After almost exactly the allowed three month stay in French Polynesia we cleared custom and immigration in Bora-Bora 24 July and sailed towards Mopelia. It's a small atoll south west from Bora-Bora, belonging to French Polynesia. A very slow sailing with the wind on our nose, which finally died and we had to motor the remaining 50nm.

Early morning we motored through the narrow pass, which almost looked like a blasted channel. Louise and Rex from Six Pack where standing on the edge of the channel and filmed our entrance.   
In the atoll was already Blue Marlin, Roxy, Six Pack, Traveller and some other French boats anchored.

Potluck on the beach (without the French boats) the first evening and then it was bird watching on the menu for the rest of our three days in Mopelia.
The last day we where on our own, since Roxy left for Suwarrow and the rest for Southern Cook Islands .
We had a really nice day with lots of Frigate birds, Boobies, different Terns and others.
Mopelia is a "true" atoll with only a surrounding reef and no remaining island in the centre, like the atolls in the Tuamotus we liked so much.
Only one family living there with a lots of pigs.

The 28 we got a favourable grib file for going to Suwarrow, and around 10 we motored thruogh the pass for the 500 nm to Suwarrow.
On the way we once again lost a big Mahi-Mahi. It seams that it's 50% change to get them on deck! But we think that we now know the trick, hopefully.

Early morning 1 of August we arrived to the National park of Suwarrow, governed by the Northen Cooks island.  
15 yachts where anchored behind the island, not precisely what you expect in a tranquil paradise. Before evening we where 18!!.
OK, once you have turned into the highway of South Pacific, you probably have to expect this.
After a week with relatively strong winds from the east, we where only four yachts. So it's a matter of timing.
Suwarrow have, compered to other atolls we visited, not much to offer. You are not allowed to move around in the atoll by yourself, outside the main island where the nice family live who take care of the administration of the Park. This means that you are very stationary and if the wind change to southerly, or worse westerly, the anchorage is not protected. The fetch across the atoll makes the anchorage uncomfortable in moderate wind and dangerous during stronger wind conditions.
The colonies of birds one can visit together with the guards are quite good but out of that, the memory of Tom Neals years on the island is probably what brings people here.
We stayed some days extra after most boats had left for American Samoa.
The reason was the arrival of Satumaa from Stockholm. We hadn't seen them since Patagonia March 2007, so it was definitely worth waiting for them. Especially as this was the last chance to meet with them since they, due to their dogs where heading for Malasia. We had three pleasant days together before we took of for Niue.

On the afternoon the 11:th we left for the 500 nm to Niue. The first 24 hours where windy on a beam reach in confused sea. After that we could pool out the genoa and sheet the self tacking jib behind the main and conditions then became just perfect.

The last day the wind dropped dead but the evening came with a light wind on the beam, just enough to make us do 6 knots in almost no sea. This lasted the whole night, and by moonset 6 o'clock we grabbed a mooring outside town in Nuie. There are 16 mooring bouys, anchoring is not something one want to consider due to the chasms in the coral bottom, 100 feet down below.
Niue is a nice experience, except the very rolling anchorage and the sometimes adventures dingy landing.

The island has lot of caves, chasms and other nature specialities to show the visitors, and for two days we biked around and saw most of them. Quite a special island completely made of coral in spite it is 60m high.
No lakes because the rainwater goes immediately through the "cliff" down to the ground water level and give Niue a perfect reservoir of fresh water.

The green mass is constant! It grows everywhere. Biking around you see nothing from the road except trees.     
One of the sites, the Arch in the north of the island was advertised as only the arch, nothing was mentioned about the amazing limestone cave we had to pass with a lot of stalactites and stalagmites. The Arch/rock bridge was actually secondary, if that is possible for a former bridge builder.

After another rolly night we left for Tonga and the Vava'u islands. The wind had been coming from the south west for a couple of days and this plus the loss of one day, passing the datum line, made many boats leave Niue for Tonga this day. Another reason was the checking in procedure in Nuiefu.
No later than four o'clock on Friday, otherwise you where supposed to anchor and not go ashore. 
We where the last boat out of 8 to leave in the afternoon and during the rest of the day and the first night we caught up with the rest. Although the early and big ones sailed slow, not to arrive in the dark on Friday morning.
The reason for our better speed was our out pooled genoa and flat sheeted self tacking jib.
The conditions where extremely favourable for us. The wind shifted from 90 to 150 degrees over the boat several times, making the rest of the fleet putting their whisky pools up and down, the sea state made their sails losing wind due to their rolling.
Our sail setting made it possible to carry the out pooled genoa the whole time and the jib prevented almost any rolling keeping our sail under constant wind pressure.
Not to mention the comfortable sailing without rolling!
We where ahead of Cat Coquette, a Danish Malö 116 with Lone and Steffen, the first evening and the rest of the trip we where in VHF distance. When we the next morning caught a Mahi-Mahi we immediately invited them for "Gravad" Mahi-Mahi as soon as we where moored in Niefu.
It become a nice evening with of course some Danish Aqvavite. 

The second evening, in total darkness just before moonrise, we had an frightening experience. We thought we saw a green navigation light on the stern to starboard. Looking carefully it was "once again" just a star. Half an hour later it was definitely a green navigation light. But it change colour between green and white several times, and another whirred thing, it was almost as steady as a star. There had been a catamaran among the eight boats and this was now tacking downwind across the field of one keeled boats.
We where now only making five knots due to reefed sails not to make an to early arrival, and the catamaran was of course during this conditions much faster. We hailed on the VHF and used a torch. They answered, was sorry and gibed away from the course right to our stern, only 30m away! Of course this was a quite scary experience, but it was also quite fantastic. Imagine if you do the calculation of the possibilities of two boats hitting each other in the Pacific... It's probably impossible!
When we moored at the customs wharf the guys from the catamaran came and apologised. What really had happened in that boat last night will be a question for us, but a remembering to keep as good outlook over the stern as over the bow! Another thought was about this masthead lights. When you are that close a light 18m above the water probably isn't much help.
Think about all these anchoring light in the mast top. Coming in a dingy among anchored or moored boats isn't easy.
After clearance and grabbing a mooring buoy with free WiFi we could start to get ourselfs organised in Neiafu. First we had to find the Immigration and the Health clearance because they where not at the wharf. The health guy we haven't found yet after almost two weeks!
Neiafu is definitly another experience. Of course very effected from tourism, but in another way than "normal" hotel tourism. In Neiafu are charter yachties and cruisers dominant. Actually, back packers seams more frequent than hotel guests. This together makes a flowering little city/village with a lot of services that we haven't seen for long time.
We even found a small Austrian bakery, yummy.

It feels like coming to a much more living community than in most islands in French Polynesia. Here whaling, sailing and diving are what comes first. Every day information via the VHF!
Very effective and very little of bureaucracy, wonder how long time before somebody in the administration interfere?
The harbour bay is very protected and supposed to be cyclone safe.

We spend the weekend and Monday morning in town before we left for the VaVáu archipelago which is from east and south protected by coral reef making the area a play ground for charter companies. There are more than 25 more or less protected anchoring, some with moorings.
In spite of all that, we have been the only boat in some places! The narrowness to boats isn't a great problem, but of course it helps if one is prepared in advance to the situation. Another reason for this great number of boats is of course all cruisers. Tonga is on the "High way" to New Zealand and Australia. Before Tonga there are many choices, but most yachts have Tonga on their route.
On top of that, many yachts spend a lot of time here, waiting for perfect conditions for the passage to New Zealand. So no wonder there are some boats in the area!

We will spend about two month in Tonga's three southerly group of islands, before we are ready for NZ in late October or early November depending on the weather.

14 September 2008
Annika & Björn
Lindisfarne

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