Author: sailraynad@gmail.com

Ile Uvea:  WALLIS ISLAND

After a rather long voyage, we have made it safely into a true paradise. No joke. We slowed down last night and then hove-to so that we could find the passage through the reef in the daylight and also pass through at slack low tide. THAT was incredible!! We couldn’t really see where the opening was until we were pretty much directly lined up – this is an island that springs up out of 2000+ meters with almost no warning and is totally surrounded by reef. Adding to that stress, the guidebooks all said that the island was actually 3 nautical miles east of where it’s shown on the charts!?!? A bit scary, but good ‘ole CMaps (the software that we use on the boat) was bang-on and after all of our double checks with paper charts, measurements, our eyes we found the first markers and with me on the bow and John at the wheel, we navigated through no problems. Amazing though to just come in through a narrow break in the reef! Being French, we should have known that things would be well marked, and all of the markers were very clear once we came inside. The passage was something else. I couldn’t stop trying to take pictures back over the crashing reef that we’d just passed through and the unbelievably beautiful islands we were passing inside the reef.

We navigated around various coral, all very well marked from the south passage up to the northeast side. Unfortunately we have anchored in the wrong bay and must move around the island a bit more in order to clear customs. Too bad, it’s lovely to be here and we’re really tired.

Well-it’s now morning and our “naps” turned into a LONG night’s sleep. We’ll move along to customs after coffee and hope they understand our derelict French and won’t be too cross with us for not coming around yesterday. We almost literally just dropped anchor and went to sleep for about 20 hours! John just exclaimed that a ray jumped out of the water right next to our boat!! This is a super beautiful place and I’ve already taken LOTS of pictures. Indescribable really. We can’t wait to explore – too bad we don’t have dive gear because it would be incredible. We’ll see what options are available, but even snorkeling will be great and the beaches are truly touches of paradise:)

9/28/2010

We’re planning to set sail at about 2pm this afternoon for Fortuna, which should get us there between 10am-2pm depending on the winds. It’s about 125 nautical miles from here so we figure about 20 hours +/- of passage making. Should be fairly calm, although we’ll likely get some horrific rain squalls. Right now it’s absolutely lovely outside and the boat is gently bobbing on the waves. It’s a beautiful spot we have here with a view over a long narrow palm treed island with white sandy beaches and lovely multi-hued turquoise waters and the sounds of the surf pounding against the surrounding reef outside the lagoon.  We are really enjoying the snorkeling here, there are so many different corals – big brain corals, fans, branches with some very vibrant colors of yellow, orange or purple against striking white. Thousands of tropical fish surround each coral head -some super tiny with strikingly bright colors and of course the parrot fish and angel fish and lots of different basic yellow, white, blue fish. I had a small white and black striped fish following me the other day trying to bite at the moles on my legs!?!? He was very aggressive and funny. He’d stop every time I turned on him and then continue nipping when I swam on:) John and I found an octopus and that was lots of fun to watch and try to harass out of his hiding place. Our friends swam with a turtle yesterday – unfortunately I didn’t see it. We’ll go for one more swim and snorkel before we leave today on the slack low tide.

9/29/2010

After snorkeling, walking the beach and then my swimming back to the boat(25 min swim,) we’ve all decided that it’s just too lovely to leave this place – today. So, we are now looking toward leaving at slack, low water tomorrow for the same trip to Fortuna. It really is idyllically beautiful here and we have the entire outer island of Faioa and the lagoon that we’re anchored in to ourselves. I had everyone over to our boat for Mexican food last night, so Michael and Suzan are on for steaks tonight:) Life is good in paradise. Wish you all could share it with us too.

ALOFI/FORTUNA

We just dropped the anchor among sand and coral at the small anchoring spot on the uninhabited island of Alofi. It’s once again very beautiful here, although we’ll probably switch into the bay nearer town on the main island to anchor for the night. This spot is full of coral heads, currents and unpredictable swell. Lovely to just rest for a bit though:)

Another lovely spot, although not as magical as the last place and because we’re anchored just beside a major channel between two islands, the boat really gets to rocking during the tide changes and also there is quite a current in places when out snorkeling/swimming. I’m trying to do a bit more open water swimming to get in shape – which John accommodates by trolling the skiff near by in case I need assistance. So far, no problems, but I really appreciate the peace of mind in knowing he is there should I hit currents that are too strong – sometimes they are such that I hardly make any progress despite my efforts. A good workout though. Need to start getting in shape for skiing- right?

Pago Pago, American Samoa….as I write we are moored beside the fuel dock waiting for permission from the Harbor Master to have moved our boat from anchor to the fuel dock, apparently ALL movements of the boat must first have written permission from the harbor master who is of course several blocks walk from any public docks. John is on foot now trying to acquire the required paperwork.   Yesterday we had to speak with the district governor of the Manu’A Island Group to get a letter granting us permission to visit Ofu and the other islands just west of Tutuloa. If you arrive without these documents, they will call the police to evict you! Samoa is very protective of their culture, at least what is left and not only do they not really encourage tourism or provide any great resources, but the outer islands are restricted.

Of course being a US territory they still have McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut and lots of the less healthy USA products in the stores. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes and alchohol are real problems here. We had a delightful visit yesterday with Misa, the district governor of Manu’A, and he has granted us permission to visit their islands and to be escorted on our tours while there by his nephew. I’m really looking forward to this. We plan to leave early Friday morning, the trip takes about 10 hours by boat and we’ll stay 2-3 nights. The beaches of Ofu are described as the most beautiful in the world:)

Being an extinct volcanic crater, Pago Pago is a fantastically beautiful natural harbor which has become sullied by also being an industrial capital for tuna processing. There are several huge fishing boats the size of large cruise ships, docked along the shoreline with massive derricks to hoist the miles of fishing nets – I can’t help but think that these must be the nets that are referred to as the “curtains of death” by conservationists.   Tuna has been an $800 million+ industry for American Samoa primarily because the USA does not charge import tariffs on tuna which has been processed here, so boats will travel hundreds of miles in order to offload their catch here. The newspapers are filled with the recent news and controversy over the fact that Starkist tuna has plans to close their plant here causing a loss of 300+ jobs because the workers were demanding minimum wage and controlled work hours – note that min wage here is only $3.00 per hour (not the same as in the USA.) Starkist had threatened that if the workers organized and made demands, they’d move their plant elsewhere. So capitalistic bullying is alive and well here in Am Samoa – very sad. In the meantime the pollution in the harbor is toxic to everything and the noise and smell are quite unpleasant.  

The island of Tutuloa is absolutely gorgeous with towering cliffs draped in vegetation and sculpted peaks rising out of the beautiful green and turquoise waters. Driving around is a constant experience of hair raising roads steeply climbing up and down like a roller coaster with barely enough space for two vehicles to pass and terrifying drops below! You REALLY have to trust the brakes on your vehicle here! In September last year, there was a huge tsunami that hit this island and its devastation is seen in many of the villages in scattered bays and and sections of Pago Pago. They are still in the process of rebuilding, yet many families are living in brown army tents. Some sort of US welfare system exists however which provides food stamps, housing, free public education and even Medicare and Medicaid. The emergency medical services are impressive and very busy.

Tonight we’re going to a traditional Samoan feast with about 14 other cruisers. Should be fun.

NIUE – A Fantasy Island

Niue – Latitude 19.03 S Longitude 169.55W

20 Aug 2010

Niue is a very interesting atoll – the largest in the world.  The water is crystal clear. There are no natural harbors and depths around the island are over 50 meters, even near shore, so it’s nearly impossible to anchor. The Niue Yacht Club has installed about 24 mooring buoys which all the yachts must use.   During the months of August through October, whales frequent the area with mother and calf pairs even swimming among the moored yachts!  Unfortunately, we missed seeing any whales while we were there.

There are only 1500 inhabitants on this island which is the smallest nation in the world with its own laws, banks,  etc. It also has the highest per person density of politicians – every third person! We walked over a reef and met a fisherman who announced that he was – yes – a politician!
He was beach casting into HUGE breaking surf and catching  snapper using coconut as bait with the odd scrap of sand crab thrown in for flavor. As always here on this friendly island – he was ready to drop the fishing pole and chat for as long as we liked.

We rented a car and did some island exploration today. Two hikes – one to the Magata Chasm which was really gorgeous and reminded me of “Jodie’s” island at Shelikof in SE Alaska where she and I had taken the dingy out and rowed through the chasm between the cliffs, except this was warm clear water and we were able to swim in the pools between the rocks.

The water is a crystal violet color and it sparkles like topaz. The water temperature is about 27’C so you can stay in as long as you like.

The other hike was long and ended with our climbing through a cave out to the ocean to some arch formations – pretty spectacular.

We also visited a Noni fruit plantation where they produce a natural medicinal juice that’s made from this fruit. It tastes pretty bad, but is full of antioxidants, etc. so we bought a large bottle to help “cleanse our livers”.

Ended the day at Sailor’s bar for sunset drinks and a sausage roast.

All in all a wonderful day.

22 Aug 2010 SCUBA DIVING

We had a absolutely amazing dive yesterday. The island of Niue is one of the top ten dive destinations in the world. We swam with dolphins who are such curious creatures. The visibility was 100 meters which is huge and so we could see their antics like it was a circus. Our first dive was among the layers of coral – there were so many different beautiful fish and of course sea snakes. Sea snakes followed us on the deeper dives where they curl up in crevices on the bottom, often intertwined with other snakes, and take a nap till they need to resurface to breath 20 minutes later. They are reptiles so they have no swim bladder and naturally sink unless they swim. The snakes are really funny, one of them was just swimming along right next to our friends  while she was in front of me. It kept looking over at her just like some sort of pet – the funny part is that she wasn’t even aware of it because the snake was a bit behind her line of sight. I also got go hold and play a bit with a couple of them. Although they are reported to be one of the most poisonous in the world, their mouths are very tiny and there are no reports of anyone ever being bitten. In fact the local kids often play with them. Some are shy and swim away, but others are quite curious and come swimming up to you. These snakes are black and white stripped. They are venomous but with small mouths so only a danger to small appendages! We counted our appendages after the dive!  We dove both into a cavern and into a cave, all filled with shafts of sunlight through the coral above and huge lobsters (actually Cray Fish – they have no claws) residing on ledges or cracks in the rock and getting fat by catching unsuspecting prey that swim by – a low calorie way to fish. They were very pretty and quite funny to watch as they tried to defend themselves against our intrusion. The amazing visibility, clarity of colors and detail make diving here truly remarkable. We wore full wet suits and dive boots, about 3mm, and I also wore an inner vest. I still came up shivering with colorless hands after a 50 min dive-I should have worn gloves for the extra warmth. It didn’t take long though to be super hot after getting back to our boat!

On Saturday, we lucked upon a local village fair including traditional sport competitions, art demonstrations, a market and we were  delighted to watching the school children perform dances with their classmates.  A perfect finish for our visit to Niue.

KINGDOM OF TONGA:  Our first South Pacific Island cruising destination

ARRIVING IN  NUKUALOFA – TONGA

After 9 days at sea, including leaving NZ in a storm of 35-55kn winds, we made our way safely into the calm waters of Tonga anchoring at “Big Mama’s” across the channel from the capital of Nukualofa.

We had two very unique experiences while here: attending the King’s Cathedral service and chancing upon a regional gathering of representatives from all of the islands of Tonga, the music was magnificent! A full brass orchestra and every voice raised in multilevel harmony- an absolutely breathtaking spiritual moment to behold.

Secondly, we attended an extravagant festival, “Miss Tonga” a week long event to pick the cross-dressing diva. These “ladies” are remarkably gorgeous!

KELEFISIA

AHH! This is exactly what we had in mind when we signed the dotted lines and started out on this sailing adventure – only took us 6 mos to get here! Kelefesia is a true paradise – Raynad is bobbing gently in the slight ocean swells while anchored in absolutely crystal clear, turquoise waters surrounded by coral reefs, rumbling surf, and yet safely nestled in next to the quintessential tropical island, nearly deserted with white sands, palm trees and even some artistically sculpted bluffs. Truly amazingly beautiful:)

Fortunately a “shepherd” already anchored at the island came out in his dingy to help us safely navigate through the reefs and coral into this small bay. It’s an incredibly treacherous approach which is not charted at all and the one guide book with directions was absolutely wrong in that the writer leads you right over a huge coral head! All of this island group is only basically charted, so we must only travel in good light and favorable weather conditions

Immediately after dropping the anchor, John and I both went over the side to snorkel around, not just to look at the fish, but also to check the anchor and location of the boat. We have a very impressive and huge tower of coral about 35 feet off our stern! No joke- this tower literally comes up out of the sands for about 50 feet – it’s a little disconcerting to be so close, but we are safe and the anchor is well dug-in to the sand. We’ll stay here for 2-3 nights as long as the weather stays settled before heading further north to other islands. It’s really magical to swim around the coral, kayak and beachcomb.

Our friends have a third inflatable kayak which is now “mine” to play with and take care of as long as we cruise together- isn’t that great!?!? They caught a mahi-mahi on our way into Kelefesia yesterday which they shared for dinner last night and lunch today-mmmm, excellent. I’ll reciprocate with a dinner on our boat of NZ steaks – not as good as fresh fish, but nothing to apologize for. We eat and drink well on this cruise, at least while the supplies last.

Uonukuhihifo

Funky names here, but Uonukuhihifo just about outdoes them all! We decided that it’s more like “Uno Kow hihi..” because much to our surprise we arrived at this uninhabited island to find one black cow on the beach!?!? Very weird…upon further investigation and several attempts to circumnavigate both islands which are connected by a sand spit, we now realize that it’s actually 5 cows: a bull, mother and calf and two other females AND there is at least one pig. 

The pig, “Wilburette” actually sort of came out of the jungle and tried to be friendly, I think that she wanted our footsteps to disturb the sand and help her find crabs or whatever to consume. It was obvious that she has some piglets stashed away somewhere. Anyway, John got several pictures of the cows and we had a wonderful morning exploring around the beaches and reefs. We are the only people here – just us, the cows and pig, plus a flock of gorgeous little terns.
 We’ve decided to have our happy hour on the beach and watch the sunset over the volcano, Kao, which is still active and occasionally spits out some steam. Should be a nice change from the cockpit views.

Namuka Iki:

After a stormy and unsettled night at Kelefesia, winds up above 25knots in this “fair weather” anchorage and towering coral head just off our stern and coral reefs breaking around our little boat, kept us both up much of the night periodically re-checking the anchor and basically imagining the worst in the darkness of night, we navigated our way back into deeper water and had a fast and fun sail up to Namuka. Now with the anchor safely embedded in the expansive sandy bottom and no coral nearby to worry us, we are enjoying a relaxing afternoon–happy hour started at 2pm!! Just to be sure, I donned my mask and snorkel to check out the anchor and surrounding reefs. Lots of lovely fish and interesting coral, but nothing too close:)

Our friends Michael and Suzanne caught a lovely 15lb tuna on the trip up, so it’s sashimi and BBQ fish on their boat to continue the cocktail/dinner hour(s).

Tomorrow, we make a short trip over to Uiha and Tatafa where we’re hoping to catch a Sunday morning service and hear more of their music. It’s supposed to calm down, so maybe we’ll get to do some more kayaking and maybe even a drift dive/snorkel through the pass.

VAVAU

Well at last we made it into Vavau, but oh my what a trip it was!! We lifted anchor in Unoleva about 10am after having given the kids in the neighboring boat about 200 liters of our super water and waving them good-bye as they set out toward New Zealand. We left with winds at 15-20 knots which was the prediction for the entire area, but as we sailed onwards they just kept increasing with average speeds of 25-30knots and gusts of up to 42 – once we hit the open seas, they too kicked in with high, rolling and sharp waves. Good ole SV Raynad held the water well and I was much relieved to be sailing in this wonderfully built boat:) With such strong winds, even with a reef in the main and only the staysail out we averaged 7.2 knots of speed and almost literally blasted our way up to the entrance to Vavau arriving at about 10:30pm, Because it was already very dark, no moon due to thick clouds, and still 30+ knot winds, we all decided it was safest not to try and navigate the narrow channels of the islands but to heave-to and stay offshore until the first light. Our sailing buddies were comfortable enough to get 7 hours of sleep as their boat bobbed around, but John and I split 2hr watches throughout the night to watch for other marine traffic and to keep an eye on exactly where the boat was traveling to (even hove-to she moved at 1-1.5 miles per hour.) We made our way into the protected bays of the Vavau group with the sunrise. Needless to say we are relieved to have safely arrived and John and I are both pretty tired – it’ll be an early night for us.

The Vavau group is quite different from the Ha’Apai group. Large bluffs rise about 500ft straight out of the water and look a bit like flat top mountains with bushy trees and lots of palm trees towering through. The waterways are very deep, so we don’t have the coral heads to worry about so much here. We are on a mooring line in the harbor of Neiafu, the capital city of the Vavau Island group. On our first visit to town we tried to check on times for church services tomorrow (none found – we’ll just have to guess,)booked some scuba diving for Monday, and bought some fresh fruit (including one that looked like a large custard fruit, but had larger seeds and was bit tart – after removing the seeds I blended it with milk, sugar and vanilla to make a smoothie and it was really pretty good! Of course I also bought another watermelon (yumm), two bags of limes and a case of beer.

The young folks whom we had over for drinks the night before we all left Unoleva pretty much decimated our beer supply. They were very grateful though and lots of fun to socialize with for the evening – it was quite lively and filled with laughter. They REALLY liked the hats made by John’s Mum (Betty).
 The two girls wore theirs constantly and the last thing they shouted as their boat moved away was a big Thank You for the hats. I’m sure they will be most appreciated as they head south toward NZ where they are in the heart of winter. At least they are all good sailors in a good strong, yet fast boat and the captain Will, is really a very responsible and knowledgeable guy. He actually got his British Yacht Masters certificate at age 17 and had competed in the Fastnet races since he was 14. He and John really got along well and he spent a fair amount of time on our boat swapping computer programs/software and loading some great movies onto my laptop. I finally was able to do a washing this afternoon and wouldn’t you know it…just after they were all pegged out on the lifelines, it started to rain!I’m just hoping enough sun will come out afterwards – last washing they same thing happened and our entire forward cabin looked like a Chinese laundry!?!? It’s been so muggy and damp, we haven’t been able to get things to dry.

John and I went diving today and it was wonderful. The coral is quite beautiful and on one of the dives we swam through a coral fan forest, a magical experience of yellow coral fans wafting in the currents of the waters and we swam through valleys between them. There were alot of corals that we hadn’t seen before and it was very colorful unlike many areas in other parts of the world where the coral is dying and bleached. We also saw some sharks, tuna, razor fish and many others unique fish that we hadn’t seen before.

We actually had thought last night that the dive would be canceled due to some super high winds blasting through the bay where we are moored. They measured as blasts up to 40 kn and pretty steady at 20-30, about 3 boats broke their moorings and several had to move and re-anchor closer to the head of the bay. John and I were up several times re-checking our own lines until oddly about midnight everything went spookily quiet. We awoke this morning to a lovely sunrise and calm waters, so the dive was a go. It’s kicked up again, but so far not as extreme.

CLICK on a link below to view photographs from stages of our cruising in Vanuatu:

VANUATU GALLERY w/Jodie & Scott

VANUATU GALLERY:  w/ Scott & Grandma (Fran)  

VANUATU GALLERY: Onward w/ John & Kristy