Surprise
07/22/2008, Nukualofa

We finally tore ourselves away from Neiafu, reluctantly; what a wonderful place to cruise. The photo is of the Mermaid Bar which hosts the Friday night sailboat races. After two straight easy wins Surprise retired to let others have some fun.

We did the transit south to Nukualofa in two hops, with an overnight stop in the Haapai group of islands. The first leg started as a picture perfect sail, including boating a nice small Yellowfin Tuna, until the wind died off and we cranked up the diesel to get to the anchorage before dark. In spite of all of the charts, GPS, and guide books, finding a place to anchor is a visual process. The coral heads and reefs are easy to see with good sunlight, and invisible without it. After carefully finding a good spot in the dying light we were surprised to see another sailboat come in at 8pm. "Vai miti" is a 125' yacht you can charter for $60,000/week; they simply deployed their dinghy and had the dinghy find them a spot with its depth sounder. Professional crew of 5 makes things easier.

Our second leg was an overnight so that we could arrive in Nukualofa during daylight; we targeted a 10am arrival but had breezy conditions and arrived wet and salty at 6am. We dropped anchor at a small island about a mile from town where Mokisha, a boat we met in Bora Bora and a participant in our twice daily radio net, was anchored. After a restorative breakfast and a much needed nap we took the dinghy to town to check in.

For the first time in two years and many countries we met Mr. Official who had a Bad Attitude. Why had it taken us until 2 pm to get to his office if we anchored at 7am? We took a nap after being up all night. Fortunately, we had come from another part of the Kingdom, so we didn't have to go through Immigration, Health, Agriculture and Port Control, just Mr. BA. Later over drinks, our friends Tom and Colleen from Mokisha said they had been shaken down for a bottle of rum when they checked in. Nice.

We had great success finding two of the three shipments we had sent to Nukualofa, including Steve's new I- phone to replace the one that flunked the float test. The town is a beehive of activity as everyone gets ready for the coronation.

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Surprise
07/15/2008, Ofu Island, Vava'u, Tonga

The small island we are anchored in the lee of has a village along the western shore; no roads, no electricity, but several churches. Churches are big here, of every persuasion. The village on Ofu was a delightful surprise; almost none of the trash and litter we saw in Neiafu, the big city of 5,600. Instead of a road there is a path just ashore of the high waterline; it is lined with benches and spider lily plants and was clearly well maintained. After visiting the local school, the obligatory photos of the kids and distribution of frisbees we headed up the path.

We ran into the local women, in force, engaged in their weekly task of making the path beautiful (photo). Weeding, raking, wheelbarrows and machetes; clearly an organized and focused group. What a lovely place.

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Surprise
07/10/2008, Vava'u, Tonga

The weather has been less than it's normal, lovely self for the last week; winds in the mid 20s make even the Vava'u anchorages uncomfortable. We've been hanging on a mooring here in town where it is protected, provisions and restaurants are close, and there is wifi access. Hiking, kart touring and Friday night beer can racing have kept us busy.

The karts (photo) are a cross between a go kart and a dune buggy, and built in China (is everything now?). They are perfect for exploring the back country. Surprise showed her transom to the rest of the fleet again, but the competition is getting faster. The second place boat was a big Jeanneau...maybe 54' that gave us a great race to the weather mark. They don't allow spinnakers, but it was breezy enough without one for Surprise to pull away.

Monday will find us back out to the outlying islands for more snorkeling and sightseeing before we head south for the King's coronation.

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