12 October 2024 –Niue to Tonga
Before I start I have another need. Someone now cannot make the New Zealand to Sydney leg in early January 2025 so I need ideally a sixth person. You would have to be in Auckland, New Zealand by about 3/4 January 2025 with a view to us leaving for Sydney, weather permitting, by about 7 January 2025. We should get to Sydney by about 14-16 January 2025. If anyone is interested please email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com Thanks.
We woke to a dry and bright morning and we were moving on to Tonga today. We had a leisurely breakfast and I cooked bacon and poached eggs which went down well.
Before I move on I forgot to write in yesterday’s blog a few additional facts about Niue. 90% of the land is owned by some Niue families and 10 % the government. You are not allowed to sell the land, so it continues to pass and be owned by these families. They also bury their dead beside the road and you see many graves as you drive past with ornate headstones and covers or shelters. These are well looked after. The island is therefore genuinely Niuian and will remain so.
After breakfast we cleared and cleaned up and Sean and I took the rubbish ashore. We pulled up the dinghy and prepared Stormbird for sea again. We let go of the mooring buoy and were then off. It had been good to visit Niue but I do not like it as much as the French Polynesian Islands.
Tonga is some 225 nm miles away almost due West. Tonga is an independent group of islands. I assumed it was one island but it has 169 islands of which only 36 are populated. The land mass is some 748 sq. kms and there are 5 distinct island groups, Tongatapu (the main island and which has the International Airport and the capital Nuku’alofa) Eua, Ha’apai, Vava’u and the Niuas. Tonga has a population of some 100,000 and is a closely knit society that places emphasis on familial bonds and preservation of traditional values. We plan to visit Vava’u first being the most Northern set islands we will visit. We will then sail down to Ha’apai and then on to Tongatapu where Sean will get off and Keith Watson will get on for the passage to New Zealand.
Once we slipped the mooring we put up the main and genoa and began to sail. The wind was light and the sea state calm so it was nice gentle sailing. However, the wind direction was not as forecast and we had to sail a bit off course and to gybe during the day. We were on our way and had reasonably pleasant conditions.
The morning passed and we had wraps for lunch and then read or chatted. The wind remained relatively light 8-11 kts and I hope it will get stronger later. It was forecast to be East Southeast but was actually Northeast and then it came back toward the East so we made the best course we could.
The afternoon passed quickly and before long it began to get dark. Sean had been fishing but unfortunately we did not catch anything. Joyce had prepared another chicken casserole which we had with red cabbage and which was very good.
We settled into the routines and I was watching the wind angle to ensure we were on the right tack. The wind should strengthen in the night and hopefully we will get a better wind angle.
The picture of the day is some of the crew keeping watch and others enjoying the scene.
Opportunity Year Two
In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.
If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com