Day 12: Friday 20 August

Spotted a distant bird this morning – possibly a booby as it plunged rapidly from a great height, but of course the other bird to do that is the red-tailed tropic bird. Then later we spotted 2 red-tailed tropic birds one came in and circled the boat, really very far from any land. These are gorgeous birds soft snowy plumage with a tinge of pink, large bright red bill and huge paddle like black feet. A feature which has possibly contributed to their decline is a long spine-like tail feather which in the Pacific was prized for decoration. I’ve seen these birds at the Kermadecs, in courtship flights swishing their tails to and fro, while doing a peculiar backwards flight. After breeding these birds disperse widely at sea. Sadly their populations are under threat in the Pacific as they nest on the ground and are really confined now to rat free islands. Luckily the Kermadecs are now completely rat free and their populations should build up.

While I was gazing at the ships numerous instruments to help me stay on course during watch last night, I couldn’t help thinking about those amazing Polynesian navigators. They didn’t have the benefit of any of our fancy equipment GPS plotter, (we have at least 4 GPS’s on board!), weather fax from sail mail, barometer, speed/course /wind direction/etc etc. Even running before a 20 knot wind makes me think about how dangerous it must have been in their small wooden craft let alone a gale. Our boat is made of solid aluminium with a wonderful solid waterproof hatch should we broach or capsize we would still be OK! (ps person on watch on deck is clipped on to the boat at all times!)

The Kermadec Islands are the only group of islands on a course between central Pacific Islands and Aotearoa.  Not surprisingly it appears that Polynesians may have used Raoul as a staging post on route to New Zealand. Although no people were there when whalers arrived, there is evidence that they were there from middens, adzes, food plants and even the presence of Polynesian rats as early as the 14^th century.   

The amazing thing to me is that there is strong evidence that the movement of Polynesians was two-way. They must have had an intimate knowledge of celestial navigation and possibly also the migrational movements of marine creatures such as whales and seabirds.  

Not much else to report – good sailing day though, made around 160nm with winds steady at 15-20 knots. Should get to Niue by Sunday midday NZ time!

Midday position. 23 degrees 26.1 S; 172 degrees 30.1W