locations were all in the sea. (as opposed to using a swimming pool) The water was, of course, quite warm and stunningly clear. Each day we saw beautiful corals, exotic fish, and brightly coloured clams. Our last open water dive was just wonderful. We went outside the reef and as well as the sights I have already mentioned we came across several Manta Rays. These majestic creatures totally ignored us. We stopped while they swam gracefully bye, they came beside us, underneath us, and above us. I also saw a sting ray near the bottom and was glad that he also ignored me. If that wasn’t enough we later came across several white tipped sharks. They paid no attention to us, though I kept a weather eye on them.

One abiding memory of Tahiti – Hinano beer

We had planned to go next to Rarotonga in the Southern Cook Islands, but heard through the yachting grape vine that the harbour was undergoing major reconstruction and was not at all a pleasant place to visit. Instead we took the 1050 mile passage to Nuie.

What a stroke of luck. We would have missed both Nuie and Tonga. It’s one of the things I like so much about ocean cruising, or sailing at all for that matter. You can often change your plans at a moment’s notice.

Nuie is the world’s smallest independent nation and it’s largest coral island. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We took a mooring off the town quay rather than anchoring, as the water is very deep and the bottom littered with rocks and other anchor snagging obstructions. 

Last of the great explorers in Raiatea

 At the Nuie yacht club we hired two beaten up old bikes (One of my peddles fell to bits half way round a twelve mile bike ride). We went looking for a series of ‘sea tracks’ These are coastal sights of special interest. Some are suitable for swimming & snorkelling. A rough path might lead through a sea cave to a beautiful lagoon. Others are walks that lead to a spectacular vista. At one sea track we swam in a lagoon that until fairly recently had been the private bathing pool of the King of Nuie.

 A Sea Track

The Green Bridge of Nuie?

At another we burnt our fingers. Despite a sign warning us of a strong rip current in a pass through the reef, we thought we knew better. We snorkelled too close to the rip and found ourselves out of control and heading rapidly for the open sea. The only way out was to climb quickly onto the sharp skin-tearing coral reef. This we did and paid the price. Much shaken, though little hurt, we nursed our wounds and dented egos for the remainder of the day.

Egos dented, but nothing worse

  

By Pacific ocean standards, the 240 mile passage from Nuie to Tonga was quite short. However, a two and a half day passage such as this one is quite tiring. By the time one has adjusted to the watch keeping routine of four hours on watch and four hours off, you have arrived at your destination and need to readjust to normal sleep patterns.

Tonga consists of two major islands: Vava’u to the north & Tongatapu to the south. There is also a central group of small islands, Ha’apai. We made our landfall at Vava’u and cruised through the Ha’apai archipelago to Tongatapu. 

Sula’s crew enjoying Pacific clarity & colour

  

Flanders and Swan have a lot to answer for, Olimakityluchachichichi does not mean No!

But I couldn’t get the silly song out of my head. Not that I tried dating any Tongan Maidens Fair. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our cruise through the islands. The two main towns were pleasant and we could buy all the provisions we required.

One enterprising individual impressed me no end. He sold me a hand made Red Ensign for Sula. The one I was shown was well made, but too big. The solution, he said, was for him to return home and get his daughter to run up a smaller one. However, he required a deposit. Very strange, I thought. We had seen him on his boat going from yacht to yacht, so he knew us.

Somewhat reluctantly I paid up. He duly returned a couple of hours later and presented me with the flag and I paid the balance. Never mind that the quality was inferior to the specimen he had shown us. It dawned on me some time later that he had probably bought the flag and paid for it with my deposit. Quite an entrepreneur.

Yet another fantastic anchorage. This one is off Nuie.

One can change the sailing plan but not the weather. Our time in the tropics was rapidly coming to an end. We would soon be entering the cyclone season. The thought of storm force winds and the giant seas that accompany them, reminded me of advice given to us before our first ocean passage, from Bill, a ship’s captain and Milford Haven Pilot, “Any boat less than 100ft is a toy”. He told us. “The Atlantic ocean is not a playground”.

We mustn’t stay too long in the tropics, but if we go too early it will still be winter in New Zealand. Timing is everything. The crossing from Tonga to New Zealand is a tricky one; infamous for unreliable weather and boisterous sea conditions. We planned for ten to twelve days for the 1200 mile passage. The idea was to depart just after a gale had passed between the Tasman Sea and New Zealand, then hope to be across before the next one.

A bit like crossing the road really.

We were leaving the land where corrals lie

Ironically, we suffered from calms more than gales. We had a good wind to blow us clear of Tonga. Then almost nothing for the next three days. We couldn’t motor any significant distance, so just had to put up with it. Of course, when the wind did come, it was stronger than we would have wished, but it seemed churlish to complain.

The main sail was fully reefed and just a postage stamp of jib rolled out. It was blowing a force seven (a yachtsman’s gale) and we regularly exceeded the maximum speed Sula had been known to sail. Seven and a half knots was recorded. In the wee small hours (when else) a violent gust tore our roller furling jib in half. The main sail, not wishing to miss the fun, snapped four of its sliders. (sliders hold the sail onto the mast). We were not quite half way into our passage. Both damaged sails were lowered and lashed down as best we could and we continued under storm jib and trysail. Our speed, thankfully, was reduced to a more comfortable five knots. 

Cape Wiwiki

The blow lasted a couple more days before we were able to hoist the now repaired main sail and a small jib that hanks on to the inner fore stay. It isn’t as good as a Genoa but much better than a storm jib in lighter winds.

Two days of light airs followed before a fair breeze piped up. Early on the second day I heard the familiar sound of a citation blowing. Dolphins, I thought. But no. Two whales, possibly Minkies, had come to inspect Sula.

They circled us at no more than a boat’s length off. The top of their heads would come to the surface and they would blow. Then they would gracefully arch their backs and perform a shallow dive, before surfacing again and repeating the spectacle. Wonderful!

Hoisting the NZ courtesy flag

The new found breeze helped us to our landfall of Cape Wiwiki. Passing the cape we entered the Bay of Islands and had arrived in New Zealand! We so far forgot ourselves that we congratulated Sula, and gave each other a huge hug.

P.S.

If you want  to see what Sula is up to between published Blogs, go to the Post Script & Where next pages on the right hand side of the Blog. I do my best to keep them reasonably up to date.