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Ha’afeva

by KC2RIY, on October 25th, 2010 (Gryphon 2, Kamaya, Leu Cat, Sara 2, Sea Mist, Tonga)

For our sail to Ha’afeva I again gave Helen and Ben a challenge. This was to determine the best route and plot this into the chart plotter. There was a choice of going around the north or south of the island and based on wind direction, etc. it was really up to them. They decided to go head sail only. With 20 knots of wind this was a reasonable thing to do. I performed my usual (for now) role at the helm to get us off the anchor but handed over to them to set the head sail, get us out from the reef and sail us over to Ha’afeva.

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On arrival we saw Sea Mist and Leu Cat here with Kamaya just raising their anchor. Behind us Sara 2 was arriving. The Sea Mists having been here 24 hours were just going ashore at the same time as we were so we ended up hiking the road across the island to the village together. In the village we found a chap who sells lobsters and agreed to pick up two each the following morning.

Later on during our walk around the village we were greeted by Miimi who invited us over to lunch the following day. We’d heard about this before and were half hoping this would happen. The custom is they invite us to lunch and we bring gifts from the boat. She promised us sea food, including more lobster.

On the way back we bumped into another local called Peter who I think wanted to invite us to lunch but on discovering we’d been invited by Miimi he offered us (probably to sell) some mangoes. We were interested but suggested we’d bring some bags the following day when we collected the lobsters.

Back in the dinghy we dropped by Leu Cat to say hello as we hadn’t spoken to them since Tahiti although we had seen them in Nieafu. As we eventually arrived back at Dignity we were offered a generous chunk of Wahoo from Griffon 2 who’d also just arrived. They’d caught a 36lb fish and had too much for themselves. That was turned into a delicious curry for the evening.

Right now I’m downloading the day’s weather forecasts while I wait to go ashore with John from Sea Mist to get our lobsters and mangoes.

Category: Gryphon 2, Kamaya, Leu Cat, Sara 2, Sea Mist, Tonga | Here is my comment

Port Maurelle

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.

Category: Leu Cat, Tonga | Here is my comment

Wrecked

by steve, on September 29th, 2010 (Delos, Freezing Rain, Jackster, Leu Cat, Tonga, Trim)

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.

Category: Delos, Freezing Rain, Jackster, Leu Cat, Tonga, Trim | Here is my comment

Bastille Day

by KC2RIY, on July 15th, 2010 (Leu Cat, Savannah, Society Islands)

We woke up to an exceedingly clear day. For Ben this meant he saw his first glimpse of Moorea in the distance with great clarity – a taste of things to come.

Ben and I did the baguette run for breakfast after which the two of us headed over to the Intercontinental Hotel to have a look around and possibly go in the pool. We decided in the end not to swim there but to go swimming on the nearby reef which we did after lunch. The swim on the reef was fair but was all worth it in the end as we spotted an eagle ray casually gliding along nearby.

In the afternoon Ben and I spent some time preparing lures. He asked if that meant we’d be “catching fish” when we next sailed. He has much to learn.

In the evening we met up with David and Danielle from Leu Cat for Happy Hour before we headed back to Dignity for something quick to eat. We then headed back to the hotel, collecting Mike and Jody from Savannah then David, Danielle and Shirleen from Leu Cat to all convoy over to the hotel to watch the dancing.

We arrived seconds before the dancing started and had a treat watching the professional dancers do their thing. They had a good show but it was fairly short. The setting was pretty cool and they did include a short version of the Marquesan Pig Dance which was a lot of fun.

This morning we’re off to Pape’ete and then we’ll sail over to Moorea to get away from the crowds and busyness off Tahiti.

Category: Leu Cat, Savannah, Society Islands | One reader has left a comment, here is mine

Back in Marina Taina

by KC2RIY, on July 13th, 2010 (Leu Cat, Savannah, Society Islands)

The trip back up north from the eclipse was a little quicker than we anticipated so we changed our plans and headed for Marina Taina. On the one hand it would have been nice to spend another evening on our own on the south side but there were also benefits for getting settled in.

The main activity for the day yesterday was shopping. We provisioned sufficiently so we have most of the main items aboard to get us to Rarotonga in the Southern Cooks. We will no doubt be picking bits and pieces up along the way, such as fresh veg, but the bulk of it is now in. In the evening we went ashore for happy hour at the Casa Blanco with the Leu Cats (and guests) and the Savannahs who we recently met. We all ended up staying for a meal there.

Today we’ll top up with fuel as the duty free fuel here is not a bad price. We haven’t used a great deal but we want to have enough aboard to get us to New Zealand and if the weather is kind to us this should do it.

Ben should be already on his way to us but won’t arrive until 6:20pm this evening. We’ll walk to the airport from here and then return via taxi. Tomorrow is Bastille Day. There doesn’t seem to be much happening here that day. We had hoped there would be fireworks and/or public celebrations or something. Sounds like we’ll have a quiet day aboard.

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Category: Leu Cat, Savannah, Society Islands | Here is my comment
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