We leave for Niue tomorrow morning, after we filled with fuel and water, and I've negotiated with the Tongan authorities. It's been a nice stay and good break for a while, but we're ready to move on.

Weather has been fine, and the Tongan people have taught us a lot about their country. We have learned, for example, that the young people are not as religious and conservative as their parents. We've met young men and women who live apart from their parents, enjoy the bright life, and talk trash with the best of them. It's been quite an education. The world changes even in the South Pacific, and the rate at which it changes can be disconcerting for all.

Our weather router, Conni, tells us that we have good weather for quite a few days: good news.

One of the nicest things about cruising is meeting people from everywhere in the world who've sailed to these exotic and distant locations. So it was tonight as we enjoyed our last meal ashore for quite a few days and conversed by a crew of three from New Zealand just completing a circumnavigation. Since NZ is so close, they're all quite excited, as you can imagine.

We've had this engine problem since we started. The diesel needs glow plugs to start and the only way that I could get them glowing was to crawl under a table and jump them from the starter. I was the only one who knew how to do it, so there was a safety issue, too. After two days of work, I solved the many small problems and one large problem that caused the failure. What a relief!

With luck, we'll have another blog while underway to Niue, or from Niue, and then on to Rarotonga.

Oops, it's raining again. To bed since we have a long day.