We are now at the local high school which is the only internet connection on the island. Weather is perfect though yesterday was rainy and squally. We visited the Methodist church yesterday and despite the surroundings the singing was still outstanding. We were invited to lunch at one of the local family's house and learned quite a bit about island life and the devastation caused by the Tsunami last September. We donated some clothing and candies and other bits and pieces and I wish we had brought more to give away.
There is not much here but life is very peaceful and we may stay a few more days
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
27 August
Callisto does not currently have internet in tonga so here is the latest update:
We arrived in Niuatoputapu (New Potatoes) in Northern Tonga. We covered 205 miles in about 26 hours and got in about 0930 to discover that we had lost a day, having crossed the international dateline. We are now 13 hours ahead of GMT instead of 11 hours behind GMT but on the next day. Perhaps i could have done this on the 22nd and missed my birthday but i doubt would have remained a year younger.
The anchorage is flat calm with a mild breeze and picture perfect. A brief foray ashore and quick chat with the locals revealed the devastation from a recent Tsunami and a cyclone. Both of which occured within the last year. There is no infrastructure here and definitely no internet, so photos will have to wait.
We just had a visit from the customes and immigration and quarantine people and an invitation for Sunday Lunch after church tomorrow.
Further details to follow
We arrived in Niuatoputapu (New Potatoes) in Northern Tonga. We covered 205 miles in about 26 hours and got in about 0930 to discover that we had lost a day, having crossed the international dateline. We are now 13 hours ahead of GMT instead of 11 hours behind GMT but on the next day. Perhaps i could have done this on the 22nd and missed my birthday but i doubt would have remained a year younger.
The anchorage is flat calm with a mild breeze and picture perfect. A brief foray ashore and quick chat with the locals revealed the devastation from a recent Tsunami and a cyclone. Both of which occured within the last year. There is no infrastructure here and definitely no internet, so photos will have to wait.
We just had a visit from the customes and immigration and quarantine people and an invitation for Sunday Lunch after church tomorrow.
Further details to follow
26 August
We are at sea again having left Pago Pago in American Samoa this morning. We are on our way to the Northern part of the Kingdom of Tonga a distance of about 200 miles. We are going well at over 8 kts in 22 kts of breeze and should get in tomorrow morning sometime.
Current position at 1400H is 14 42.1S,171 20.2 W course is 230 degs M in moderate seas.
My internet went out last night before I could post some more information on our stay in American Samoa, so here we go. It would appear the American Samoa has had a bad rap from the cruising guides and consequently other cruisers. I'm not sure why that should be because it's most undeserved. Perhaps the guides are written by Europeans who are of the opinion that anything associated with America and Americans has to be inherently tainted in some manner. Too bad really because we found it to be quite excellent. The harbor is about the best in the South Pacific and considering that it is a busy commercial port it really was not quite as dirty as we were led to believe. Even the tuna canneries were quite unobtrusive in the prevailing breeze. There was no swell and the harbor was very safe and since we were tied up to the dock there were no dinghy drills (yay).
The island itself was spectacular with high mountains and jungles and crystal clear bays. Samoans were like gentle giants and almost everybody spoke English. Everyone was inquisitive but polite and we never heard anyone even raise their voice during our stay on the island. We did our traveling about by local bus which are really highly modified pickup trucks. Everyone is different and customized with amazing paint jobs and interiors. The one thing they had in common were massive sound systems with 700 plus watt amplifiers that played the driver's choice of music at volume levels that would make your ears bleed. Almost anywhere you want to go costs a dollar, so we didn't even bother to rent a car
We spend one very pleasant afternoon touring the east side of the island by bus and ended up in a restaurant/bar called Tisa's Barefoot Bar. We were the only ones there and we had an enjoyable lunch and a few drinks in a gorgeous, secluded bay and chatted with the owner about the island.
Other attractions were the "Cost-U-Less" which is a ware house store similiar to Costo with lots of familiar, American goods at very good prices. Much provisioning was done and we are set now until New Zealand.
The Admiral and I got our Sunday best on and visited the local Congregational church. The entire service was in Samoan so we didn't understand a word but the singing was exquisite. The congregants were very friendly and the pastor even gave the Admiral his orchid lei which was much appreciated.
All in all, American Samoa was a wonderful place to visit and we could have spent much more time here but Tonga beckons.
I'll post some photos of Samoa when I can.
Current position at 1400H is 14 42.1S,171 20.2 W course is 230 degs M in moderate seas.
My internet went out last night before I could post some more information on our stay in American Samoa, so here we go. It would appear the American Samoa has had a bad rap from the cruising guides and consequently other cruisers. I'm not sure why that should be because it's most undeserved. Perhaps the guides are written by Europeans who are of the opinion that anything associated with America and Americans has to be inherently tainted in some manner. Too bad really because we found it to be quite excellent. The harbor is about the best in the South Pacific and considering that it is a busy commercial port it really was not quite as dirty as we were led to believe. Even the tuna canneries were quite unobtrusive in the prevailing breeze. There was no swell and the harbor was very safe and since we were tied up to the dock there were no dinghy drills (yay).
The island itself was spectacular with high mountains and jungles and crystal clear bays. Samoans were like gentle giants and almost everybody spoke English. Everyone was inquisitive but polite and we never heard anyone even raise their voice during our stay on the island. We did our traveling about by local bus which are really highly modified pickup trucks. Everyone is different and customized with amazing paint jobs and interiors. The one thing they had in common were massive sound systems with 700 plus watt amplifiers that played the driver's choice of music at volume levels that would make your ears bleed. Almost anywhere you want to go costs a dollar, so we didn't even bother to rent a car
We spend one very pleasant afternoon touring the east side of the island by bus and ended up in a restaurant/bar called Tisa's Barefoot Bar. We were the only ones there and we had an enjoyable lunch and a few drinks in a gorgeous, secluded bay and chatted with the owner about the island.
Other attractions were the "Cost-U-Less" which is a ware house store similiar to Costo with lots of familiar, American goods at very good prices. Much provisioning was done and we are set now until New Zealand.
The Admiral and I got our Sunday best on and visited the local Congregational church. The entire service was in Samoan so we didn't understand a word but the singing was exquisite. The congregants were very friendly and the pastor even gave the Admiral his orchid lei which was much appreciated.
All in all, American Samoa was a wonderful place to visit and we could have spent much more time here but Tonga beckons.
I'll post some photos of Samoa when I can.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Pago Pago, American Samoa
We arrived in Pago Pago yesterday after 2 days of beautiful sailing from Niue. Reaching in less than 15kts with calm seas and clear weather was a wonderful experience.
We are tied up to an occasionally stinky dock, depending on which way the breeze is blowing the Starkist Tuna Cannery can be offensive.
This is America again and we can use dollars and we even went to Mickey D's for lunch yesterday. There are some very large people here.
I'll post some more Niue photos and some new ones of Pago Pago soon
We are tied up to an occasionally stinky dock, depending on which way the breeze is blowing the Starkist Tuna Cannery can be offensive.
This is America again and we can use dollars and we even went to Mickey D's for lunch yesterday. There are some very large people here.
I'll post some more Niue photos and some new ones of Pago Pago soon
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Alofi, Niue
We arrived in Alofi Bay in Niue after a rough 160 mile passage from Beveridge Reef. It rained almost continuously and blew force 6-7 (26-33 kts) all night. Even had to put the foul weather gear on. The weather in the western south pacific is much different from the eastern part. All is well on Callisto and we are on a nice safe mooring in Alofi Bay. We have visited the Niue Yacht Club which bills itself as the " biggest little yacht club in the world" and the road trip start tomorrow.
Sorry about the few posts over the past week but Jessica has had a problem with her computer and was unable to post our position reports
Sorry about the few posts over the past week but Jessica has had a problem with her computer and was unable to post our position reports
beveridge reef
diving on the anchor
anchor chain, beveridge reef
lagoon with coral heads and wreck
beveridge reef , the dinghy looks like it's floating.
beveridge reef, Admiral's right ankle
jen on beveridge
captain jen
beveridge reef sunset
lagoon from up the mast
surf on beveridge reef
Birthday girl
beveridge reefThis is our third day on Beveridge Reef. It has been described as an outworldly experience by the cruising guides and I would agree. Imagine being anchored on the peak of a 4980 metre mountain in the middle of the Pacific where the depth is 5000 metres and that's where we are. The reef is made up of live coral which shines pink in the sunlight, with heavy surf crashing on to it. The reef measures about 4 by 2 miles and the lagoon has a depth of about 20 metres. We are anchored on a band of fine white sand just on the edge of the lagoon in about 3 metres of water. It's quite calm except for some wind waves and some swell at high tide when the swell gets over the reef. The water is incredibly clear down to about 100 feet and we are in the company of two other boats. Dagmar with two young Australians aboard and Beaujolais with Roger from Wales and his US crew Darryl. Lots of socializing and movie swapping and drinking of red wine in the evening.
We celebrated Jenifer's birthday on Saturday with a cake and candles and gifts in this wonderful place.
We have been out on the reef at low tide searching for lobsters today and yesterday. We saw some but were unable to catch any for the table.
We plan on spending the day here and move on tomorrow to Niue, about 150 miles.
We celebrated Jenifer's birthday on Saturday with a cake and candles and gifts in this wonderful place.
We have been out on the reef at low tide searching for lobsters today and yesterday. We saw some but were unable to catch any for the table.
We plan on spending the day here and move on tomorrow to Niue, about 150 miles.
beveridge reef
We are now anchored up at what must be the lonliest anchorage in the world. It's absolutely magical. Full report to follow
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Avaroa, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
We are in the harbor in Avaroa in the Southern Cook Islands for the past few days. The weather has turned rainy and cool and quite blustery so I don't think we are going anywhere for a few days. Cousin Benny left yesterday and we have enjoyed having him here and I hope he visits again soon. We did the round the island tour by car and there is an exquisite lagoon in the south eastern part of the island which we all enjoyed. We also saw Wigmore's Waterfall, not quite Niagra Falls but attractive nonetheless.
The most amazing thing here is that they all speak English! Albeit with a New Zealand accent and after nine monts of having to communicate in Spanish and French, this is really a pleasure.
There is a cultural festival going on this week and we will no doubt, get to see it.
constitution week, rarotonga
Avatui harbor, Avaroa, Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Chicken dance
leaving Bora Bora
leaving Rarotonga
The most amazing thing here is that they all speak English! Albeit with a New Zealand accent and after nine monts of having to communicate in Spanish and French, this is really a pleasure.
There is a cultural festival going on this week and we will no doubt, get to see it.
constitution week, rarotonga 
Avatui harbor, Avaroa, Rarotonga
Rarotongar
Rarotonga rainbow
Rarotonga rainbow
Chicken dance
leaving Bora Bora
leaving Rarotonga
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