We had quite a comfortable sail from Samoa to Niuatoputapu Island in the north of Tonga, a distance of about 180 miles which took us one day and two nights of sailing. We arrived on September 24.

We sighted the 650-metre volcano of Tafahi Island at daybreak (actually the radar sighted it just before), and soon we could make out the lower profile of ‘New Potatoes’ as tongue-tied cruisers sometimes call the island; even locals often shorten the name to ‘Niua.’ Our Lonely Planet guidebook says the name means ‘most sacred coconut.’