can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Starblazer - 23/05/2014 –From one sailing club to another!



A year ago today, Friday, we cast off from our home club, Hardway Sailing
Club, to head westwards. Since then most of our travels have been in the
right direction except a detour into the Mediterranean for a couple of
months and our Panama Canal transit which heads from northwest to southeast.
Yesterday we arrived in Niue, 12 hours behind British Summer Time but not
quite half way around the world.

Our arrival was well timed, before the immigration team stopped working for
the day, and we went ashore to clear customs and immigration. Getting
ashore can be rather fraught but fortunately the seas were relatively flat.
There is no pontoon, jetty or beach where you can leave the RIB in the water
and all are lifted ashore onto the quay. I scrambled up one set of steps,
then John positioned the dinghy under the crane next to the second set of
steps which were awash. I lowered the hook, John connected it then
scrambled out of the dinghy, I raised the hook and lifted the dinghy up,
John swung it onto the wharf. We then lifted it on to a flat-bed trolley and
moved it to a suitable ‘parking’ spot where we slid it off the trolley. The
crane is electric, fortunately, and we were helped this time by Paul though
we have subsequently done it with no help. The formal paperwork was done in
an open sided building with the remnants of a thatched roof, right beside
the wharf.

Two other boats cleared in with us, then Paul gave us a conducted tour of
the highlights of Alofi. We stopped at the Niue Yacht Club, a club with a
small local membership, an expanding overseas membership, no yachts but a
very welcoming couple and cold beers and a big book exchange. We have now
paid our membership fees, bought a burgee and are members of Niue Yacht
Club.

The evening barbecue was excellent but we were rather tired so made our way
back to the boat fairly early.

Today we did some shopping, booked a car for tomorrow, went to a reception
at the New Zealand High Commissioner’s house then back into Alofi for a Fia
Fia. The Fia Fia is an evening of national songs and dance and local food.
It was very good. That is now two days running that I haven’t had to cook
dinner! Wonderful. I did, however, make a New England (white) clam chowder
for lunch yesterday as I had half a tin of clams and half a tin of sliced
mushrooms in the fridge which needed eating.

Joyce


Previous | Next