Our anchorage is just down the bay from the main shipping dock, as well as the world's two largest tuna packing plants: Starkist and Chicken of the Sea.



Our neighbor, among other dilapidated boats.



Pago Pago apprently is the rainiest harbor in the world, and so far we have no reason to dispute this.

Early morning landfall in American Samoa.

American soil

We stood off Tutuila Island in American Samoa and came into the harbor at first light this morning. We have heard from many cruisers how awful the harbor of Pago Pago is, and unfortunately much of what they say was immediately evident in the form of garbage and debris practically covering the water's surface. But we are glad to be here and it looks like there may be some good exploring to do on the other side of the island. Time to catch up on some sleep after a very windy, bumpy, but great passage.

57 miles from Pago Pago

Monday 1830 local
S15 15 W170 29
We've had a fast sail north, moving 8.5-knots, from Niue in 20 to 25-knots NE wind with seas just abaft the beam. You have to pay attention in the cockpit, ready to jump under the dodger when the big waves slam the hull and completely douse the inattentive. Matt finally caught his fish yesterday: a beautiful yellowfin tuna, which Riina pan seared for dinner last night. More is in the fridge for tonight's dinner. We are rolling a bit and the weather is somewhat rough, but all is well. Dan and I donned
foulies and sat on the bow for a while this evening, getting completely covered with waves, and sometimes catching major air. Just tucked the 3rd reef in again to slow down and arrive in Pago Pago at first light tomorrow morning.

turning north

Sunday 1000 local - The local church bells are ringing as we cast off from our mooring to head the 300nm for Pago Pago, American Samoa. We are sad to say goodbye to the lovely Niue. This is also a turning point in our trip, as it will be the first time we have any north on the compass.



Some of the gorgeous sights.




A cyclone (same as hurricane but spins clockwise) hit Niue two years ago devastating a lot of the island and ripping peoples roofs off. 100-foot (!!) waves battered the island with well over 100-knot winds. They are slowly recovering, but the evidence is everywhere.

We have just added photos dating back to the June 16th entry.

One of the neatest things about being moored at Niue is the dinghy hoist. It is a little bit intimidating in the current swell, but we are enjoying the challenge of getting the big hook onto a bridle on the dinghy, jumping onto a ladder and running to the lever on the electric hoist to get the boat up and out of the water before a big wave swamps the boat. We are actually having a hard time imagining how some of the "less young than we are" cruisers are managing this maneuver!

Keith, the "commodore" of the Niue "Yacht Club," picked us up at the dock and took us for a mini-tour of the island right when we arrived. We have joined the "Yacht Club" for a whopping $20-(NZ) and are now enjoying the benefits of their wireless access and ice cream scoops. Apparently they are the only yacht club in the world where none of the local members own a boat. But they do provide invaluable information and services for cruisers (most important being the 2-ton mooring we're attached to), and since we're the only boat in Niue right now we're getting top notch attention. The people here are the friendliest we've encountered anywhere in the South Pacific by far! It has been a very warm welcome.

Riina and Matt are enjoying some shore time in a little guest house in the village of Alofi, and today we all rented a car to tour the island. Matt was our fearless left-hand-side-of-the-road driver and took us to some amazing snorkel spots. There aren't too many sharks here, but there are SEA SNAKES. Apparently they are dangerous, but only if you stick your finger all the way into their mouths.

Niue

Thursday 1700 local
Niue is fantastic so far and we plan to stay here until Sunday. We have just found internet access and will plan to upload some photos tomorrow after a drive of the island.

"the rock"

Niue Island (aka "the rock")- Wednesday, 1100 local time

We are tied to a mooring ball after a good, but rough, 130nm passage from Beveridge Reef. After a week of steady wind blowing water into the atoll, the passage out of the reef was quite, "exciting," followed with 15 to 25-knot SE winds and 10 to 15-foot seas for the passage. We started out with a reefed main and jib, but had to take more and more sail in, as we were going too fast (one of the many reasons we LOVE Confetti!). We didn't want to arrive before daylight to Niue, where as recently
as last fall a sailboat misjudged their GPS navigation and wrecked on the east side (windward) of the island. So we ended up sailing with only a triple-reefed main to finally slow down to 6.5-knots and arrive this morning at first light. We are rubbing our eyes after a sleepless night, eating some food and preparing to launch the dinghy and head ashore to clear into the country. All well here, and the island looks beautiful.

Beveridge Reef as seen from the top of Confetti's mast. Looking from the north, you can see the pass on the right. We never stepped foot on land during our whole stay at Beveridge, since none of the atoll is above the water.



The "chart" we used to navigate into the reef. (looking from the south - pass is on the left in the drawing).



Dan and I have decided that taking Confetti to Beveridge Reef is the coolest thing we've ever done on a boat, and possibly the coolest thing either of us have ever done in our lives.

(Just kidding about the picture taken from the mast. I found it on the internet.)

still here but thinking about weighing anchor

(DZ typing). We're approaching a full week here at Beveridge Reef. The only signs of humans since our arrival are the wrecks we snorkel over each day. Otherwise we are incredibly, exquisitely alone.

Two nights ago Riina caught us a Crevelle Jack fish off the back of the boat and we made sushi. With all the accoutrements waiting in the cupboard we've been itching to roll up some tasty fish. It was awesome, and to follow, Riina stewed us up some Finish fish soup with the remains of the Jack, literally using every ounce of the meat. Yum-yum!

Last night felt like being offshore without the sailing. The wind backed thirty degrees to NNE from NE so that we started taking the NE swell on the side, which rocked us very roughly and nobody slept very well until the wind lightened around 5 am. Fortunately our not-so-rigorous schedule permitted everyone to catch up on sleep until around 10 am.

Riina and Matt jumped in for a morning swim, before baking some banana bread with the last of our browning produce. While they cooked, Danielle and I dove in to visit our neighborhood giant stingrays. After breakfast we all gathered snorkel gear for our first trip to the far side of the lagoon, about a mile and a half away. Before today the winds have been strong enough that we didn't feel confident that we could paddle our dinghy back into the headwind if the outboard cut out. Did I mention that
we are alone? Today the winds have moderated greatly and with the change of direction we decided to try it.

On the other side of the lagoon, about a mile and a half away, we found what looks like an underwater field of giant boulders. These were enormous living coral heads, the largest of which was around 30-feet in diameter, and awash at the top. We anchored next to one of them, did our usual 360-degree scan for sharks, tallied one who headed away once we jumped in, and then started exploring. The fish here were much larger than we'd seen in other areas. Tens of them were definitely in the 40-pound range;
mostly Jacks and Pampanos, and maybe a Grouper?

We motored from there around the perimeter of the reef, admiring the perfectly peeling, triple-overhead waves. These would be great for the Laird Hamilton set, but nothing that tempted the two of us. We ate chicken, cheese and crackers for lunch on the dinghy and then took another dive into the aquamarine water. This one was cut short when we saw the largest shark we've seen yet, nearly 6 feet, heading our way. We've all become more comfortable with sharks but the big ones still send us scurrying
up into the dinghy like a bunch of scared seals.

This calming weather seems to offer a good window to leave. Our hope is that with less wind the pass will be more, well, passable.

ETD: Tuesday morning for Niue Island.

underwater pictures

Confetti from below & huge stingrays on the bottom

One of the little white-tipped reef sharks that we befriended.


A piece of one of the many wrecks at Beveridge Reef.


These cheap underwater cameras don't do justice to the colors we saw, but this gives the sense of how healthy the coral was.

Is Matt actually working? Or possibly just napping behind his computer?



One of our inflatable PFD's spontaneously blew up in our wet locker, which actually wasn't wet at all. We figure the rain from a few days previous might have gotten the trigger damp. I jumped in to test it out.

Dan and Matt practicing their free dives. They easily went to 38-feet here on our anchor.



When it's really sharky it can be more comforting to just stick your face in the water from the dinghy.

home sweet home

Believe it or not we are still at Beveridge Reef, and have actually all decided to buy some property here and settle down. Just kidding. We, so far, haven't found any part of the coral reef that is actually exposed. Most of the oblong atoll seems to be about 6-12 inches under the water. It has made for some awe-inspiring wave action though, none of which has tempted Dan or me to paddle out into on our boards, cherishing our necks a little too much.

Confetti is anchored on the east side of the lagoon, over a beautiful sand bottom, with scattered coral heads 18-feet below. The snorkeling under the boat is pretty good in itself. We had five huge sting rays hanging out yesterday in the sand groomed smooth by the motion of the anchor chain over it. We also have a large shark who periodically patrols the area as well as tons of fearless, curious fish who don't seem to worry about him, or us. But to get the aquarium-type diving, we've been dinghy-ing
over to the edge of the reef, our new outboard proving itself to be quite handy. Yesterday we found yet another shipwreck, its pieces scattered under the water, acting as condominium-style housing for the fish. It, of course, can cause a sailor quite a visceral reaction to see these wrecks and try to imagine what went through the captain's and crew's minds as their boat ground to a halt on the reef, which, coming from seaward, is impossible to see at night and only visible by a line of white breaking
waves during the day.

We've had some arts and crafts and game-playing the last couple days: Riina has sewn beautiful and much-needed new leather on the steering wheel, Dan is splicing the roller-furler line, and Matt and I have the cribbage board out. Today we had a cleaning party and got the boat ship-shape, and intend to hang around for a couple more days. It's just too cool here to leave our little piece of paradise, and we know we will most likely never find a place like this again. This is also the first time we've
stayed in an anchorage for more than just a quick visit, and it feels great to get into the swing of life on the hook!

radio

It's been hard to get through on the radio, so just a quick note to say all is still great, sharky and gorgeous here at Beveridge!

scaredy pants!

Today was not much different from yesterday, except that our shark interaction was more exciting. While Riina, Matt and I were all busy trying to get a good look at a HUGE moray eel, tucked into the coral, Dan happened to notice a black-tipped reef shark under our dingy, exhibiting very aggressive behavior. What I heard was a calm, but assertive, "Guys, let's get back in the boat." And the next thing I knew I was back in the boat, and so was everyone else! It's amazing how that non-existent upper-body
strength shows up when you need it. Apparently the shark had been cutting back and forth under the dinghy, letting us know that this was not our territory.

Our plan is to stay here at Beveridge (shark) Reef for 3 or 4 more days, enjoying the remoteness and special quality of such an untouched place. BTW: no sign of any rodents on board, so they are either dead in the bilge or they jumped ship during the misery of offshore.

anchored in the middle of nowhere

1945 local time
S20 00 W167 45

We are anchored, after a 72-hour, 440nm passage from Rarotonga, on a sandbar in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!! On a recommendation from our friend Ross, we decided to check out Beveridge Reef, an uncharted atoll. We used a hand-drawn sketch and GPS coordinates from some other cruisers to come through the pass. With no navigational aids, and no humans within 125 miles (Niue), and the only sign of life a chilling shipwreck on the reef, it was pretty exhilarating to say the least.

The outside ring of the reef is mostly submerged, but we are inside in a lagoon of 30 feet of water. We've heard the snorkeling - not surprisingly - is phenomenal, the sharks are only semi-territorial, and the reef is really cool to check out. After an amazing sunset, a game of hearts and some drinking coconuts infused with rum, we're lighting the grill to throw some New Zealand steaks on and to generally live the cruisers dream right here on our very own atoll. We'll launch the dinghy and check
out our surroundings after a good night's sleep.

rain and gray skies

1000 local (Hawaii minus 1 hour)
S20 25 W164 46

176nm from Beveridge Reef. No wind, gray skies and rain. It's like the Pacific Northwest down here! Tired from a night of changing conditions, but all well aboard and big omelets for breakfast. Matt is still trying to catch a fish.



Matt practicing his knots. Riina and Matt have been keen learners aboard Confetti!

Beveridge Reef

Sunday 1900 local time (we may have crossed into another time zone but haven't checked yet).
S20 40 W163 02

Confetti is 200nm west of Rarotonga. That's right, west! We had planned to go north to Suwarrow Island, but the wind was on the nose, and forecast was to remain that way: NW 15-20 knots. So we said, "Let's go west instead!"

We are currently en route on a course of 280-degrees true to an uninhabited atoll called, "Beveridge Reef." It is about 125 miles east of the island, Niue, where we intend to afterward go. We may still head north to Suwarrow, after Niue, before going to American Samoa. But we will see what the wind dished out for us.

The last 20 hours of sailing have been absolutely delightful, close-reaching and beam-reaching in 15-20 knots today, moving along at an easy 8-knots. In fact the sailing has been the easiest and most lovely sailing of our whole trip. Knock on wood, but with no pressing repairs or big projects I actually sat on deck and read for hours today - a first in a while. It was particularly nice because the air is cooler at this latitude, and the sky has been completely cloud-covered. Not great for the solar
panels, but really welcome relief on the skin. Riina also enjoyed a good book, and Matt and Dan did what I suspect they've been doing for much of their 20+year friendship, and talked, chatted, discussed, ranted! It was a great day and Matt is now harnessed into the galley (since we are on starboard tack, heeling away from the stove) cooking us up a good meal.

We had the fishing gear out earlier, but the only interested party was a Tropic bird that kept dive-bombing our lure. Every time it did we all screamed as loud as we could at it, since fried Tropic bird doesn't sound that appealing.

If the wind holds, we should be approaching Beveridge reef (S20 00 W167 46) by Tuesday morning. All well aboard S/V Confetti on a dark, cloudy, but wonderful night!

It's 1300 local time. We're shoving off, rodents and all! Hopefully they'll be so seasick they'll stumble onto the traps we've laid everywhere. The wind's out of the north, which is where we want to go, so we may alter course toward Niue. We'll decide in about an hour. More to come from the Ham radio.

Rarotonga will hopefully be receding into the distance by this afternoon as we head toward Suwarrow Island, 510nm northwest. We are hitting the local Saturday morning market now for produce, and will do a few last minute tasks before casting off. The most significant issue is a mouse/rat problem we have acquired while here. Eeewww. And since we aren't up against a dock - just our stern tied to a wharf - it means the rodents climbed the 15-feet of line to get to the boat!

These are the range markers for the pass coming in to Avatiu Harbor. When the markers are lined up, it means that your vessel is in the middle of the channel. If they are separated, then you are off course. There have been ranges in all the passes we've gone through, which adds a really nice feeling of security that you have read the chart correctly and that datums are set properly on the electronic charts. There is no room for error in these reef passes.



Rarotonga is really beautiful. It is similar to some of the other islands we've been to as far as topography, but the heat is not so oppressive at this latitude (21-degrees south - about the same as Hawaii in the north). It is really the perfect temperature, and we actually dug out a blanket last night for the first time in months.

The culture is definitely different from French Polynesia though: more clothing, lots of churches, and the locals don't seem that excited about the tourism industry. It will be fun to check out some of the other Cook Islands. We are really looking forward to Suwarrow, which is a bird sanctuary, and only populated by a lone caretaker.

Matt and Riina are staying in a hotel on the south side of Rarotonga for a few days to put some "sleep in the bank," before we shove off. They rented bikes yesterday and circumnavigated the island "anti-clockwise," with the traffic on the left side of the road.



We have 5 neighbors at the wharf now, including Mattie on, "Snoopy," right next to us. He is from Helsinki and it was great fun to see Riina startle him by calling over to him in his own language (Riina is also from Finland). He seemed pretty happy to talk to someone from home, since apparently his wife only visits him a few times a year on his circumnavigation.



We are in project mode, and Dan is being as handy as he can, which is actually quite handy, considering his mobility. The epoxy is out to fix a fish-sawing incident on the transom, and to better secure the toilet seat, which has become quite adventurous when the boat is heeling over!

Dan's torn meniscus is slowly healing with the excellent advice of Christine and the brace combined with lots of icing. He feels that he is improving enough to continue, so we plan to shove off Saturday morning for Suwarrow Island (still part of the Cook Islands). BTW: we are on the same time zone as Hawaii.