Day 11 on Niue on board FGT Tuesday 31 August 2010 Position Lat 19-03S Long 169-55W moored at Niue or out at sea – Zero Cape Petrel miles to Niue. (1274m from Whangarei NZ) Wind 10 to 14 knots North. Boat speed av 0 knots. Barometer 1015 a tad down Sails – none!! Still none. cloud cover – puffy trade wind numbers Air temp 28C water temp 28C
Fakaalofa Atu from Oma Tafua – Greetings from To Treasure Whales
We on on’d to the whales Tuesday, or rather, the whales on on’d to us. They waited patiently by the FGT at 6am blowing to let the Sm know he should be on deck ready for the days fun. The TTSoPac managed to soak everyone including our guest Lima or 65 who is an Oma Tafua member from Niue. What a nice guy as you will see. Spent some time observing and photographing the whales in the anchorage then headed off shore to check there. Not a whale to be seen – but a pod of friendly dolphins came by for a surf on the bow wave – they did a few leaping out of the water tricks and disappeared! Lima set out the fishing line with Auntie Roz’s choice of lures – ‘ that’s the one – nice bright colours. Fish like that’ AR should know as she is the bling expert hereabouts – man she has some snazzy high heels – 6″ numbers – black with gold spots and she creates her own rings and bangles so she drips with bling – such fun – and she plays a mean guitar and loves the oldies songs. Anywho – later on the reel screamed – big fish and I’m running out all your line. The poor old Sm can’t wind the reel handle very quickly – it’s like a 100 pounder is hooked up and you know it’s more like 20 pounder which it was. A nice sized mahi-mahi. Lima ended up with the rod, and with a happy smile reeled him in and dispatched the fish expertly – ‘Done that before, Lima?’ once or twice was the answer and pass me that rope there. Soon it was all over red rover – the fish was processed and popped into the fridge for Wed lunch – and Thur and Friday etc. So Lima and the Sm considered that was a successful day on the water. As we tooled along a very large vaka ( say 50′ long) appeared on the horizon heading for Niue from Tonga. This is a traditional Polynesian canoe with outriggers being sailed using traditional means of sailing, food and navigation. Next thing it was gone – apparently they don’t sail to windward and she was zig-zagging to Niue. We should see them Wed. Also Wed Team Whale expect the 120′ sailboat Infinity now that should be interesting – check out their website http://www.infinityexpedition.com/ for a flavour of their world. We cruised and cruised all day not a cetacean seen. Let’s go home was the cry – and you know what comes next – Mr Eagle Eyes or more correctly Mr White Tailed Tropic Bird spotted a pod 1500 metres away – the Sm can hardly see half that distance – and that set the tone for the next hour as two humpbacks quietly swam just under the surface for the hour with your crew finding it hard to keep in sighting distance, So that was it – whales at the start and finish of the day – guess we know what to do now. Meanwhile the wind had shifted to the North and strengthened somewhat meaning not so good conditions to sight whales so tomorrow may be a bust.
Cheers Mutolu Kia from the fishers of Team FalconGt
Fakaalofa Atu from Oma Tafua – Greetings from To Treasure Whales
We on on’d to the whales Tuesday, or rather, the whales on on’d to us. They waited patiently by the FGT at 6am blowing to let the Sm know he should be on deck ready for the days fun. The TTSoPac managed to soak everyone including our guest Lima or 65 who is an Oma Tafua member from Niue. What a nice guy as you will see. Spent some time observing and photographing the whales in the anchorage then headed off shore to check there. Not a whale to be seen – but a pod of friendly dolphins came by for a surf on the bow wave – they did a few leaping out of the water tricks and disappeared! Lima set out the fishing line with Auntie Roz’s choice of lures – ‘ that’s the one – nice bright colours. Fish like that’ AR should know as she is the bling expert hereabouts – man she has some snazzy high heels – 6″ numbers – black with gold spots and she creates her own rings and bangles so she drips with bling – such fun – and she plays a mean guitar and loves the oldies songs. Anywho – later on the reel screamed – big fish and I’m running out all your line. The poor old Sm can’t wind the reel handle very quickly – it’s like a 100 pounder is hooked up and you know it’s more like 20 pounder which it was. A nice sized mahi-mahi. Lima ended up with the rod, and with a happy smile reeled him in and dispatched the fish expertly – ‘Done that before, Lima?’ once or twice was the answer and pass me that rope there. Soon it was all over red rover – the fish was processed and popped into the fridge for Wed lunch – and Thur and Friday etc. So Lima and the Sm considered that was a successful day on the water. As we tooled along a very large vaka ( say 50′ long) appeared on the horizon heading for Niue from Tonga. This is a traditional Polynesian canoe with outriggers being sailed using traditional means of sailing, food and navigation. Next thing it was gone – apparently they don’t sail to windward and she was zig-zagging to Niue. We should see them Wed. Also Wed Team Whale expect the 120′ sailboat Infinity now that should be interesting – check out their website http://www.infinityexpedition.com/ for a flavour of their world. We cruised and cruised all day not a cetacean seen. Let’s go home was the cry – and you know what comes next – Mr Eagle Eyes or more correctly Mr White Tailed Tropic Bird spotted a pod 1500 metres away – the Sm can hardly see half that distance – and that set the tone for the next hour as two humpbacks quietly swam just under the surface for the hour with your crew finding it hard to keep in sighting distance, So that was it – whales at the start and finish of the day – guess we know what to do now. Meanwhile the wind had shifted to the North and strengthened somewhat meaning not so good conditions to sight whales so tomorrow may be a bust.
Cheers Mutolu Kia from the fishers of Team FalconGt
