Day 1,324 Update
03 November 2018 | Tonga
Well, after a full week of waiting out the weather system that passed slooowwllyy over Tongan waters, we finally set off north for Ha’apai. After a full day of sailing, we stopped overnight at Nomuka Iki. The next stop was Ha’afeva. Both islands are bordered by reefs so they are pretty protected regardless of wind direction with the exception of west. Thankfully, the wind wasn’t from the west. We saw many whales and a couple of dolphins on the way to both islands.
The islands of Ha’apai remind us of the Bahamas. They are close together and all of them have white, sandy beaches. The only difference…the water depth around the islands is much deeper in Tonga.
While we were waiting to leave Tongatapu, we decided to change our sailing plans and go to Fiji, New Caledonia and Australia instead of New Zealand. We will still fly to New Zealand and spend an extended time but we want the boat to be in Australia.
Our final stop in Ha’apai was the main village of Pangai. We checked in with the Customs office and immediately checked out again, getting our “local movement” document for Va’vau. We were able to get a few groceries and purchased more data and voice minutes from the small Digicel office.
Back at the boat, we discovered one of the end caps on the water maker membrane had sprung a leak. There was salt water everywhere inside the cabinet. We’re not certain how long it had been leaking but the cushion on the settee was very damp (and had started to smell which is what drew our attention in the first place). After clearing out the cabinet, cleaning it up and expressing our continued frustration and disappointment with the Spectra water maker, we made our way to shore again and enjoyed lunch at Mariner’s Café while we decompressed.
It was a beautiful day with good wind strength and direction so we elected to head off for Va’vau. We wanted to be there before Ann’s return to Serenity. We departed Pangai at 1530, had the best sail since arriving in the Pacific and pulled into Neiafu harbor in Va’vau at 0630 the next morning, Tuesday, September 25. Initially we were unable to find an available mooring ball so we dropped the anchor across the bay and waited for a ball to open up. While we were clearing in with Customs, checking out the local vegetable market and getting rid of our accumulated trash, Roy grabbed a mooring ball for us which was located right next to Serenity. Boy were we lucky. We immediately returned to Sheric to move.
A number of other cruisers we knew were either anchored or moored in the harbor…Summer, Begonia, Where II, Eleuthra, Excel, Desidorada…It was great to catch up with everyone. The first evening we enjoyed a delicious fish and chips dinner at The Hideaway (a small houseboat in the anchorage owned by a Canadian couple). The meal is served in a newspaper cone that you hold with one hand while picking out the bits with the other hand. Since there is only one table, you either stand or sit on one of the six chairs. Barry and Char, the owners, prepare and serve then stay until the last customer leaves. We had a wonderful evening listening to their stories about Tonga.
Late the next morning we walked over to the boat yard to meet Ken, the welder. We had to get the mixing elbow for the main engine and a bracket welded. It was a nice walk and since we hadn’t been getting much exercise, it felt good to expend some energy. On our return walk, we stopped at Tropicana Café and purchased a paper chart of the waters between Tonga and Australia. We had received electronic charts of Fiji, New Caledonia and Australia (from our chart guy in Austria) which we needed to download. We were still trying to figure that out since there was almost four gigabyte of data to retrieve and internet speed in the islands is never fast.
Ann arrived in Va’vau on the evening of September 26. We met Roy and Ann at Mangos for a reunion dinner. It was great to have her back. She had lots of good stories to tell about her visit home.
Roy raced Serenity in the weekly Friday boat race in the harbor. Of the three weeks, he took first place twice. Ric joined Serenity as crew the third time Roy raced. They took third place after coming from a starting position of LAST. They had fun and we (the ladies) enjoyed watching from shore with cold drinks in our hands. After the race, we had dinner at Refuge (the race host/organizer) and danced to the tunes played by a local DJ.
We didn’t do much exploring outside of Neiafu (the main village). We did walk around the village looking for provisions. The small, Chinese-run stores didn’t stock much and they all stocked the same stuff but we were able to get a few things. We visited Falaleu Deli, owned and operated by Barry and Char (the same people who operate The Hideaway), and picked up some meat and prepared pasta for the next passage. We also enjoyed meals at BellaVista, Mango, Refuge and Tropicana Café. Our stores are dwindling quickly (mostly intended on our part) since we are trying only to stock enough food for the next passage. We hope to not have to get rid of much when we arrive in Australia.
On Wednesday, October 3, Roy and Ann departed for Nuku’alofa to pick up their guests who were set to arrive Friday. We paid our mooring and harbor fees, then began clearing out with the Officials. Turns out we didn’t need to extend our Visas after all. Oh well…. We were able to take on 200 liters of duty-free diesel fuel which topped off both fuel tanks and filled four of the seven jerry cans we have on board. When we had our clearance for Fiji, we departed the harbor and anchored at Kapa Island near the west side of the island group to wait for better weather. It had been blowing in the mid to upper 20s and the seas were over three meters (nine feet) so we elected to sit tight and let things calm down a bit. The anchorage (aka Port Maurelle) was fairly comfortable even though we were anchored in coral and the chain made grinding noises all day and night.
Side note…sorry about not getting pictures uploaded. It’s been a lengthy delay with just the textual updates as (have we mentioned it before?) the internet speed “sucks”…