Day 7 on Niue on board FGT Friday 27 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 20 knots East – South-East. Boat speed av 0 knots. Barometer 1017 going maybe down maybe up 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
And as usual I was wrong – expectations of a quiet sail back to the mooring were shattered when Mr. Curly the humpback whale was sighted close to the main town of Alofi. Olive knew it was him because his dorsal fin was a tad curly just like Mr. Curly in the Michael Leuning cartoons in Australia. That’s ok for Ausbods but us Canucks associate Curly with – you know don’t you – Larry Curly and Moe – the 3 Stooges. So the Sm reckons that if we watched the series that just happens to be on board we’d figure out Mr Curly’s antics, and sure enough it worked! He blew to the right of us, dove, blew to the left of us, then blew behind us giving us the fin(ger). The Sm is always amazed by the sleek, hugeness of these animals and is sure nuclear subs are modeled on whales. We were pretty happy campers with that sighting and celebrated on board at the mooring where Cara, Olive and Ben – Team Whale – did some speckie synchronized diving simulating whales fluking, you know, of course, that’s when they dive with the tail straight up in the air. The interesting thing was their cossies were a tad improvised! Vanessa directed the show as she is an expert on that kind of water dancing. Soon enough the whole gang was in the water splashing about to beat the band. Try it – for tail flukes you can submerge with your ankles together, feet angled out like a whales tail, or if you prefer, go under feet first with your arms up, wrists together, palms angled out like a tail – also good to use in your dance moves. As we were drying off, the Sm innocently asked Karen if it was kosher to swim ashore and back after dinner. Karen said sharks feed at night but go ahead if that turns your crank – Thanks Karen – whose side are you on anyway? Actually that was a bit embellished what she really said was -’are you a bloody idiot -stay out of the water – the dark shapes are about at night’ plus the ‘harmless’ sea snakes are continually tooling past the boat heads up for a looksee but they have tiny mouths so they only poison you if you kiss one -hmmm. Team Whale left and Team Falcongt freshened up with the transom shower now in full operation – motor a while and the fresh water is nice and hot – aahh – the luxurious feeling of a hot shower washing away the sticky salt water. Batteries fully charged, lots of lights, propane at the stove, stereos all in action, bose system for music, movies or radio, and hot water – this is some boat! Karen, Karl and the Sm dinghied ashore to be greeted by a couple of yachties who told us they have never seen a smaller rubber ducky. – the Sm responded with a curt ‘size doesn’t matter – it’s what you do with it that’s important’ but they had already nickednamed our dinghy – TT SOPAC – acronym for Tiniest Tender in the South Pacific!
We are parked at one of the most secure moorings in the SoPac, at an island with overwhelming hospitality, great snorkelling, great friends, great marine animals, walking , biking, eating, and partying and you can get some idea of life here. 40 years at work was worthwhile to end up here – wish you all had the Sm’s good fortune and were here.
The whole tribe gathered for a ritual farewell dinner at the Fa Lala Fa Resto run the former Miss Niue – Pauline – who has the talent of remembering everyones name – so the Sm was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by name instead of ‘ you old bastard not here again are you??’ Our tribe comprises Chris, Sue, Helen, Gerry, Anne, Karen, Karlos, the Sm, Olive, Cara, Ben, Fia Fia, Vanessa, Lofa, Roz, Pauline, and little no-name tabby cat from Coral Gardens – ask Gerry about that cat! We basically pigged out on fresh fish, and veges ’cause we are v healthy eaters – fries don’t count on holidays do they? The old 5 conversations going at once made for a jolly time, interspersed with yachties and various locals quizzing us on our activities ’cause we are rapidly becoming old Niue hands. And a tradition on Niue is Kareoke at Juannas Thursday nights. Oh man – hold the phone – the Sm had in mind a snooze right now – which was immediately poo-pooed by the kids.(anyone under 60) – ‘You all are coming to Juannas ‘ was the cry! 6 of us rocked up to wonder if the joint was open. But they were just saving electricity and turned on the lights for us. So long story short – by 1:30am we had sung our hearts out – no pikers in our tribe – had a couple of drinks – ask Olive about the beetroot drink. Uncle Stan and Sonja are really fun hosts – the night never ends. Then off to the FGT for Karen and Karlos’s last night on board. – What fantastic luck to have 5 crew in the confined and unprivate FGT for 19 days with sometimes quite arduous conditions , and to end up basically like family. Unbelievable – Thanks Team FalconGt.
After a nights unconsciousness, Karlos, Karen and the Sm punted the FGT to the wharf for baggage transfer and to get Gerry, our techie for some minor reworks of the handrail which some careless driver had pushed out of shape – all fixed – good as new. Team Whale were finding it a challenge to get to the wharf on time for some odd reason so we goosed about the fairway providing the wharf crowd with photos opps. Anne had some concern that Gerry was about to stowaway – some things are just hard to leave. So with Team Whale on board off we cruised Northwards along the coast, passing by Coral Gardens where we spied Gerry in handcuffs and Anne smiling hugely. We’ll really miss you Team Falcon – Chris, Karen, Karlos, and Gerry leaving the Sm to his fate. For compensation Mr Curly was waiting for us about an hour out. Dropped the hydrophones for quite a while noting that Mr Curly changed his tune (song) after a bit causing excitement in the experts. Now here is the story – only male whales sing using songs to attract the ladies, and also their buds who slide over to check out the competition. And that’s what happened – another whale joined in the chorus. Mr. Curly seemed to buzz off so we headed for the barn, and of course, his mated surfaced – two of them. Team Whale wanted a tail fluke number to polish up their dance routine. Next thing you know – Flukie gave us 3 pec slaps in a row – hitting the surface with his pectoral fins – some show – they are pretty big and floppy – the Sm thought it was whale talk for the fin(ger), and then – to cape it off his mate did a TAIL FLUKE!!!!!!! – Winner – thank you Flukie – a loud involuntary shout arose from the onlookers – what a thrill – first this week – yeah baby – let it roll.
That was too much – and that’s it from us. Sat is a day off the water because Oma Tofua is holding a really big fund raising concert at the Matavai Resort where Olive is doing a gig, Fia Fai has her kids dance troop doing the whale dance, Team Whale dancing and singing, and the lots more acts – a big night.
Mutolu Kia from a really small Team FalconGt
Don’t forget – check www.svfalcongt.com and www.thekermadecs.org
Fakaalofa Atu from Oma Tafua – Greetings from To Treasure Whales
And as usual I was wrong – expectations of a quiet sail back to the mooring were shattered when Mr. Curly the humpback whale was sighted close to the main town of Alofi. Olive knew it was him because his dorsal fin was a tad curly just like Mr. Curly in the Michael Leuning cartoons in Australia. That’s ok for Ausbods but us Canucks associate Curly with – you know don’t you – Larry Curly and Moe – the 3 Stooges. So the Sm reckons that if we watched the series that just happens to be on board we’d figure out Mr Curly’s antics, and sure enough it worked! He blew to the right of us, dove, blew to the left of us, then blew behind us giving us the fin(ger). The Sm is always amazed by the sleek, hugeness of these animals and is sure nuclear subs are modeled on whales. We were pretty happy campers with that sighting and celebrated on board at the mooring where Cara, Olive and Ben – Team Whale – did some speckie synchronized diving simulating whales fluking, you know, of course, that’s when they dive with the tail straight up in the air. The interesting thing was their cossies were a tad improvised! Vanessa directed the show as she is an expert on that kind of water dancing. Soon enough the whole gang was in the water splashing about to beat the band. Try it – for tail flukes you can submerge with your ankles together, feet angled out like a whales tail, or if you prefer, go under feet first with your arms up, wrists together, palms angled out like a tail – also good to use in your dance moves. As we were drying off, the Sm innocently asked Karen if it was kosher to swim ashore and back after dinner. Karen said sharks feed at night but go ahead if that turns your crank – Thanks Karen – whose side are you on anyway? Actually that was a bit embellished what she really said was -’are you a bloody idiot -stay out of the water – the dark shapes are about at night’ plus the ‘harmless’ sea snakes are continually tooling past the boat heads up for a looksee but they have tiny mouths so they only poison you if you kiss one -hmmm. Team Whale left and Team Falcongt freshened up with the transom shower now in full operation – motor a while and the fresh water is nice and hot – aahh – the luxurious feeling of a hot shower washing away the sticky salt water. Batteries fully charged, lots of lights, propane at the stove, stereos all in action, bose system for music, movies or radio, and hot water – this is some boat! Karen, Karl and the Sm dinghied ashore to be greeted by a couple of yachties who told us they have never seen a smaller rubber ducky. – the Sm responded with a curt ‘size doesn’t matter – it’s what you do with it that’s important’ but they had already nickednamed our dinghy – TT SOPAC – acronym for Tiniest Tender in the South Pacific!
We are parked at one of the most secure moorings in the SoPac, at an island with overwhelming hospitality, great snorkelling, great friends, great marine animals, walking , biking, eating, and partying and you can get some idea of life here. 40 years at work was worthwhile to end up here – wish you all had the Sm’s good fortune and were here.
The whole tribe gathered for a ritual farewell dinner at the Fa Lala Fa Resto run the former Miss Niue – Pauline – who has the talent of remembering everyones name – so the Sm was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by name instead of ‘ you old bastard not here again are you??’ Our tribe comprises Chris, Sue, Helen, Gerry, Anne, Karen, Karlos, the Sm, Olive, Cara, Ben, Fia Fia, Vanessa, Lofa, Roz, Pauline, and little no-name tabby cat from Coral Gardens – ask Gerry about that cat! We basically pigged out on fresh fish, and veges ’cause we are v healthy eaters – fries don’t count on holidays do they? The old 5 conversations going at once made for a jolly time, interspersed with yachties and various locals quizzing us on our activities ’cause we are rapidly becoming old Niue hands. And a tradition on Niue is Kareoke at Juannas Thursday nights. Oh man – hold the phone – the Sm had in mind a snooze right now – which was immediately poo-pooed by the kids.(anyone under 60) – ‘You all are coming to Juannas ‘ was the cry! 6 of us rocked up to wonder if the joint was open. But they were just saving electricity and turned on the lights for us. So long story short – by 1:30am we had sung our hearts out – no pikers in our tribe – had a couple of drinks – ask Olive about the beetroot drink. Uncle Stan and Sonja are really fun hosts – the night never ends. Then off to the FGT for Karen and Karlos’s last night on board. – What fantastic luck to have 5 crew in the confined and unprivate FGT for 19 days with sometimes quite arduous conditions , and to end up basically like family. Unbelievable – Thanks Team FalconGt.
After a nights unconsciousness, Karlos, Karen and the Sm punted the FGT to the wharf for baggage transfer and to get Gerry, our techie for some minor reworks of the handrail which some careless driver had pushed out of shape – all fixed – good as new. Team Whale were finding it a challenge to get to the wharf on time for some odd reason so we goosed about the fairway providing the wharf crowd with photos opps. Anne had some concern that Gerry was about to stowaway – some things are just hard to leave. So with Team Whale on board off we cruised Northwards along the coast, passing by Coral Gardens where we spied Gerry in handcuffs and Anne smiling hugely. We’ll really miss you Team Falcon – Chris, Karen, Karlos, and Gerry leaving the Sm to his fate. For compensation Mr Curly was waiting for us about an hour out. Dropped the hydrophones for quite a while noting that Mr Curly changed his tune (song) after a bit causing excitement in the experts. Now here is the story – only male whales sing using songs to attract the ladies, and also their buds who slide over to check out the competition. And that’s what happened – another whale joined in the chorus. Mr. Curly seemed to buzz off so we headed for the barn, and of course, his mated surfaced – two of them. Team Whale wanted a tail fluke number to polish up their dance routine. Next thing you know – Flukie gave us 3 pec slaps in a row – hitting the surface with his pectoral fins – some show – they are pretty big and floppy – the Sm thought it was whale talk for the fin(ger), and then – to cape it off his mate did a TAIL FLUKE!!!!!!! – Winner – thank you Flukie – a loud involuntary shout arose from the onlookers – what a thrill – first this week – yeah baby – let it roll.
That was too much – and that’s it from us. Sat is a day off the water because Oma Tofua is holding a really big fund raising concert at the Matavai Resort where Olive is doing a gig, Fia Fai has her kids dance troop doing the whale dance, Team Whale dancing and singing, and the lots more acts – a big night.
Mutolu Kia from a really small Team FalconGt
Don’t forget – check www.svfalcongt.com and www.thekermadecs.org
