Category Archives: Cruising Guide

Information for other cruising boats. Our experiences finding places to anchor, dealing with officials, provisions, etc.

Escorting Duties into Alofi, Niue

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19-00 S by 169-55 — Niue is the world’s smallest independent nation with only 1200 people on the island. Niue is the largest raised coral islands in the world. It is comprised of one coral limestone island that has an area of 259 square kilometers and a height of 200 feet. It is nicknamed “the rock of Polynesia”. Niue also possesses control of a sunken atoll to the south of the main island, called Beveridge Reef. Like the Cook Island’s, New Zealand is the protectorate of Niue. Even though they are under New Zealand, it is self-governing. Of all the nations, Niue has the most number of politicians per capita one per 65 people. Niue has one flight per week from New Zealand, and mail in and out goes on that flight. There are a total of 50 hotel rooms and the island can accommodate about 120 tourists at a time. Niue is a popular fishing, diving and caving spot. Continue reading →

Welcome to Suwarrow, Cook Islands

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13.14.9S by 163.6.5W – When we first planned our itinerary, after leaving French Polynesia we were going to go to a couple of islands in the Cook Island chain that were literally right on the way. When we started researching the islands, we found that none of them had decent places to anchor the boat. If we wanted to go to the Cook’s, we would have to go to islands farther north or south, both of which were out of our way. So, the revised plan was to skip the Cook’s altogether and go straight to Niue. But several cruisers told us that we really should not miss Suwarrow. Everyone had such good things to say about Suwarrow that we added it to the itinerary, even though it is a two hundred mile (round trip) detour off our route. Continue reading →

Exploring Bora Bora and Presidential Dance Show

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We started the day by taking the dinghy into the main town of Vaitape, which is about a mile north by boat from where we are anchored (by land it is farther since the road follows the curvy lagoon). There is a nice protected quay (seawall area) right in the center of town. Facing town from the dinghy, on the right is a parking lot, on the left is an outdoor theater, and straight ahead is a visitor information center and handicraft market. They were setting up for a big concert at the theater. At the information center we picked up a fish guide, so we will actually be able to name a few of the fish we see now.
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Continue reading →

Welcome to Bora Bora

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This morning we started the day with a snorkel in our newly discovered location. The water is really shallow in this spot, as well, but the snorkeling was nice. There were some pretty coral formations and some nice color to the coral. There were a lot of sea anemone stuck to the coral, which are pretty to look at. There were still a lot of sea urchins around. There wasn’t a ton of fish, but a decent amount, though not too many colorful fish. There were small Parrotfish and Trigger fish. There were a lot of angel fish. The fish are obviously used to being fed and have no fear of getting close to people. They wouldn’t let us touch them, but we got within inches. Continue reading →

Welcome to Tahaa

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We got up early and prepared Kosmos for departure. We were going to Tahaa, another island in the Society Island chain. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do, so in no time the lines were cast off. Bye Bye Tahiti!

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We are noticing a distinct pattern now. The other day when we were on a day trip, the seas were nice and calm. But, of course, since this was an overnight trip, we had strong winds on our port aft quarter (right back corner) producing 6 8 foot following seas (waves coming from behind) with the periodic 10 foot beam wave (from the side) that knocks us all over the place. Why the conditions are so similar every time we are out for more than a few hours is beyond us. It drizzled all day, and as soon as it got dark, rained really hard all night long. Poor Shelley was Continue reading →