Boat Work & Lunch in Neiafu! Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018
08 September 2018 | Anchored off Pangai Island in the Vava'u Group, Tonga
Helen & Mark
Watched the movie, Rouge One, last night. Still had time to watch an episode of Game of Thrones, as we are into the Sixth Season. After we went to bed, the wind shifted to the South which is completely in the opposite direction from yesterday. From the dock in Neiafu, it looks like we are out in the middle of the channel. Mark added two grommets to the courtesy flag and hung it on the starboard side of the mast off the spreader. Then he worked on the port engine water pump. He tightened the plate on the back of the pump, which is held by six tiny bolts. I cleaned up the salon. Then we both worked on scrubbing the deck, as we have black dirt from the American Samoa and many foot prints from the customs dock yesterday. We have had so much rain, yet the dirt survived. Got into the dinghy and headed to town for lunch at the Tropicana Cafe, where we got our wifi yesterday. Our connection kept dropping. Lunch was pancakes & bacon for Mark and I had a dish of fried rice, vegetables, bacon and egg. We made a few phone calls, but the connections were not great. It's most frustrating. We got our updates. Mark added a picture for yesterday's blog. Then we headed to the market. They sell more variety of fruits and vegetables. Bought a watermelon and papaya. Also, supported the local artists, buying a shell necklace, a drawing and a weaved basket. Headed back to boat and passed Nighttide, who just checked in. They followed us back to where we anchored as there were still no available mooring balls close to the dock in Neiafu. Harlequin arrived after 4 pm and anchored out on our side of the harbour. We are sure they are tired from their crossings. The sun came out after the morning rain and mostly cloudy day. We got in the dinghy and scrubbed the starboard hull of Charabia. We ended up with rubber marks from the huge tires on the town dock that we tied up to yesterday. We decided to get in the water and check the bottom of the boat. It was very cold water. Mark dove on the anchor. We are 35 feet of water and we can see the bottom from the surface, but it's better when you dive down. And yes, the bottom of our boat is in great need of a scrubbing. There were marks on the fiberglass that I was scrubbing off. I used a suction cup to hold me in place as the current was rushing thru. I also took my plastic putty knife to scrape the hull. There was a brownish-gold coating on our bottom paint...we presume it was from American Samoa harbor. It's going to take us a few more times scrubbing to get it all cleaned off. There were also small barnacles growing there. Mark cleaned both props and rudders which took a lot of diving. We gave up as Mark's legs were cramping. We had a nice hot shower off the back steps. It took a long time for my body to warm up. My feet are still cold. The breeze is cold to me. The sun is nice and warm and dried our towels and suits pretty quickly. It's coming up to sunset and there are plenty of white clouds in the sky. We are planning to head to Anchorage #7 tomorrow. It was recommended by Rosanna. Mark liked the write up on it. We will leave early and have time to snorkel and explore. Thanks for your emails and satellite messages. Enjoy the weekend!