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by KC2RIY, on September 30th, 2010 ( Leu Cat, Tonga) The morning was a bit of a runaround. I had to pick up some 2-stroke oil as the load we’d bought in Costa Rica has now run out. Helen and I went provisioning for the next 2 weeks. We’ve got to be back in Neiafu within 2 weeks to extend our visa so we plan to chill out in the outer islands until then.
As soon as we had our provisions aboard we up anchored and high tailed it out of the harbour. Becoming somewhat of a repeated experience we passed Leu Cat who were tied to the customs dock. A lot of cruisers seem to have formed a pair who somehow always leave when the other arrives and vice-versa. For us it is Leu Cat. David had emailed us in the morning to let us know they were on their way in. Given the inevitability of meeting them out in the islands we felt we really had to get out rather than wait another day in Neiafu – otherwise me might never leave.
Our first stop was not too far away – a popular spot called Port Maurelle. There is no port here. In fact there are no signs of man bar the yachts and one home under construction tucked away in the trees. There’s a lovely beach here and the waters crystal clear. A fantastic spot to unwind and recover.
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In the afternoon we took the dinghy round to Swallows Cave a mile and a bit away. Swallows Cave is big enough to take the dinghy in. The cave derives it’s name from the swallows living in their forming their nests on the ceiling. Inside the cave it is dark but the afternoon light comes in through the entrance illuminating the floor of the cave visible in the almost invisible water. We’d brought our snorkel gear so we tied the dinghy to a rock and entered the water. Ben and I both swam down to touch the bottom which turned out to be 50ft deep.
Around the corner was another smaller cave. The extra feature in this cave is a small swim through to a chimney. It’s only a few feet underwater to get to so relatively easy to reach. Helen managed to bump her head on the rock on the way out but no lasting damage.
We just chilled the rest of the afternoon and evening. There are quite a few boats here (many of which we know) which I guess is due to the time of year and proximity to the end of the regatta. Nevertheless it still feels tranquil.
This morning we woke to perfectly still waters. Looking down at all the fish swimming at different levels it felt like floating in an aquarium.
I finally established contact with CatCo regarding our charger. It had been returned due to delivery costs exceeding pre-agreed limits. This has now apparently been resolved and the unit should be on it’s way soon. We’ll see. Hopefully it will arrive around the time we return to Neiafu to extend our visas allowing us to properly enjoy our time in the outer islands.
Around midday, along with all from Delos and Jackster, we dinghied over to the end of the bay we’re in and dove on the wreck there. The surface waters were calm and murky but from about 20 feet down visibility cleared. The wreck is of an old transport ship a few hundred feet long. The highest parts of the structure are at about 60ft deep with the stern deck around 70ft. The base of the holds which can be entered sit around 110ft deep. There were plenty of fish around the wreck as well as many large majestic jelly fish. The iron deck has plenty of holes allowing us to peer into the depths of the ship. Because of the depth it was a short dive of around 30 minutes which was perfect for Helen.
Freezing Rain next to us invited us over for G&Ts at 6pm. We went ashore an hour or so earlier to cash in our free pizza only to discover they don’t light their oven until 6pm. We ended up at the Sunset Bar having their wood fire cooked burgers which were pretty damn good.
Leaving Ben aboard to get in some more piano before we have to hand it back we headed over to Freezing Rain where we also met the Trims and the Worral Winds.
Today we’re out of here. As much as we like it in Neiafu we do want to see some more of the islands around here. We’re off to Port Morell for a couple of nights before pushing off to the east side of the group for the weekend. We still don’t have our tracking reference but have people lined up when CatCo work out how to send an email. Ironically Leu Cat just sent us an email this morning saying they’ll be in Neiafu today and are hoping to see us. This is not the first time we’ve passed each other by. No doubt we’ll see them around here soon.
We’re feeling a little wrecked ourselves after the last week or so. We need some quiet time to recuperate. Maybe not tonight though because there’s already talk of a beach bonfire.
What a long and fun week this has been. The last day of the regatta finished with a prize giving party at the wharfside hotel in the evening. Before that we did have an interesting day. I spent 4 hours wrestling with the internet at the Aquarium Café. It is a favourite spot, it seems, for cruisers to buy a coffee and collectively wrestle with slow internet connections. It’s quite social as we each wait several minutes for each page to load. I managed to upload a bunch of pictures from the previous day’s events. I also managed to book a flight for Sam to join us in New Zealand. While I was ashore, Ben hosted a chemistry lesson for nine of the kids from Tyee, Kamaya, Stray Kitty & Mojo. Not all his experiments went as planned but from what I heard later it went over well.
Back to the party. At the beginning of the week we had to option to purchase passports which encouraged us to visit places around town and the island gaining points for each visit and even more if we bought things. We gained points for the events we joined in and more if we won any of them. The party included a prize-giving ceremony for the top 11 scorers. As we had stuck together most of the week (and we got Ben’s passport stamped while he was working on the Full Moon Party) we had similar points. Not only did we all make the top 11 we placed near the top gaining a good selection of prizes. Ben and Helen each won two tank dives. I won a 45km 2 person kart ride around the island which I’ll do with Ben. We each earned secondary prizes amounting to a free pizza, a map and a desert for 2 people. All in all this was quite a valuable haul – but very much the icing on the cake for a fun filled week.
The party had some local dancing and a live band. We stayed on till nearly midnight when Helen felt too tired to continue. On the way back to the dinghy it seemed she had a new burst of energy causing her to invite Brian, Brady & Erin from Delos, Jenny from Callisto and Steven and Dorusha back to the boat to carry on the festivities. We didn’t get to sleep until 1:30 – normally (but not recently) quite late for us.
We had planned on scooting out of Neiafu today and seeing some of the outer anchorages. We still don’t have the tracking number for our charger which is getting comical. The Delos crew have invited us to dive on a wreck in the bay here today and we have to sort out and book our prizes so maybe we won’t be out of here after all.
by steve, on September 27th, 2010 ( Anthem, Bamboozle, Tonga) The problem with skipping a day is trying to remember what we did. Sunday seems a long time ago now. What I do remember is despite the mid-afternoon heat, we got round to putting the main sail back on the boat and retying all the reefing lines. The patching looks pretty good so we’re pleased about it.
Later in the afternoon I had a few of the net controllers over to discuss our last week of running the net. The net we started heading down from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus has had a good run and has been pretty successful in terms of the numbers of vessels checking in from time to time and certainly those listening. Now that the NZ bound boats are congregating in and around Tonga and the Australia bound boats have headed off west we’re beginning to find ourselves pulled in different directions. We’ve decided to call it a day but not without gathering some information together about other nets and weather sources and offering that out. Getting a few folks together we were able to get some ideas going about how we will communicate the information we have over this last week.
No partying for Sunday evening. We watched a movie and slept early.
Around 6:30am Monday morning we were off, heading back to Neiafu for the fun contest they’d named the ‘tridecagonathlon’. The contest comprised 13 separate events all of which had opportunities to get dirty and messy. It started with an egg tossing / spoon race and ended up with a pie eating contest. The point scoring was somewhat arbitrary and totally up to the judges with points being gained and lost for various things including flattery, complaining, bribery (drinks), etc. So many points were given out on the pie eating event that it largely determined the final result. We had been split into six teams which separated the three of us into different teams. For the last event one person had to represent each team and had to eat as much banana custard out of pies in six minutes without using their hands. Helen and Ben both represented their teams. Ben managed eight pies and Helen ten – sealing and overall win for her team. Needless to say, both of them lost their ‘lunch’ later on. It was all tremendous fun and once I have secured some pictures I’ll post them. (I have managed to upload some pics from the pub crawl and full moon party which I’ll add to previous blogs).
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In the afternoon we had a nice surprise. Jamie and Lucy offered to lend us their electric piano so Ben could get his fix in. We found compatible power sources so were able to take them up on their offer. Ben is now very happy.
We ended the day with Jack from Anthem aboard for dinner, chat and beers. Somehow this lasted some time and we weren’t asleep until late.
Today (Tuesday) is the last day of the regatta. There is a prize-giving ceremony for all the things we collected points for over the last week and no doubt a little partying after.
We’re looking forward to slowing down and that we’ll do once we get out of here and out to some of the anchorages around here.
What’s a bit frustrating is that we still haven’t been given the tracking reference for our allegedly shipped charger by CatCo. Without this we won’t be able to appoint an agent to clear it through the capital and get it here. Furthermore we have no idea about how much time we have to wait and how to plan our time in the anchorages. Seems just stupid to me.
One other annoyance is one of my email services has been hijacked and a bunch of our contacts emailed/spammed. Sorry if you’ve received some unwanted email from us. I am doing what I can to track this one down.
by KC2RIY, on September 25th, 2010 ( A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Desue, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Tonga, Trim, Tyee, Visions of Johanna) The Jackster’s showed up and anchored next to us around midday. We soon had them over to share our experiences of the last few months as well as abandoning our plans to hoist the main sail in favour of a few beers.
Around 6pm we headed ashore to Ano Beach for the ferry service to the Full Moon Party. Sadly, the ferry service was the weak link of the whole evening requiring some folks to wait over two hours for their turn to board and make the passage round to the party. Fortunately we made it over on the second one out so we didn’t have to wait too long.
The party was a lot of fun. A lot of the people we have previously mentioned on our blog were there. Most people on their way to New Zealand this year are either now in Tonga or soon to be arriving. I’m probably missing a few but those that we can put our heads together and remember are : A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Delos, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Trim, Tyee & Visions of Johanna. There were many others and we made some new acquaintances along the way.
A lot of effort had been put into things including three 10 minute shows of which Ben played a part (dressed as a skeleton) in the first and third. Not everything went smoothly but it was all appreciated.
We didn’t get back until after midnight. We didn’t see Ben until the following morning around 11am which I saw him on the ferry. I dinghied over and he jumped in the water to avoid the trip to the beach. He hadn’t slept at all having had the beer and food go free around 3am and partying into the morning followed by helping to clear up.
We have some pictures, courtesy of Ann from Callisto, which will be posted when we can get a connection.
Tomorrow the fun continues so we’ll be off early round to Neiafu.
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