We are still at Pangaimotu and enjoying the slow pace and friendly folks here in Tonga and at Big Mamas where we have been adopted as family. Captain Cook called Tonga the Friendly Islands and they remain the same today, Friendly! You need to work at getting them to come out of their shell and open up a little, but the effort, done correctly, demonstrates respect and usually helps gain you a special experience.

We hope to have a radar solution this week coming and can then begin to make plans to start moving again, although no hardship sitting here anchored on the edge of a real tropical island paradise. It may seem like a long delay to those accustomed to the instant gratification that has become modern society, but out here there is nothing that happens fast other than weather changes. First you have to diagnose the exact problem and radar is not a simple device to deal with for us average folks from our average backgrounds. This process is conducted out here by a routine / anxious,,, poll of anyone and everyone you can reach to tap their knowledge and ideas then apply all that yourself and repeat until you get to a point where you think you have it figured out, then bounce that off someone with real knowledge and wait for a response and see how that goes and so on. We have now narrowed it down to the MD board in the radar scanner array. Seems it is faulty and does not respond to any measure of percussive maintenance I apply and as such has been pronounced DEAD and ready for float testing. To do any testing of the array/scanner, requires clambering up onto the radar arch and balance yourself 12 feet above the water, securing the wind generator from turning (or rather prevent it from gouging a huge gash in your scull,,uh learned that the hard way,, since it is a 3 foot diameter propeller spinning pretty quickly depending on wind speed and the blades are really, really sharp) then opening the dome up while NOT dropping any fasteners and exposing it to weather. With so much rain and or wind of late it has been a risky deal so I have waited for the right window each time I open it. So more time passes in paradise. Sending requests for info to the first world takes even more time with the dateline and time zones involved affecting every move. We have done exhaustive research on line, yes we have data speed internet at times on board at anchor, to source out replacements and have one sourced now from East coast US, uhhh pretty close by. Now the research on how to get it here or to Samoa or American Samoa or Hawaii or NZ? Nothing seems to be simple and certainly not fast. The ray dome which houses the scanner array is huge and just outside what can be reasonably shipped as a normal package so falls into freight cargo which would go on a ship, read slow boat. There is a small chance we could get the US postal service to carry it to American Samoa cheaply compared to some of the courier quotes we have received. DHL or the like to Tonga, about 2K USD for a 500 dollar item that is used and very fragile. So we are working that angle some more but it is the weekend which covers three days for us when you are working from here to the real Western Hemisphere in terms of the actual day. Remember we crossed the International Date Line enroute to Tonga but Tonga has elected to adopt the Eastern Hemisphere date and be in sinc with Fiji and NZ. So Sunday here and we are ramping up to get things happening is Saturday in the Western world and so we have one and a half weekends to deal with slowing the process just a little more towards Island Time. American Samoa is about 500 NM NE of us and reportedly a gross harbor littered with war time and domestic junk like jeeps, cars and wash machines, plastic bags etc...and hosting a couple of serious scale fish canneries that belch out all manner of foulness with a serious barnacle problem to add insult to injury. Not a fun stop but doable in order to get the radar delivered and back up and running so we can get outa there with the ship back in tact and night eyes restored. That trip means sailing the length of Tonga archipelago on the windward side where the sea bed causes a roughish sea state so requires some positive South in the winds in order to make it a safe and comfortable ride. Being only 2 1/2 - 3 days away makes it pretty endurable. So we will wait and see how or what we can organize for shipping and take it from there.

On the fun front, yesterday we went to the Tonga National Cultural Fair and spent several hours walking around the grounds and learning more cultural stuff and viewing the various displays and crafts which were surprisingly numerous and generally quite interesting and of good quality. There were seafood displays which exhibited every possible sea creature in Tongan waters, quite mind boggling in scale and diversity. Some alive, some not so much. There were carvings, jewelry, clothing, horticultural displays, livestock displays and pens, hand crafts such as tapas, all kinds of woven goods, baking,traditional cooking and foods and so on. Really quite cool and entrance was free. The program goes such that it opens for a few hours and then the King comes and does an address and formally opens the fair, does his walk through, offers feedback on what he sees etc... The various displays and categories are then scrutinized by a panel of roaming judges who take it pretty seriously and ultimately awards are handed out. Our " family" here in Tonga, Earl and Anna, aka BIG MAMA, have just started to culture pearls here in the serene blue waters in front of the yacht club which they use to create some wonderful jewelry. It is just the very beginning of the process for them and they are admittedly self taught and learning along the way but they entered the fair and had a booth to display their wares to date. The judges awarded them honorable mention with a cash prize. They were hoping for more but we suggested they should be quite proud of that considering competing with others who had years of experience while they were just getting organized. They will refine it and Big Mamas Blue Lagoon Pearls will be a serious enterprise one day not to far off. We help out any way we can and it feels good to be able to contribute something, anything at all really even just moral support or be a sounding board. Next up it is organize the building of a wood fired, sorry, coconut husk fired outdoor pizza oven before we depart here. Should be a real hit with cruisers and local guests alike.

We thought while we were at the fair it would be a special treat to see the King and so we walked up a set of concrete bleachers to the top and waited for his arrival. It was evident by the build up of guards, servants, staff and military that someone of great importance was about to arrive. Before his arrival, we were hustled down from the bleachers by the secret service guys who were dressed in casual outfits b lending right in with everyone else. In fact until I saw the little ear piece I wondered if they were just anyone or were they someone. Seems Palangi, that's us white breads, or anyone else for that matter, sitting in a vantage point such as that was not to be permitted. Understandable! Our guy then surreptitiously guided us through some booths and to a spot up close on the grass where we would be about 30 meters from the King and right out front. So we waited and then were instructed to sit so the locals behind us could see and because you SIT in the Kings presence. The motorcade arrived and we saw sheltered figures being escorted under the big top tent with plush royal seating, decorated with red velvet, crowns and insignias and all that cool stuff one does not get to see in modern life anymore. As it turns out after all the speeches by ministers and prayers etc,,, HE came out to deliver his address and we thought that was pretty cool and we were so close. Then HE, began his tour of the grounds entourage in tow and we were actually standing just a few meters away as HE walked thru and visited the booths and displays. Then SHE, came through and we were once again permitted to get pretty close and to take photos, wow all pretty cool stuff not something we would expect to happen way out here nor many more times in our life time. Once the hoopla died down and we made our way to the entrance packing a newly carved ceremonial mask depicting the God of War,,had to have it,, to meet out driver Mark, for the drive back to town. Neat to be in the presence of royalty regardless of the fact that we find out later it turns out to have been the Crown Prince and Princess rather than the King and Queen, they were in NZ on Royal Business. Crap! Oh well it was an experience we will remember well and have interesting photos to share once we have real internet. In all another special Tongan and South Pacific experience as so many of them are,,,way out here!