Well, we've been here for a few days and are slowly winding down from our trip here. Zephyrs all cleaned up and everything is stowed safely again. We even put our area rug back out in the main salon(helps the cats walk). We cleared through Customs and after getting attached back at our mooring buoy, we headed for town. Even before we left our boat, we were visited by Lene and Henrik off Dana, out Danish friends that we first met in Nanaimo Harbor up in Canada several years ago. They had kayaked over from the town side of the harbor(we are on the west side of the bay) to welcome us and give us some info on the town. It was great to see them again as we had thought they were headed for Fiji and then to New Zealand. You never know who you are going to run into out here.

We launched Puff and took off for town and started exploring. Lene had suggested we stop in at the Visitor Center and pick up a map of the island with all the businesses in town shown making it easier to find. A great idea. We checked out the grocery stores as we went along looking for a well stocked place to get food. We had heard that Tonga was one of the poorest countries in the South Pacific and we would agree. Their stores sparsely stocked with goods. Darn few vegetables and not a good selection of the main stays of what we are used to finding in the stores. We walked up and down the streets getting a feel of the area and visited the local "farmers market" where good veggies can be found and at a decent(less that Tahiti)price. We'd also heard that their carvers were some of the best in the South Pacific and that we would have to agree on. Exquisite carvings of whales and other fishes as well as native emblems associated with the islands.

The Regatta Vava'u started on Wednesday so we got geared up for for the festivities. The town(Neiafu) closed off the main street for a plaza full of vendors and food. Lots to choose from so no one could go away hungry. We bought more tee shirts so that we could show that we had been here and to support the Regatta. This Regatta is only in its third year so it's quite new. Last year they had 40 boats. This year, well over 100 so it is growing fast. It's all done to support local charities and schools so every dollar that the organizers take in is put to good use. It also helps to stimulate the economy that is hurting so badly out here. Tonga is a monarchy. They were never taken over by any other country(French--Tahiti, Cooks & Fiji--New Zealand)so there is no super power out there to pump in capital to help them out. Everything is owned by the King but you can get up to a 50 year lease on property you want to live on. That's one reason why the big hotel chains haven't come in here as they would not own the property they would build on. The largest amount of money coming into the country is from the fees they charge boats and importers to bring goods into their country. Second is tourism. Regatta Vava'u will be a big boost for the economy for this small island.

They started the festivities with a Pub Crawl sponsored by Port Opua out of New Zealand. They are here to drum up business for their town. It's big business getting cruisers to park their boats for the Winter(their Summer) in New Zealand. Whangarei(another town in New Zealand) is sponsoring a barbecue this afternoon. The Pub Crawl started on the south side of town and slowly worked its way back into town hitting 6 bars and restaurants along the way. Starting at 1830 we finally finished about 1000. The last bar(Tongan Bob's) featured transvestite dancers. Boy, that came as a shock to many of us as we knew that Tonga is a very conservative country where even men are not permitted to take their shirts off in public(big fine). Some of the "girls" were quite good dancers having lots of fun with the cruisers in the crowd.

Yesterday, we continued out walk around town in the morning as the afternoon was set for the Tridecagon-athlon. A collection of thirteen "games" competing for first place. All the cruisers were set up in teams of 8 each making up 6 teams. We were both on team three(the Awesome Threesomes). They had a barbecue set up right next door so we could eat when ever a break came along. The games included such events as an egg roll toss and carry(roll the egg along the ground, toss it over your shoulder to the next player who then collects them(creative cheating was encouraged and the officials could be bribed with liquor if done discreetly) . Once all have been collected(some got broken along the way) the last player had to carry them in a spoon to the starting line where they were then thrown over the shoulder again to a person who had to catch them in a cup attached to their head. And that was just the first event. We had "Giants, Wizards and Elves(like Rock, paper scissors game only with the teams acting like wizards, giants or elves). There was a spelling bee, water balloon toss, person carry(no hands allowed) and several more. Even a dance competition for a free tee shirt(I won!). The last event was a pie eating contest. Each team had one person(it was me of course) who had to eat pies(no hands allowed). I lost!!! It's tough to eat a pie(banana custard) with no hands and it sure gets messy. I was a mess even before the girl next to me shoved a pie in my face.

As the competition was winding up, the skies let loose with torrents of rain. It poured and poured and poured. There was no way we were going to stay dry for the walk back to Puff so we just walked along getting passed by others that were trying to stay as dry as possible in the flood. We made it back to Puff soaked and headed back to Zephyr hoping we had closed all the port lights(we had). Once back at Zephyr, we striped down in the cockpit and tried to dry off as best we could and Tracy headed for the showers as she had gotten soaked with salt water when we arrived. Zephyr does have some leaks so we put towels where we knew they were and found lots more in the down pour. The water proofing of out dodger failed after the first four hours of the flood so I'll be retreating the fabric when it dries out. With no real water protection for the cockpit, it quickly got drenched with water. This morning was spent hanging all the towels we had used as well as our clothes from last night. Just about every boat out here has laundry hanging from it's rigging. We're getting geared up for the next rain that we figure will be hitting us later this afternoon.

Well, that's about it so far for our stay in Tonga. Lots of nice people and catching up with old friends.