From Rob: arrived Tonga

Subject: Arrived Tonga

Arrived today in Neiafu (19 degrees South 174 degrees West) in the
Vava'u group of islands which is in the northern part of Tonga. It has
been quite a hard sail from Taiohae Bay (9 degrees South 140 degrees
West) on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas and has taken a long 19 days to
get here including an unexpected detour. This leg did contain some
interesting bits – we passed through the spot in the Pacific ocean on
the other side of the world from Cape Town at 162 degrees west, in
fact it looked just like any other bit of ocean, but it was something
to celebrate, crossed the International Date Line going east to west
and so lost a day. For a while I thought it was going to be the day of
my birthday, the 15 Aug, we were going to loose, but fortunately it
was not. Don't know how that would have effected my age if we had done
so. The mind boggles at the possibilities. Also a bit more west and I
will have covered the bit between Hawaii and New Zealand so I can say
I have been right around the world. On 12 August it was also 4 months
since we left Hout Bay. And I remember telling everyone that this trip
will take 100 days sailing and 20 days of stop offs along the way.
Well the 120 days are up and we still have 2000 of the 14500 nautical
miles to go. We are all optimistic that the last 2000 miles will go
quickly and expect to be in Brisbane on 3 September God Willing!!

Our time in the Marquesas seemed a bit rushed as tried to do too much
as usual and everything there was very laid back with all the shops
including the small internet café closing at about 3pm. There is a
very much French stamp on the place especially in the prices as most
things are imported. Even the immigration and customs procedures are
very laid back with the local police handling it all.  We tried
keeping them sweet with the odd French word and being very curtious
and it seemed to pay off as Chris and George on there SA passports
were allowed in after each buying a US$28 visa stamp. Taiohae Bay
filled all my expectations of what a Pacific Island should be. The
island is volcanic in origin and so rises steeply out of the ocean.
The bay was horseshoe shaped with high mountains on all three sides
covered by lush tropical forests and a narrow flat strip of land with
a black beach at the end along which all the buildings are situated.
At the one end is the main commercial quay and fuel jetty, and around
a headland the small boat wharf and some shops and a café from which
you walked the 100 or so yards into the town proper. All the yachts
and there were about 30 all anchored in the bay. We used our
inflatable for the first time. The patch Chris has put over the hole
we discovered in it still leaked slowly so paddling to shore and back
was quite precarious and the pump had to be used to blow it up before
each voyage. The rest of the town was very south pacific with lots of
ramshackle buildings, including a cultural hall where Chris and I
enjoyed our first Tahiti beer (R50 for a half litre) and later a steak
frites (R150) good but not up to SA standards. Good enough though that
we went back for another one the next night when the local dance
troupe put on a show of south pacific dancing. Unfortunately it was an
all male troupe but they did some very good imitation of the Hakka
with lots of banging on big big drums. The next day I took a walk into
the hills above the town to an archeologically site with lots of
carved heads and other cultural things.  Walking through the
residential areas the fruit trees in the people's gardens were
amazing. Bananas, oranges, grapefruit and lots of others I had no idea
what they were/. No wonder there was no fruit for sale in any of the
stores. Chris and I met up for lunch and then walked along the bay to
the smart hotel at the end for a beer after which I enjoyed a snorkel
in the sea off the beach to cool down as it had been a very hot day
and we were not use to the exercise after having been on the cat for
20 days. George and Joyce returned to the boat that evening with two
stalks of bananas and a sack of grapefruit they had been given by
people from Joyce's church they had met.

After having filled up with diesel the next morning we left with heavy
hearts. Chris had convinced us that the winds to the Cook Islands were
not favourable and we should head straight to Tonga 2000 nautical
miles away and with good winds which he expected a 15 day sail away.
After the cold but excellent winds we had had from the Galapagos to
Marquesas where we had done the trip in 4 days less than was planned
we had no reason to doubt we could do it again. We had just left the
island of Nuku Hiva behind and got into the open seas when the wind
died. After about 2 days of messing about Chris put on one of the
engines full time and everyone started to do calculations as to how
long it would be before we ran out of fuel. Two days later at 149
degrees west the writing was on the wall or rather in the sea and we
made a sharp left and headed for Papeete on Tahiti where we arrived 4
days later. While this was just a quick refuelling stop it gave us the
opportunity to stretch our legs and walk around Papeete for three
hours see some of the sights and have a meal and a beer. While we were
waiting for Chris to sort out the right bits of paper to be able to
buy duty free diesel a ceremony was going on outside to christen a new
inter island ferry which included a local dance troupe and this time
both men and women and there was all the hip swaying that we wanted.
What a stroke of luck. Once we had taken the diesel on board, had a
shower and got out of the reef circling Tahiti the wind started up
again and we had a few great days sailing. Then it was back to motor
sailing with the Asymmetric up to catch any wind that was going. Apart
from the fun bits like when we swim off the back of the boat in mid
ocean to see if there are any sharks about or it rains and we all get
the soap out and get a good wash from head to toe or Joyce surprises
us with another original supper the daily routine goes on and on.
Getting up in the morning, doing ablutions, eating breakfast, doing a
four hour watch, if we are lucky changing sails, eating lunch, reading
a book, transferring diesel from the containers on the back to the
tanks, 5:30 beer time – one beer that is, the highlight of the day,
supper, sleep and a 3 hour watch and the next day is the same. But
then like now, we arrive at an island and there is the possibility of
a proper shower, a pub with cold beers, lots of them, and a good meal!
And things to do and see, like Chris and I hope to go on a tour
tomorrow to swim into some submerged caves, and it all seems
worthwhile and we are rejuvinated and ready for the next leg. Not long
to go now!!