Malo e lelei. I am sadly leaving Tonga tomorrow. By airplane, not sailing. I had decided awhile ago not to do the passage Tonga to Aeteoroa, The Land of the Long White Cloud, aka New Zealand. The reason for my decision was that the seas in this passage can be quite challenging and I am a fair weather sailor. Jerry has been very apprehensive about this crossing, for many months he has been studying and watching the weather in this area, which just added fuel to my decision. Today I regret that I am not sailing with them. I love the seas, the preparation for departure and the excitement of arriving in a new port. And as it turned out, the weather is going to be very good, light winds and mild seas. The last few days Mauliola crew and us have been working intensively as the departure date was anticipated. On top of that, when we sailed last week the main sail ripped and as we fixed it we found more rips and a large area where the fabric is delaminating. Days were spent patching up the sail. We are very glad that there will be lights winds ahead. Jerry and crew are sailing today to Tongatapu, about 180 miles south of Vava'u where they will pick up Russell and Toni Morelli, and then sail down south. I will be flying home to Hawaii and end this season sailing adventure. I wish we could stay longer in Tonga but the cyclone season here is fast approaching and it could be an early and active one. The waters in the area where the cyclones are generated are warmer than average for this time of the year and we had already 2 low pressure systems reaching Fiji, which is just about 500 miles from here. We were a bit nervous watching the weather grib files, which we downloaded daily via radio or the slow wifi we have.
We have enjoyed the hospitality of the Tongan people and the beauty of their Islands for almost 3 months. I really enjoyed the ladies in the Farmer's market, where we purchased fresh fruit, veggies and herbs. I became close to some of them and looked forward to seeing them every week. This is the part of leaving that I don't like, saying goodbye. Swimming in the cool waters over hundreds of starfish and coral gardens soothed the sores we got to reach here. Now poor Mauliola is going to endure another round of repairs. Hopefully, the skilled kiwis will fix the many problems she still has caused by faulty installation, build and design. Mahalo, obrigado, thanks to all for the cheers and care. Until next time.
Conceicao