Leaving Rarotonga and extricating ourselves from the miserable wharf was almost as difficult as arriving and tieing up to the wharf. First we had to release all the stern and side lines except one, and then gradually pay out the last one as we hauled in on the two anchor lines to get away from the wharf without hitting the boats on either side of us.



Out in the small harbor we gradually got the two anchors stowed, but then had to motor back and forth for about half an hour as we rerigged our Code 0 (the large third sail on the bow for light wind sailing) and got the mainsail up.

Our first day en route to Niue was rather choppy, but then sailing was smoother for several days of the almost 600 mile passage. The last day was windy and rough again so we were happy to circle around the north side of Niue and into the well protected harbor on the west side of the island. There we were lucky to pick up the #1 mooring closest to the dock. Since there is no real harbor, I was concerned that we would have a rolly and uncomfortable time on the mooring, but it turned out the island gave excellent protection from the rather persistently strong east winds, and we had a very smooth and quiet stay for the week we were here on the mooring.





The island, known as the rock, has no beaches or harbors at which to land. There was a small concrete wharf we could motor over to on our dinghy and then use a crane to lift the dinghy out of the water, drop it on a small hand drawn cart, and park it on the wharf until returning and reversing the process. We gradually became quite proficient at this maneuver.

The island was lushly green, but had different geology as it was made up entirely of coral. All rain water would filter through the coral out to sea with the lack of silt making for beautifully clear water.



The coral formations resulted in a number of large arches, chasms, and caves which were absolutely gorgeous. We visited as many as we could over the one week we were on the rock.













The locals were all very friendly and there were a number of good restaurants. We had fun spending more time with Bill and his girls Nicole, Brooke, Alexi, and Stina on Sand Pebble. His other crew was Sean who is a software programmer with an interest in robotics and artificial intelligence. I enjoyed discussing computer awareness and consciousness with him over the following weeks. And of course we enjoyed playing music and singing together with all onboard Sand Pebble.

Photos and videos to follow.