Get Lost On Purpose

Category: Sailing

  • Niue, Niue, ohhhh baby, I said we gotta go….

    Bound and determined to see the Northeastern side of Niue before departing for Tonga, Drew and I braved foul, rainy weather and set out Monday on a couple of bikes looking for some adventure. A half hour bike ride later, we found just that in the Talava Arches, the Matapa Chasm, and the Limu Pools. Prior excursions in Niue had stenciled imagery of clear water pools, caves, and jagged coral in my mind and these three places did not disappoint in living up to those visions as well. The Talava Arches was a maze of caves that all led to what can only be described as a massive eye to the south pacific. What remained of the cliff side was the result of hundreds upon hundreds of years of incoming and outgoing tides and waves that crashed against the shores, creating giant holes in the limestone. The ocean-the artist, the land-its canvas, its work-magnificent. From my view, perched up high and safe in the cave, Drew appeared to be nothing more than a tiny speck as I tried to capture with a camera the grandness of the arch. I was instantly reminded of years ago when my Aunt Cookie, my Uncle Gary, and my cousin, Holly all took me along on their vacation out west and we visited arches quite similar to this one. Only difference in the two was here on the other side lie the south pacific, out west on the other side was about a 2000+ foot drop. I didn’t have to be QUITE as careful here…

    From there it was a short walk to the Matapa Chasm, which, according to guidebooks, was the favorite swimming spot of prior Niue kings. One quick glance and I instantly knew why as what lay before me was the clearest of blue, natural pools nestled amongst the limestone walls. In less than a minute I’d stripped off my hiking clothes and was diving into the water as I found it completely irresistible. I couldn’t risk looking back on this one day and wishing so much that I had jumped in. Refreshing would be an understatement and for about fifteen minutes I FELT like a queen as the water washed away the evidence of the bike ride before. I hated to get out of the water but we’d seen pictures of our final destination for the day and if it was at all possible, the Limu Pools were even more of a sight to see…

    So off we went and this time it was Drew’s turn to dive in the cool waters and refresh himself. The damaging effects of Cyclone Heta were evident amongst the coral here although slowly but surely the sea life is beginning to return. Try as I might to describe it’s beauty, try as I might to capture it with a camera, sometimes I just don’t know if there are words possible or a photograph worthy. We returned the bikes that afternoon and although my butt was sore, as rental bikes never are very comfy, I felt I could leave Niue with a better sense of what the island had to offer and all I can say is wow…what an experience. We sadly said farewell, donning our best Finding Nemo whale voices, to our newfound harbor friends and set sail for Tonga yesterday afternoon. I honestly can say that being amongst those gentle giants ranks up there as one of the top highlights thus far in my life. It was absolutely incredible.

    Granted the trip continues to go well, we’ll arrive in Tonga tomorrow morning, having lost a full day so it will be Friday for us and still Thursday back home. Lots of friends will be in Vava’u and we are anxiously awaiting a reunion with all of them and the joint birthday party on Honeymoon Saturday night!

  • New Adventures in Niue

    Charts showing several more days of foul weather in Beveridge Reef were enough to convince us that our departure from there should come sooner than we had planned. We’d definitely recommend a stop there to any other cruisers headed in that direction but unfortunately our own experience of the reef was limited because of the weather, temperatures, and the loss of our beloved dinghy. Patrick and Rebecca, s/v Brickhouse, were fantastic in carting us to and from the boat to the reef so Drew could do some spear fishing but I don’t even have a wet suit so I spent most of my time on the boat. It was time to go. We took with us the memory of our first whale sighting of this year, a freezer full of fresh grouper, and a lifelong lesson in that when going to other people’s boats, always tie off your own dinghy. One can never assume that your dinghy rope is the same as the next boater. An honest mistake but, nonetheless, a lesson learned the hard way.

    Dosia did her best to cheer us up in absolutely kicking butt on the overnight sail from the reef to Niue. At anywhere from 6 1/2 to 8 knots, we completed the 130 miles in about 20 hours. Now I am not the kind of boater who has that intoxicating need for speed like most. If anything, when we start flying over waves at too great a speed I get a little anxious and uneasy. This trip, however, brought speeds we hadn’t seen in a while and of course they came at a time when we didn’t need them as we’d arrive in Niue before daylight. Drew and I quickly decided that we’d hook a mooring by early morning moonlight if we had to because there was no way we were giving up the chance to really, really feel the wind. So we rode it out, enjoyed every second of it, and were on a mooring ball in Niue by sunrise, enjoying our morning coffee.

    Niue has been an incredible breath of fresh air thus far. The water is still a bit chilly, there is a definite nip in the air, but who thinks about those things when you’ve got 15 to 20 humpbacks swimming, literally, FEET from your boat!? July to October they take over the waters off the coast of this island to breed and we are lucky enough to be here during those months. The waters most certainly belong to them, we are their guests, and respect must be paid. They could sink Dosia in a heartbeat if we pissed them off somehow. Some boats throughout the harbor have been able to hear them talking/communicating at night through the walls of their vessels. Unfortunately (at least in this particular instance) Drew insulated the walls a little too well so we can only hear them when they rise to the surface to breathe. To be in their presence, this close, is one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Each sighting is another reminder to me how grand and massive this ocean is that Drew and I are living our lives on right now.
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    If you are looking for sandy beaches and palm trees then don’t head for Niue. Jagged shorelines, caves, and deeper anchorages make up this island-the smallest island nation in the world. We spent most of yesterday with s/v Honeymoon and s/v Follow You, Follow Me in a rented van exploring all the eastern coast had to offer. Five of us donned our best hiking shoes, Drew…his flip flops due to blisters from spear fishing excursions on the reef, to tackle three different chasms, or caves. The land here is brimming with dated, aged coral that is probably hundreds upon hundreds of years old. Although in appearance it is rather sharp and uninviting, we wasted no time in tackling shorelines, climbing in and out of caves, getting chased by bone crushing waves, rope climbing down into a sloping cave to the freshwater pools below, and capping the day off with well earned beers at the local, and only, resort on the island, the Matavai Resort. Drew and I could barely keep or eyes open past 8 p.m. last night. Tonight, dinner aboard Follow You, Follow Me. As I write, Drew is preparing some of our fresh grouper to take as bite size appetizers, as most cruisers haven’t had any luck in catching fresh fish in the the Pacific waters this year. Pictures of the cave excursions and the whales will be up A.S.A.P.!
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    Happy Birthday to both Drew’s Dad and his Nanny who celebrated her 91st birthday on Monday : ) We love y’all!

  • Being thankful for what ‘cha got…

    I finally managed to clean up my pile of tissues that had accumulated from the two hours of torture I inflicted on Drew that was “the Notebook”. Not really, he took it like a champ. Wish I could say that we’ve been diving in the wreck or snorkeling amongst massive schools of fish but some higher power is set on keeping us inside Dosia for days on end. At night, once the sun has set and hopefully the moon is providing an illuminated view of the reef we hear forcefully pounding out our windows, I find myself quickly donning a pair of long pajama pants, a long sleeve shirt, and wrapping myself from head to toe in a blanket. It’s cold. Okay, okay…my “idea” of cold has changed somewhat since having lived in French Poly for three months. For here, it’s cold. So to be honest, should a day finally produce some sunshine around here I’m not so sure the water temps are going to be anything I’m prepared to handle. I’ve actually been perfectly content holed up with Drew for a few days. Days which we have filled with movies, eating, books, drinking wine, more movies, and yesterday we taught ourselves to play rummy. While he says it’s about “expanding our horizons and learning something,” I really think Drew was just tired of having his keester handed to him time and time again by yours truly in Uno! He successfully kicked my ass yesterday in rummy and today’s attempts to get even will no doubt be intense.

    So in living on Dosia my “idea” of things changes on an almost daily basis. I’ve learned to live without some things and some things I’ve just had to learn to live with in a different way of that which I’ve always been accustomed, all the while realizing that I’m lucky to have any of this AT ALL. For instance, the head, a.k.a. the toilet. On Dosia, you do your business, close the lid, and to your left is a handle. You proceed to pump the handle up and down, up and down, up and down about fifteen to twenty times. In doing so, the vacuum formed in pumping is sucking water into the bowl, cleaning, and taking your business out as it goes. Too much? Nah. You can handle it. The other day Drew pulls out a spare toilet bowl lid. He says to me that while many might laugh at him for carrying a spare, should our existing one crack or anything happen to it, we wouldn’t be able to flush the toilet and we’d be up shit creek. Literally!

    Second example, the water. Dosia has two tanks that hold 90 gallons of water. That water gets into those tanks in one of three ways. It either 1)comes through the hose when we are docked, 2)we jerry jug it, or 3)we make it. Once the tanks are full our mission is to make that water last as long as possible. We never know if there will be a hose at the next dock we pull into or if the water on that particular island is even considered drinkable because sometimes it is unsanitary. Back home, I was not one of those people who was conscious of how much water I used in the shower, shaving, washing dishes, cooking…how quickly that has changed! When showering in our 2ft x2 1/2ft shower, you get in and turn on the water just long enough to get wet. In running the engine we can flip on the water heater and have a hot shower so from time to time we indulge as a treat to ourselves. After drenching myself I shampoo, shave, clean, and rinse before I turn the water on again and then it’s left on just long enough to wash away the suds. Showers over. It’s a quick process and depending on temps outside it can either be really refreshing or really chilly!

    If it sounds at all like I’m feeling sorry for myself or trying to gain sympathy points this is not the case at all. Believe me, we have it G-O-O-D out here and I am by no means roughing it. Some people we’ve come across don’t have a shower. Some people’s shower is over their toilet. Some people don’t have a toilet but a bucket instead. A BUCKET!!! Some people don’t have a fridge. A lot of people don’t have freezers which for them means that 95% of the time their meals consists of something from a can. Some people don’t have technological communications. Some people don’t have water makers so if they leave land with 90 gallons then they have to make that last until whenever they pull up to a water supply again. Our water maker, god bless it, makes one and a half gallons an hour. But you know what, that’s one and a half gallons more than we’d have if it wasn’t a luxury of ours.

    I think sometimes I write about these things not only for you but almost more for myself. As a reminder to me that anytime I get down or wish that something was “better” that there is always someone out there with less. Always. And who am I kidding, look at my tradeoff. There’s no 20 minute, hot shower in the world I’d swap for another chance to witness a whale putting on a show 50 yards from the boat. Nah, I’d definitely have to say I’m getting the better end of the deal…

  • Left Raro-Sailing to Beveridge Reef

    We pulled out of Raro last night just before dark. I left feeling almost sorry for the place. Such a great island with such a horrible harbor. I guess it’s not always so bad but we inadvertently timed our stay with two passing troughs of low pressure that brought northerly winds, sunless skies, and a chill in the air. When we first arrived, the idea of not having to use the outboard motor to get into the dock seemed a relief. When the second northerly blew in this weekend it became a struggle to get the dinghy back and forth the few yards from quai to boat without getting your head ripped off by a neighbor’s lines. People were dropping anchors on top of other people’s anchors, words were getting exchanged, cleats and stanchions were popping off boats, Dosia was covered in dirt blowing off the quai; my little voice said “let’s get the hell out of here.” So we did. And now we’re over 100 miles out and sailing along blissfully under a full mizzen, double-reefed main, and full genoa. As soon as the wind backs around another 15 degrees, up goes the spinnaker and we will hopefully coast right into Beveridge Reef. We had homemade beef stew for dinner last night, homemade lasagne coming tonight, and the meals are planned for the rest of the trip assuming we don’t catch any fish…whenever I get around to throwing out some lines. This is sailing at its best and we’re having a ball. It’s blowing 10 knots on our beam, a few gusts up to 15 and we’re doing anywhere from 4.5-6 knots in easy-riding seas. Even Marge, the anti-passagemaker can’t complain in these conditions. If all goes to plan, we’ll arrive at Beveridge Saturday morning or midday for a mid ocean rest stop. One or two night’s stay depending on weather. No land, just reef and a lagoon. One of those weird mid-ocean anomalies. As always, I’m hoping to get Marge in the water with some sharks! Check it out on google. Peace.
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