11/03/2009, Nuku'Alofa, Tonga
We arrived yesterday in Nuku'alofa, capital of Tonga. A little sooner then we expected but there is an explanation for that anomaly. Since the last blog what happened was we arrived at the island of Uiha. A long story short, we left the next day, the water was dirty, the people were not very welcoming except for one lady that gave us some freshwater, the vibe was not right.... So we left the next morning early for Ha'afeva about another 18 Nm in the Southwesterly direction. That was a different story, beautiful island with the most amazing local community. We met an American couple from Fargo, North Dakota working for the Peace Corps on the island. Great people and they took us to a Kava meeting. Kava is a significant ceremonial and social custom. Kava is a species of pepper tree prevalent in the South Pacific. The pepper is dried and grounded to a fine powder,mixed with water, it is not alcoholic but it gives you a good buzz. It is drank out of a big bowl that sits in the middle of the circle of men. A coconut cup is filled and handed around. Women are usually not allowed. An exception was made for Erika but she did not drink. All important matters are handled this way, a bowl of Kava and a good chat.
We also met up with friends from Gilleroo and Imagine. They were getting ready to leave for New Zealand the next day, direct. Imagine has three children on board and they were all dressed up to celebrate Halowe'en. TrickerTreatin' in their dingy from boat to boat, cruisers life is great!!! We only stayed two more days, the weather was not cooperating, overcast, a little sprinkle,... so we decided to split the difference between Ha'afeva and Nuku'alofa, about 80Nm and have another stop about midway in Kelefesia. Apparently the most picturesque of them all!!! that sounds promising doesn't it? Well there was a little warning in the local guide. When the winds are above 15-20 Kts (for whom wind is not as much of a mystery as others, that is an amazingly wide margin as wind grows exponentially) and the anchorage is only good in NE to SE winds. Ok we thought, the conditions are not great but they will do.... So we sailed down, great sail by the way, we have great pictures that a boat called "Blue Dawn" took of us and even a little video, check the photo gallery. Now you have to understand too that Kelefesia is the last island in the Ha'apai group, beyond it is open sea to the next group Tongatapu with Nuku'alofa as the principle town. To get to Kelefesia we have to cross a bunch of reefs stretching E to W with here and there open patches. Ones crossed the reefs you approach the island from the West in between two reefs, one on each side. So there is a corridor of about a 150m at the entrance, about 1 Nm long and gradually narrows to maybe 60m finishing in a small area where you can anchor. Now as the reefs are very shallow and the water around it is very deep, the water is pushed up and you get big waves. The wind was about 13-15 Kts from the SE, not bad, BUT the swell came from the S, in deep water maybe 2 m, hitting those reefs it went up to 5 m. So we are brave (or stupid, the way you want to look at it) and moved through the large reef lining up to go through the corridor and I can tell you we were impressed by the violence and size of the waves (we actually filmed it, to be seen in theaters near you when Babalu is in town). We passed no problem, overcame the 2 Kts current in between the reefs. Now we line up to go through the corridor, by that time, Erika who is on the bow looking out for shallow patches, gives me a look and I knew exactly what she meant...this is awesomely crazy!!!! Once we were halfway the hallway of surfers paradise the waves in front of us were up to 6m on the starboard side and connecting directly to the waves on our Port side, there was no way we were going to anchor in the Lagoon of Doom that night. Erika turned around again and started saying, "If we anchor here, that would be the stupi ...." before she finished her sentence I was already halfway my180 turn. Let's get the hell out of here!!!!
Now the problem was the following, it is 15.00 in the afternoon and only 30 Nm to the entrance of the harbor to Nuku'alofa. It is too late to make it in daylight time and it is too close to do an overnighter. So we set the sails like it was going to blow 40 Kts, double reef in the main and triple reef in the headsail to go as slow as possible. We went all night at 2 Kts and safely arrived the next morning in Nuku'alofa....Yiipppyyy!!! Ciao
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Comments [5]
10/29/2009, 19 53.640'S:174 24.810'W, Uiha, Ha'apai Group, Tonga
Hello, Can you smell the pancakes? Erika is cooking pancakes (crepes for me) this morning for breakfast, sweeeeetttt!!!! We arrived yesterday from Uoleva island, simply amazing... a bay about 700m wide with nothing but white sandy beach, palmtrees, the most beautiful colored water and maybe ten people living on the island..... we stayed for 4 days, just chillin' out. Well we did some work, cleaning the hull. What a job, the growth increased exponentially in the last three weeks. We had a relative slow passage from Neiafu and now we know why. There is a whole forest under the boat!!! Scraping it away is not an easy job, holding your breath long enough is the problem here.... everyday a little is our motto.... We also had the privilege of housing a family of fluo-green colored squid, mom and 10 babies. You see when you stop somewhere for more then a couple of hours you become part of nature. You are an object that provides shade and a hide out for smaller fish... Well we are moving today, a 18 Nm sail west to the next island. Ohh Erika is calling the pancakes are ready!!!! Talk to you guys later....
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10/22/2009, 19 40.260'S:174 17.390'W, Ha'ano, Ha'apai Group, Tonga
Last Sunday we went to visit the Mariners' Cave. We had a bunch of cruisers all on Martins' boat. Anima 3 is perfect for little excursions like that. She has a wonderful large aft deck. It was about a 1 hour ride to Nuapapu Island. Mariners' cave is located on the North West side, according to the guides right under a lonesome palm tree, easy right? Mariners' cave is a cave that can only be reached by diving. There is a legend to it. "It is the tale of a young Tongan chief who, having fallen in love with a beautiful maiden of a family who was due for extermination in the civic broils of the time, spirited here away from danger and hid her for two weeks in the cave. There he brought food and protestations of love to sustain the girl until he was able to prepare an expedition to Fiji. Then he picked her up en route, married her and when the time of trouble had passed, brought her back to Vava'u and lived happily ever after." The entrance is about 2 m deep and 4 m long. Once braved the deep and dark you enter a beautiful cavern full of cavy things that point up and down. The room itself was about 25m long, 15m wide and about 20m high. One of the nice spectacles inside is the fog that appears every time a wave pushes itself inside, compressing the air. So one moment you see a cave the next thing your ears are popping and you are blinking wondering why you can not see a thing. That was a great experience. We left on Tuesday morning at 3 am!!! That was a little bit of a challenge as it was pitch black, no moon. The water was so flat that you could see the stars reflected in it, even the shooting ones. Now we are anchored in front of Ha'ano island in the Ha'apai group of Tonga. This is suppose to be a less traveled area, WRONG... the first night we arrived we were in a race for the anchorage with 6 other boats. There is only room for a couple of boats and when we got here there were already 7 other boats parked. A little crowded. There was the Brazilian armada, 9 of them, the Quebecoises, 3 of them, some swedes, Americans and us, Belgo-American. Lucky for us most of them left the next day. We just hang out here and snorkel. For me this is the nicest snorkeling grounds I have ever seen.... Today Erika, myself and Tyrone, and Irish friend from the boat Gilleroo went snorkeling on the entrance reef. Waauuuuw, we saw at least 7 different fish we had never seen before and other fish that had totally different colors then the ones previously observed, also amazing coral, untouched, flashy colors,... We are making our way South very slowely. We are in no rush, it is still way too cold in New Zealand... Hope all of you are well, talk to you soon....
PS we are right accross the vulcanic island of Tofua where the Mutiny on the Bounty took place, nooo not the movie the real deal....
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10/15/2009, Neiafu, Kingdom Of Tonga
Hi Y'all,
All is well with us, kind of lounging around waiting for that break to go down south to New Zealand. NZ is holding on to their winter, and spring can have a few surprises, but as long as the hurricanes do not get generated around here we are good and can take our time....
We have been spending some time going around the islands and then head back for the weekend to the main place here in the Vava'u group, Neiafu. Yachts are still coming in, all gathering here to get ready to go to NZ. It is great to see some of our friends and make new ones.
We cleared out today and will start going down South in Tonga to the next Island group. We probably will take about 2 weeks to slowly head down to the capital Nuku'alofa. We have just updated the pictures so enjoy, I know we did!!!
Take care all, we should be leaving tomorrow. Tonight we are going to race in the local yacht race, just for fun. Will let you know how it goes,....
Malo
Hans
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10/06/2009, 18 40.200'S:173 57.470'W, Olo'ua Island, Vava'u Group, Tonga
Hi All, It has been a little while, communications are not always easy. Once out of the main town, Neiafu, all Western facilities stop, this is a place considerd being a third world country. Just a little update on the tsunami. As you have seen in the news, the area up north, American Samoa, Western Samoa and the islands belonging to Tonga, Niuatoputapu were hit severaly. Here in Neiafu, the local community and all the cruisers have been collecting food, clothes, fuel, etc... for the people from Niuatoputapu. Erika and I bought some clothes and blankets to donate, all of the stuff was gathered and sent by eather private plane (at no cost) or some sailboats that went up there to help. This has been working fine and the people have received most of it. On these small islands most of the people lost their homes, that means their clothes too. Now the announcement on the cruisers net was to get clothes, but not our own, that could only be given to highschool students, you see Tongans have a certain size that is slightly bigger than the average cruisers that comes by. The French Navy have a fregat that went around Tonga collecting goods and are now serving and helping the Tongans in the dissarter area. I have heard that New Zealand and Australia have troops or planes helping out. That is good news. On a note that came very sad to Erika and I is that we have lost a friend in all this. His name is Dan from the sailboat "Mainly". Dan and his wife, Joan, were in American Samoa when the tsunami hit. She was still on the boat when he went ashore to losen the lines as the the whole basin of the harbour drained in a couple of minutes and filled in less than that with a couple of waves 4 m above the dock, he was not able to hold on and was swept away and drowned. We met this lovely couple in Hiva Oa, our first port in the Marqueses and bumped into eachother a few times along the road. We had a good vibe. He will be missed. He was 69 years young. Very sad....
We are now sailing around the islands here in the Vava'u group. It is so beautiful around here and peaceful. Lot's of whales around, the coral very alive (just small damage from the Tsunami), most islands inhabited, and when there are people they have this amazing smile on their faces.... We see here the beauty and the uglyness of nature, but that is not very objectif. I don't believe Nature is cruel, it just is.....
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10/01/2009, Vava'u, Tonga
Hi Everybody,
We just got back to the capital, Neiafu of the Vava'u group in Tonga.
We are in good health and after all we have never been in real danger.
We just have internet for the first time. The only info we had so far was on our local radio. We know that the Northern group of Tonga was hit and has 9 dead, 3 missing and about 1600 people lost their homes. This group of islands were already in pretty bad shape after the ferry sank a couple of months ago. They were out of provisioning for a while. Poor people. The locals and the cruisers around here are organizing some supplies for them but the problem of course is how is it going to get there and who is going to get it? We are dealing with a third world country here, so corruption is bliss....
So for now all is well.... will be in touch soon...
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09/29/2009, 18 43.400'S:174 05.980'W, Vava'u, Tonga
Good morning all of you, Well I do not know if anybody has heard about the earthquake near Samoa. About 100 Nm South from Western Samoa and American Samoa, and about 350 Nm from Tonga I think. 7.9 on the Richter Scale. With a second quake of 6.5. We were woken up this morning at 7.30 local time on our VHF from some people that read the news on the internet and announced that there was a Tsunami warning. Immediately after that word was spread on the local cruisers net, we were all holding our breath. We are relatively close to the epicenter if a Tsunami would be triggered. At 7.55 was the time of impact suppose to be, but we did not feel a thing. Some people on the island have felt the earthquake. We are in a bay south of Neiafu the capital, about 200m from the shore line situated to the South and in about 9m of water. Suddenly the water started pulling away and you could see the coral heads surfacing. The dept sounder went down to about 6.5m and then up again to about 8.5m, with some waves hitting and covering the beaches. We stood by with the engine on and ready to drop our mooring line to get to deeper water or fight the current. This went on for about 2 hours. With an ebb and flood every 5 to 10 minutes. In the mea n while there was a constant update from all cruisers on the net, telling there stories of the local conditions in all the other parts of Tonga. The highest difference in water level was 3 m so far. Some boats left there anchorages and went to deeper water. One boat we know with 4 kids on had to drop their anchor and got to deeper water as they were sitting on top of a coral head driven by the current. Nobody hurt just some scratches. We heard that the conditions in Samoa might be a bit more serious. We stayed put in this bay as we had to cross some reefs to get out of here and that might have been much more dangerous then staying here. We don't have any internet here, it is quiet remote, we only have our sat phone and our VHF. We are safe right now and will keep you posted. It is now 11.00 and there is still a Tsunami alert in affect. It is maybe better that we do not have too much access to news as you know, there are a lot of rumors, panic stories (we had one woman yelling at the top of her lungs that a tsunami was coming on the radio), speculations etc... What we know for now is that the worst is behind us but we have to be vigilant and alert. We hope that all our friends on their boats in Samoa are safe.
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09/24/2009, Neiafu, Kingdom Of Tonga
We arrived in Neiafu this morning. We did not have to change the time on our watch. We just had to forget about the Thursday September 24th 2009, it is like it never happened. Tonga is not physically over the date line but it is mentally. As Fiji is and only 500 Nm away it is UTC +13. Kind of weird, but there you go. So now we are Friday the 25th. We had a relatively good 2 days sail, just a bit rolly and not a lot of sleep. So we are going to beddy byes after this message. I just updated the pictures, added some to Bora Bora and made a new folder called Niue....
More later....
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09/21/2009, 19 03.180'S:169 55.410'W, Alofi, Niue
We were planning on staying here only a couple of days and we are still here more then a week later. This is a great place. I am going to try to put all the pictures on today but internet is not their forte. Check them out, it speaks louder then whatever I can write down here. This island is made of limestone. There is a source for freshwater sitting on top of the volcano under our feet. There is enough water there for the next 7 years if it would not rain anymore. So because of the lack of rivers and sandy beaches etc.. there is no crap in the water. We are moored in +30 m of water and you can see the bottom with no problem, that is how clear the water is. The island has a large number of caves and chasms. So Erika and I rented a motorbike for the week and drove around from one cave to another, wonderful... also we went swimming in freshwater chasms, steep cliffs on each side with fresh water in the middle and with the ocean beating on the rocks, magical!!! Also we went divi ng, surrounded by sea snakes, they are 5 times more poisonous then a cobra but they are not aggressive at all. They sleep on the bottom and come up every 20 minutes for air, so you dive through a curtain of snakes going up and down, and they are so polite they wait till you have floated by before continuing on their journey... Also Niue has the most beautiful and alive coral fields I have seen so far on all my diving trips. Remember I told you about the chance of encountering wales here, well we have not seen them but they are swimming around the mooring field almost every night. They wake us up with their exhaling and their singing. There is a mom and calf that swims around our boat, maybe 20' off. We have not been able to see them because of the lack of moon right now but we know they are there,... On Sunday we went to a local festival and had a great time, there were decorated stalls, dancing, great food, games, etc... One of the people we met were in charge of judging the beauty of the stalls and asked us to go around and be judges. So we selected # 1,2 and 3. Isn't that great, Erika and I as officials? Now the more adventurous stories: There is only one landing place here, it is a concrete wharf that is about 10' high in between tides. The tide is about 1.5m high. The only way you can get on land is by attaching your dingy to a crane and lift it out of the water. There are stairs to get out and then you operate the crane. Now we have a very unstable, very rubbery (flexible) dingy, with a tiny little engine with no attach points for a bridle. So I attached a line to it and it kind of works. A couple of days ago we had incredible swells swooping in (Erika calls them the Swooshy Swoosh) so going ashore was a bit of a challenge. Let me just paint you the last picture just at the time we had it back under control and I was finally ashore. I was soaked from head to toe, the boat was half full of water, I had a couple of scratches on my shin from the stairs, got lucky avoiding the crane head with my own a couple of times and the engine got almost ripped off a couple of times. Tha t was coming out, when we tried to get back in we were lucky we got some help from a couple of teenagers that knew we were about to get into a fight with nature. I ended up jumping off one of the big tractor tires hanging of the wharf into the dingy, start and Erika jumped on the next wave and off we went, great, dingy launching Indiana Jones Style... We are about to leave for Tonga as soon the wind picks up a little, Tuesday maybe Wednesday. This is a bout a 250Nm trip so we should be there by Friday. The Kingdom Of Tonga!!! Here we come....(We are about to loose a day in our live, Tonga is on the other side of the date line,...)
PS A massive hug and a very Happy Birthday to Cathy Pimental, Erika's mom!!!!! PS Sorry no pictures yet, problems with uploading them, will try again in Tonga...
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09/21/2009, 19 03.180'S:169 55.410'W, Alofi, Niue
We were planning on staying here only a couple of days and we are still here more then a week later. This is a great place. I am going to try to put all the pictures on today but internet is not their forte. Check them out, it speaks louder then whatever I can write down here. This island is made of limestone. There is a source for freshwater sitting on top of the volcano under our feet. There is enough water there for the next 7 years if it would not rain anymore. So because of the lack of rivers and sandy beaches etc.. there is no crap in the water. We are moored in +30 m of water and you can see the bottom with no problem, that is how clear the water is. The island has a large number of caves and chasms. So Erika and I rented a motorbike for the week and drove around from one cave to another, wonderful... also we went swimming in freshwater chasms, steep cliffs on each side with fresh water in the middle and with the ocean beating on the rocks, magical!!! Also we went divi ng, surrounded by sea snakes, they are 5 times more poisonous then a cobra but they are not aggressive at all. They sleep on the bottom and come up every 20 minutes for air, so you dive through a curtain of snakes going up and down, and they are so polite they wait till you have floated by before continuing on their journey... Also Niue has the most beautiful and alive coral fields I have seen so far on all my diving trips. Remember I told you about the chance of encountering wales here, well we have not seen them but they are swimming around the mooring field almost every night. They wake us up with their exhaling and their singing. There is a mom and calf that swims around our boat, maybe 20' off. We have not been able to see them because of the lack of moon right now but we know they are there,... On Sunday we went to a local festival and had a great time, there were decorated stalls, dancing, great food, games, etc... One of the people we met were in charge of judging the beauty of the stalls and asked us to go around and be judges. So we selected # 1,2 and 3. Isn't that great, Erika and I as officials? Now the more adventurous stories: There is only one landing place here, it is a concrete wharf that is about 10' high in between tides. The tide is about 1.5m high. The only way you can get on land is by attaching your dingy to a crane and lift it out of the water. There are stairs to get out and then you operate the crane. Now we have a very unstable, very rubbery (flexible) dingy, with a tiny little engine with no attach points for a bridle. So I attached a line to it and it kind of works. A couple of days ago we had incredible swells swooping in (Erika calls them the Swooshy Swoosh) so going ashore was a bit of a challenge. Let me just paint you the last picture just at the time we had it back under control and I was finally ashore. I was soaked from head to toe, the boat was half full of water, I had a couple of scratches on my shin from the stairs, got lucky avoiding the crane head with my own a couple of times and the engine got almost ripped off a couple of times. Tha t was coming out, when we tried to get back in we were lucky we got some help from a couple of teenagers that knew we were about to get into a fight with nature. I ended up jumping off one of the big tractor tires hanging of the wharf into the dingy, start and Erika jumped on the next wave and off we went, great, dingy launching Indiana Jones Style... We are about to leave for Tonga as soon the wind picks up a little, Tuesday maybe Wednesday. This is a bout a 250Nm trip so we should be there by Friday. The Kingdom Of Tonga!!! Here we come....(We are about to loose a day in our live, Tonga is on the other side of the date line,...)
PS A massive hug and a very Happy Birthday to Cathy Pimental, Erika's mom!!!!!
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