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Around midday, along with all from Delos and Jackster, we dinghied over to the end of the bay we’re in and dove on the wreck there. The surface waters were calm and murky but from about 20 feet down visibility cleared. The wreck is of an old transport ship a few hundred feet long. The highest parts of the structure are at about 60ft deep with the stern deck around 70ft. The base of the holds which can be entered sit around 110ft deep. There were plenty of fish around the wreck as well as many large majestic jelly fish. The iron deck has plenty of holes allowing us to peer into the depths of the ship. Because of the depth it was a short dive of around 30 minutes which was perfect for Helen.
Freezing Rain next to us invited us over for G&Ts at 6pm. We went ashore an hour or so earlier to cash in our free pizza only to discover they don’t light their oven until 6pm. We ended up at the Sunset Bar having their wood fire cooked burgers which were pretty damn good.
Leaving Ben aboard to get in some more piano before we have to hand it back we headed over to Freezing Rain where we also met the Trims and the Worral Winds.
Today we’re out of here. As much as we like it in Neiafu we do want to see some more of the islands around here. We’re off to Port Morell for a couple of nights before pushing off to the east side of the group for the weekend. We still don’t have our tracking reference but have people lined up when CatCo work out how to send an email. Ironically Leu Cat just sent us an email this morning saying they’ll be in Neiafu today and are hoping to see us. This is not the first time we’ve passed each other by. No doubt we’ll see them around here soon.
We’re feeling a little wrecked ourselves after the last week or so. We need some quiet time to recuperate. Maybe not tonight though because there’s already talk of a beach bonfire.
by KC2RIY, on September 25th, 2010 ( A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Desue, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Tonga, Trim, Tyee, Visions of Johanna) The Jackster’s showed up and anchored next to us around midday. We soon had them over to share our experiences of the last few months as well as abandoning our plans to hoist the main sail in favour of a few beers.
Around 6pm we headed ashore to Ano Beach for the ferry service to the Full Moon Party. Sadly, the ferry service was the weak link of the whole evening requiring some folks to wait over two hours for their turn to board and make the passage round to the party. Fortunately we made it over on the second one out so we didn’t have to wait too long.
The party was a lot of fun. A lot of the people we have previously mentioned on our blog were there. Most people on their way to New Zealand this year are either now in Tonga or soon to be arriving. I’m probably missing a few but those that we can put our heads together and remember are : A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Delos, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Trim, Tyee & Visions of Johanna. There were many others and we made some new acquaintances along the way.
A lot of effort had been put into things including three 10 minute shows of which Ben played a part (dressed as a skeleton) in the first and third. Not everything went smoothly but it was all appreciated.
We didn’t get back until after midnight. We didn’t see Ben until the following morning around 11am which I saw him on the ferry. I dinghied over and he jumped in the water to avoid the trip to the beach. He hadn’t slept at all having had the beer and food go free around 3am and partying into the morning followed by helping to clear up.
We have some pictures, courtesy of Ann from Callisto, which will be posted when we can get a connection.
Tomorrow the fun continues so we’ll be off early round to Neiafu.
We all headed ashore shortly after 7am. Already at the quay were the folks from Mariposa, Freezing Rain, Trim, Tanaya as well as Anna from Infinity who was celebrating her birthday by taking the dive. They’d all been told to be there by 7am whereas we’d been told 7:30am which turned out to be the correct time. Helen stayed in town to clear us out of Niue as we intend to depart Sunday.
The rest of us were all taken to the dive center in their trucks to be briefed and kitted up. We were then taken, along with the dive outfits dinghies to the sea ramp/crane a mile or so south. On the water we were taken to our first dive close to the Matavai Resort where we stopped for the first time in our rental car. The dive was fairly average. Our maximum depth was 94ft and the highlight was a lot of intricate corals not affected by the cyclone that swept through here a few years back. While on this dive we were accompanied by whale song off in the distance.
After a rest stop we dove on “Snake Gully” which turned out to be a fantastic dive. As expected there were quite a few snakes (kraits really) in and around a gullied area. The kraits are extremely poisonous but have tiny heads and are very docile. They seem unperturbed being stroked or even held. The second part of the dive was to visit a cave and an underwater canyon, both of which were superb. The cave required us to swim into a dark labyrinth reaching an end chamber full of lobsters floating around in the water. As we were in there the sun came out and shone through small gaps in the ceiling – all very cool.
Back on Dignity we treated ourselves to a full English breakfast even though it was now early afternoon. We rested up a couple of hours before Ben and I decided to explore the “Bubble Cave” to our south. We’d had directions to the cave from Jackster and had heard that there were lobsters in the cave and that they may be accessible without dive gear. As it is illegal here to hunt lobsters with scuba gear it did seem tempting (and sporting) to give it a go without.
We dinghied over to the dive mooring balls and tentatively made our way in. We were extremely cautious swimming each underwater section to each surface access. In hindsight none of the stretches were too difficult but one never wants to go beyond half way and run out of breath. It was a little more difficult carrying torches and the spear gun. Towards the back of the cave was a section we could surface in and right at the back in a narrow section were a few lobsters. They were unruffled by our presence until the first took the spear between its eyes. We left it safely on a rock before trying for others. The original cluster had dispersed and were now harder to find. Even as we hunted the swell in the area we were in was picking up. We managed to snag a second lobster before calling it quits as we were being swept in and out of the narrow areas and the sharp coral was starting to  leave us a little scratched up. We tucked our torches into our swim shorts and made it back out of the cave with a lobster each.
Later we boiled these two beasties up and ate them with soy sauce and wasabi. We’ve certainly seen bigger lobsters but these were meaty and delicious. As Helen is not a big fan of lobster, Ben and I had most of them. Yum.
We spent the evening aboard Infinity where they were celebrating Anna’s birthday. Infinity is a 120ft ferro cement vessel with a rotating crew of all sorts. They work hard but it looks a lot of fun. They certainly know how to enjoy themselves. This was Helen and my first time aboard but not for Ben. We were given a tour of the boat and were welcomed into the celebrations. For a bit more info on Infinity and what they are about, here is their website.
Today, all three of us plan to dive “The Chimney” nearby and perhaps revisit the “Bubble Cave”. We’ll clean up the boat and leave for Tonga on Sunday morning. We expect it to be a two day sail arriving on Wednesday. Sounds wrong? Perhaps you can work it out.
Given the information we had available to us and what transpired for us and other vessels in the vicinity, our decision to leave at 9:30am yesterday seems to have been the right one. However, being the best option available didn’t make it a lot of fun. The forecast was for 20-25 knots of wind. What we had was 25-35 all day and night long.
We had the main double reefed and the head sail reefed in too. We had the regeneration on all day and night just to try and control our arrival time, hopefully making it in after dawn. Given that the distance was over 140nm it was a struggle to keep Dignity from doing the distance in under 20 hours.
The seas picked up to between 3 and 4 meters in height which gave us a pounding. At the best of time it was a wild ride. At times waves would crash over and sometimes it felt like we were being hit by a bus.
During Helen’s late night shift the head sail managed to get wrapped around itself back winding at the top and getting a bit tangled. I was sleeping in the cabin in case of any issues so I got the call. In 35 knots of wind and crashing seas I sorted out the head sail. We agreed we needed to get the main down which we’ve never done under such conditions. We managed it although it was a bit of a struggle. Afterward, with just the head sail out, the running was much more comfortable.
Dawn found us screaming around the corner of Niue where the seas picked up further. At one time we sustained a 16 knot surf down a huge wave. As we rounded the corner the winds subsided and the seas flattened. We contacted the officials to let them know we were arriving and we contacted the yacht club for a mooring. As it is Sunday here we can’t clear in but we can sit here for the day. I’ve had a few hours sleep to catch up on the little I had overnight. After all, we have nothing else to do. We’ve arranged for an internet connection but it’s taking time to set up. I think we may end up being lucky to get one today.
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A few boats we know or at least have spoken to are here: Trim, Ile de Grace, Freezing Rain, Joule, Mariposa. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of these folks over the next few days. We’ve spoken to Ken on Trim and he’s already eaten at the one and only Indian Restaurant here. He says it is good so we’re now committed to going there on Helen’s birthday on Tuesday.
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