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10. day - 09/10/2007 - The early morning sun was shining and the wind was still stable. We were going fast and we could see Palmerton before sunset. When we arrived close to the island it became dark and there was no moon. We knew that SV Moonshadow is on a mooring in the bay of Palmerston so we asked them on VHF to turn their anchorlight on because we are approching the island in the dark. We wanted to know how far we can go without hitting the reef of the atoll. We knew the coordinates of the mooring next to the island.
The wind started to be very strong around 30 knots but by the time we were protected from the waves by the island.
We arrived at 9 pm next to Moonshadow. A man was waiting for us with a torch in a small boat and gave us the mooring line.
- My name is Edward. I am your host. - he told us.
He also told, he would come with the customs in the morning and that we could call him if we need anything on channel 16. His calling sign was Alpha Echo or Alpha Sierra. We also talked with Bob on the radio that we delivered his cabbages.
Daily position:
21:00 18-02.89S 163-11.68W log= 23496.2
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11. day - 10/10/2007 - In the morning Edward Marsters (our host) arrived at our boat with Alex from immigration and customs. Later on Bob Marsters arrived also for the cabbages. We shared the cabbages and tomatoes between Bob and Edward because both wanted a share of it.
Alex was happy about our documentations and because we have already cleared out from Aitutaki we did not have to pay for any other paperwork.
After the immigration and custom check Edward took us to the island on his motorboat. He was also hosting another boat Moonshadow.
He offered us coffee and ice water and introduced his family. Tuaine Marsters the grandmother was sitting in the shelter of the house. It was a hot day. Simon Marsters was the biggest brother of Edward and he was the Government Representative of the island. The wife of Edward came from Rarotonga and she was the only here who spoke the Cook Islands Maori language. Edward has 3 children 2 boys David and John and a girl who was in Rarotonga with the sister of Edwards wife.
In another house the sister of Edward, Sue made amazingly nice hats from palm leaves. She had a husband called Paul Marsters and we could continue the whole Marsters family tree, but instead of it here is the original story of the Marsters:
Palmerston was uninhabited when Captain Cook arrived in 1774. William Marsters the legendary settler arrived here and wanted to set up a coconut plantation in 1863. He brought with him from Penrhyn (other island) his Polynesian wife and her sister and then they were joined by another sister of her. William Marsters married all three women, and by the time he died in 1899 (age of 78) he had begotten 21 children. Thousands of his descendants live around the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Currently
there were 13 families in Palmerston.
Palmerston is very far from everything. There is not any airport or harbour. Twice or three times a year a freighter comes and brings the ordered food and construction things and other staffs. And then it also takes the frozen parrotfish which is the main income of the island. A few years ago only the whale hunter or trading vessels came to this island and the first family who saw them started to host them. This became a tradition today with the sailingboats. All arriving yachts have a hosting family
on the island and therefore the travellers like to do something useful on the island (such as finishing the new part of the school, teaching the kids, etc).
After the introduction we went for a walk on the island with Edward who showed us everything. We met with Yvonne at the Administration building (she is the Secretary here and also Principal in the school). We also visited the small church and the cemetary where William Marsters rests. We met again with Bob Marsters who gave us parrotfish for the cabbages and tomatoes we gave him. Then we had lunch in Edwards house also with the crew of Moonshadow. |
12. day - 11/10/2007 - After some snorkeling in the morning (we saw some fish and turtles outside of the atoll) we met again with Edward. We collected them some food from the boat such as sugar, canned fruits, smashed potato powder, garlic and gasoline for the genarator to freeze the fish etc. They were happy about these things because they started to run out of nearly everything. They also had DVD player so we gave them some movies too.
Then we went to the school and we gave them a little donation including books for the children, paints, coloured pens and a calculator that they had on their wish board. We had a spare calculator on board that we could give them.
I was talking to Yvonne about the school system here. Imagine that there are 25 children for two teachers and these children have different ages, so all of them have different studies at the same time. They use an American self-study system which is also accepted in NZ and the children study NZ and Polynesian history too. I stayed with a small group outside and told them a little bit about Hungary. There was a geographical map on the wall in the classroom where they could check it too.
For lunch we had parrotfish with Edwards family and then we went with them fishing. They go nearly every day to collect the fish from another motu (islet).
We used a circular net in a shallow water on the reef of the motu. In the old times they were made of coconut fronds and called the rau. Edward and his wife beat the surface of the water with a stick to drive the fish into the net. Our biggest enemies were of course sharks. It was amazing to see how the 8 years old John was fighting with them with his stick.
At the end we had some nice catches so Edward gave us parrotfish for our help. We also gave them some squid bait because they wanted them to win the upcoming fishing competition among the families. |
13. day - 12/10/2007 - We checked the weatherforecast and it predicted 20 knots of wind. So we felt it was time to go. We said good bye to our hosts then the wind died completely. Yes, the weatherforecast is the same like home, you never know what really could happen. Then it started to rain and it was raining nearly all day. Therefore we stayed one more day on the mooring. I collected the rain water and I had a chance to wash also the clothes in fresh water.
It is true that the anchorage here is not good sheltered outside of the atoll but there is a really good thing about it. You are close to the wide nature. We saw many humback whales around the boat. They were now in pairs. They sleep with us and wake up with us. Sometimes we also here their breathings in the night. We also tried to snorkel with them and they took care of us underwater. They also swim around and under the boat but they never touch it. The nicest part is when they jump out from the
water with their huge body or when they put out their face from the water like a rock for a moment. It is not easy to catch these moments. But this time they were so close to us that we could take some pictures of their famous tail movements before they sank.
In the afternoon Edward and his family came back from the daily fishing and he saw we were still there. He felt sorry that we could not start our journey and he gave us a new fresh parrotfish to eat for dinner. We hope we can leave tomorrow with the predicted new wind. |
14. day - 13/10/2007 - In the morning we felt the wind on our skin. The meter showed between 10-14 knots. We let the mooring to go and raised the sails. We left Palmerston behind and our house-whales waved good bye with their tails.
There was a small storm before us and threw some lightening too. Then it turned around and headed towards us. We released the sails and started the engine. At least it was good for the batteries. By the time the storm has gone the sun was shining again and the wind returned from the east. We had very nice sailing and we had some parrotfish for lunch from the fridge. Moonshadow started a few hours also behind us. We had VHF connection with them and we share our position with each other timely. We
also gave our position on the South Pacific Net where actually Ruth from SV Do It was the radio controller and we had the chance to talk to them. They just left Niue and headed towards Tonga too.
We have 630 miles to Tonga. On the way we have Niue too (380 miles from Palmerston) but we only stop there if the weather conditions force us to do that. We have to hurry the hurican season is so close.
Daily position:
16:00 18-12.29S 164-00.59W log= 23543.6
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15. day - 14/10/2007 - In the morning the wind dropped a little bit but only for a few hours so we charged a little our batteries (2 hours). Then the easterly wind arrived back with 12-15 knots so we had a very good sailing again and we were doing like 6-7 knots on the flat sea. We had again beautiful sunshine and just a few light squalls. Moonshadow the 50 feet sloop is now a bit behind us and we are loosing the VHF connection with them. But we talk on SSB radio through the South Pacific Net in the evening. We are doing
very good with flying our double genoas in downwind.
Daily position:
10:00 18-31.80S 165-29.20W log= 23629.9
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16. day - 15/10/2007 - The wind started to drop in the afternoon. It is now around 10-12 knots which is not easy to sail downwind. So we slowed down a bit but the nature compensated it with a nice rainbow behind us from a small squall.
Interesting: we passed today 2 reefs in the middle of the ocean. Due to the vulcanic activities islands still grow in the Pacific. Some of them are not island yet only reefs. In the older times these island or reef formations were not marked on the maps. It could have been a hard navigation in that times.
Daily position:
09:45 18-52.60S 167-37.79W log= 23753.5
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17. day - 16/10/2007 - Nice sailing all day and the wind was a bit stronger in the afternoon. We checked the weatherforecast and decided to stop in Niue only for 2 or 3 days. We were waiting for a much stronger wind to get to Tonga. The anchorage looked also good in Niue from weather perspective.
We saw the island from 30 miles. It was not very high but wide. The waves were breaking on the rocky shore.
We arrived at Alofi (town of Niue) at 9 pm it was dark but with moon. Simon the skipper from SV. Roxy came with a torch and gave us a mooring line.
Then we pumped up the dinghy and we were waiting for Moonshadow. Their expected arrival was around 11 pm.
Daily positions:
16:37 19-13.60S 169-44.70W log= 23875.3
19:00 19-03.49S 169-55.80W log= 23889.8
19:00 19-03.49S 169-55.80W log= 23889.8
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18. day - 17/10/2007 - Moonshadow arrived at 2 am. And we fell asleep.
In the morning we called Niue Radio to check in. They asked us to stay on board a little because they could not find the officials. It was national holiday on this week. So we started to clean up the boat. At 10 am we got the permission to get on shore with our clearance documents. Keith the commodore of the Niue Yacht Club was waiting for us on shore and when we arrived with Moonshadow he showed us how to raise our dinghy with the crane from the water. First he drived us along with his car in the
town. He showed the police station (immigration), the customs office, the shops and the bank and the destroyed houses from 2004, when the hurricane hit them. He told that the waves came up that time by 35 meters and hit the top of the hill and took the houses and a museum from the shore. We were not suprised that people try to leave the island. Although the frequency of the hurricane is not favourable on the island the beauty of the natural environment is first class, also the underwater visibility
as there is not any river on the island which could make the sea water cloudy.
We arrived again before a great celebration the Constitution Day (19 October) with programmes. The canoe race has been already behind but the flag hoisting was planned for tomorrow and the further programmes on Friday.
Checking in went quickly at the customs. It was the same at the police station but we also had to clear out here because they planned not to be open in the next few days. We also had to exchange money very quickly because the bank was to close at 11 am for the week and there is not any ATM machine on the island. After the officials we went to discover the town and the underwater world. We saw many sea snakes in the water, but people say here they are not dangerous, but who knows. There was hot shower
in the marine we have never had anywhere for a long time before. |
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