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American Spirit II - Day 142; About Niue, Sea Snakes, Another Infection, Torrential Rains & Rocking and Rolling on a Mooring Ball; Monday, May 26, 2014



Slept in today, up at 6:58 AM. Really 7:58 AM 'sleep' time because we moved our clocks an hour last night before going to bed.



Breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. Had to get moving 'early' because we had to clear in with customs and immigration on the wharf at 9:00 AM.



About Niue. Niue is one of the smallest countries in the world and has the largest raised coral atoll in the world. Discovered by Captain Cook in 1774 it lies about 1,100 west of Bora Bora and 1,850 from New Zealand. The elevation on Niue is fairly constant - 200 feet of limestone. Nick named 'The Rock.' Due to a lack of water run off, the waters around the island are reputed to be some of the clearest in the world, with visibility of as much as 240 feet. And Niue is one of only 3 places in the world where it is legal to swim with Humpback Whales. But with a guide, of course. We can't really anchor off of Niue because the water is so deep, so the Niue Yacht Club has 20 mooring balls that you tie up to. And because of the geological formation of the island, there are no beaches to land your dingy at. So we have to motor into a wharf and use a crane to lift our dingy out of the water and store it on the land while we go about our business on shore. And no one operates this crane for you. You do it yourself. The population of Niue is 1,500 and everyone speaks fluent English because of the islands association with New Zealand. Cars drive on the left like in the UK. And Niue is so isolated that the only way to get there is by plane from New Zealand, a 3 hour flight. And there are now 2 flights per week. There used to be just one until recently.



As we were sitting in the cockpit having coffee and breakfast, Joel pointed out a sea snake that was swimming casually by our transom. About 3 feet long, green with black vertical stripes, and about 3 inches in diameter. With its head out of the water like all those misty pictures we've all seen of the Loch Ness Monster. Apparently these sea reptiles are quite timid. Just don't startle them because if they bite you, you die. There is no treatment for their venomous bite. So I guess jumping off the boat is being taken off the activity list. Just like in Suwarrow, where jumping into the water from the boat attracts about a dozen black tipped sharks every time you do something like that.



While in Suwarrow I don't know if I was bitten by a bug on the back of my right calf; or just got a small scratch that has gotten infected. The area is now oozing and infected; and is painful enough that it is extremely sensitive to the touch and hard to sleep. Since there are no clinics on Niue, I'm going to have to go to the hospital tomorrow to get it looked at. Joel thinks I have a spider living with me in my bedding. With that in mind, we've stripped the bedding out of the boat and are laundering it as I type. And to make matters even better, there is dengue fever in Niue, Tonga and Fiji. Welcome to tropical paradise!



Clearing in with customs and immigration was not a problem. We were told to be at the wharf at 9:00 AM. Customs arrived at 9:10 AM and immigration at 9:30 AM. Its called 'island time.' Seems like most countries we've visited are on island time.



After clearing in, Suzana, from Rally control, gave us a 15 minute tour of the area around our anchorage in her van pointing out areas of interest: the laundry, hardware store, Niue Yacht Club, police station, 'famous' restaurants, the hospital and airport, etc.



On our way back to our boat we stopped by the catamaran Chez Nous and picked up some Bear Clamps to help secure our broken shroud. Jonathan of Chez Nous heard my call for help during the previous day's communication net and volunteered the spare parts. He's also going to cut a section of wire for us to attach to the shroud and act as a 'splint' until we can get the whole wire piece replaced. Thank you Chez Nous. Later today during lunch Free & Breezy also offered us another clamp. We'll pick it up tomorrow.



Today is not a good day to sight see as it is raining. Nevertheless, after clearing in and going back to the boat to shower and change clothes, we headed back to the island to drop off our laundry ($25 per load), have lunch at an Indian restaurant, visit the police station so I can get a driver's license to rent a car, visit the Niue Yacht Club, the smallest yacht club in the world and one with no members having boats on Niue, buy an internet card that supposedly will allow us to connect from our boat, stop in with the tourist office to arrange a tour for tomorrow, visit the hardware store to confirm that they have nothing we need, and finally to the super market where we purchased some essentials. On the way back to our dingy it is raining buckets, making the dingy ride back to our boat a real treat.



We're supposed to have a welcome cocktail party at 4:30 PM and a dinner BBQ at 5:30 PM, but the latter is canceled due to the heavy rain and waves in the anchorage. Too dangerous to go to the dingy dock with a squall blowing thru.



Dinner consisted of freeze dried, Lasagne in Meat Sauce, left over sweet peas, fruit cocktail and fresh bread that we bought in the super market.



After dinner we watched the movies Cast Away and Armageddon. The former starred Tom Hanks who was stranded on a deserted island for 4 years, an island 600 miles south of the Cook islands. We're actually on an island 540 miles south of the Cook islands. Small world. We had micro waved popcorn during the double feature.



The boat rocked back and forth due to a bad swell, 20 degrees left and then 20 degrees right. It was awful. I had to stuff cups throughout the galley to stop items in shelving from banging back and forth all the time.



Lastly, before going to bed, we had to go into the boat's most remote storage location to retrieve my prescriptions. If I can't get to the doctor today I'll start taking some Amoxicilline. I'd rather not, because I'd like to 'save' what I have for when I can't get anything else.



341 Days until home.



Brian Fox


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