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by KC2RIY, on October 16th, 2010 ( Scream, Tonga) After we had properly woken up we took around to decide what to do. There was still a visible swell coming over the reef which threatened to keep us away from the snorkeling on the far side. We agreed that all we wanted to do was to hike a nearby trail then move on. Once the rain had subsided we dinghied ashore and found the trail at the east end of the beach. The trail climbed over the hill through very lush (and muddy) vegetation. We were lucky to find a fallen pamplemousse which we ate as we walked On the far side, after sliding down a muddy bank, we found another beach which we walked along heading further east towards the end of the island. At the far end we were able to again cross to the inward side. Not much to see bar a few goats.
Back on the boat we were soon on our way, motoring in light winds. We squeeze through the shallow pass between Langito’o and Lape to our east before rounding south into the channel and heading west. Our destination was the island group to our west and the area known as Hunga. To reach the sheltered, almost lake-like bay, we had to enter a narrow cut. Fortunately we had good instructions taking the worry out of passing from swelly seas in through a gap in the rocks 100ft wide. Inside the bay the waters were flat. We saw Scream anchored nearby and looked near them for a place to drop the hook. Their shallow shelf in the corner didn’t have a lot of extra room so we found the next shallow area to our east requiring two attempts to drop the hook.
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And that was it for the rest of the day. We’re still in need of a recharge – ourselves that is, not the boat. We just spent the day reading and relaxing. Scream invited us over for drinks but discovering they’ll be here for a few days we suggested postponing till today to which they agreed. In the evening we watched 4 episodes of Prison Watch which we’ve just started and got into already.
Hunga is likely to be our last stop in the Vava’u group. We’re going to wait here until we get a decent weather window to press on. Ha’ano, our first intended stop in the Ha’apai group to our south is 60nm away. Because of the nature of the area we’d want to arrive within a couple of hours of midday so this would require leaving early in the morning – around 1-2am perhaps. We’ll need to wait for the winds to settle before we go as we have no intention of motoring all the way unless we have to. If the wind forecast suggests some strong north easterlies we may take an alternate route via the island of Late 30nm to our west where we have been reliably informed that we’re practically guaranteed of seeing many whales.
For now we’ll just kick back and listen to the rain which continues to fall.
by KC2RIY, on October 15th, 2010 ( Pursuit, Sympatica, Tonga) The last two nights and yesterday involved a lot of water. Most of the water has been in the form of rain, lots of rain. We did have plenty of breaks though. We are near to a supposedly excellent snorkeling site called the “Coral Gardens”. This involves dinghying over a reef to our west which can only be done around high tide. We gave it a go but weren’t too successful. The winds have recently been all over and we have a westward swell. The swell is coming over the reef from the wrong direction. The result was that our dinghy completely filled with water as several waves crashed over us. We turned back and dragged the dinghy onto a nearby beach and attempted to cross the reef on our snorkels and flippers. That failed too as the current was too strong. We tried one other spot but it didn’t look too good. That was that for our snorkeling.
In the evening we had Jules and Lois from Sympatica along with Gary and Tiera from Pursuit IV over for sun-downers. As of time of writing this blog Sympatica have already left the anchorage so it was good to catch up with them before they headed off. There’s a small chance we’ll bump into the them next week.
Not sure if we’ll stay here today or press on. A lot depends on the weather predictions. I am now spending a lot more time listening to the southern radio nets and looking at the broader weather picture in this region. Two reasons for this. The first is that the anchorages in the Ha’apai group are not as sheltered as those here so attention needs to be paid to what could be happening in the short term. The second reason is to build up some familiarity with the weather conditions for our trip to NZ in 2-3 weeks time.
by KC2RIY, on October 13th, 2010 ( Bamboozle, Sympatica, Tonga) Without spoiling it too much I can say it now – we have finally escaped from Nieafu. The last 24 hours has been as packed as ever. Early evening we had a curry evening. Joining us were Charlie, a delivery captain, and Kel & Adriana, a couple who run a local business who we’ve got to know. By 10pm we were all done but not finished. We went ashore for one final Wednesday night at Tonga Bob’s where we met the Bamboozles (Mum included) to watch the Faka Ladies. We had more than a few more beers and wore ourselves out laughing and dancing not returning until well after midnight.
This morning was another familiar Neiafu morning: hot, humid and hung over. That was no excuse not to get busy. I went ashore to clear us out while Helen and Ben cleared up from the night before. Then we returned the electric piano to the Bamboozles as our paths are now unsure to cross in the near term – we had to almost rip Ben off it as he got in his last few tinkles on the ivories. Then Helen and I provisioned for the next 3 weeks as we work our way down to Tongatapu.
As soon as we could we up anchored and headed off to Vaka’eitu where we are now anchored. We were able to sail most of the way in light winds only occasionally using battery power to nudge us through wind shadows.
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There are a few boats here – no surprise. But a nice surprise was running into Sympatica who we’ve not seen since we played volley ball together with the Kuna Indians back in the San Blas on the other side of Panama. I’ve over to say hello to Julie and Louis who are their same old selves. We’ve agreed we’re all partied out and will have a quiet night tonight but will be getting together tomorrow.
Neiafu has been a lot of fun but it’s good to be away and off to new adventures. We’ll stay around Vava’u for a few days before heading south to the Ha’apai group of islands where we can hopefully unwind from the past month’s debauchery.
Some good news of a sort regarding our charger. An address in Opua where we will check in the NZ has been agreed for delivery and it will hopefully be there when we arrive. Furthermore Lagoon has thrown in a few extra pieces free of charge which will be helpful.
by steve, on October 12th, 2010 ( Bamboozle, Tonga) Monday afternoon was our date for karting. Helen had decided to join in and partner with  Lucy from Bamboozle letting Lucy do all the driving. With Jamie’s mother along we all set off in three two man karts with our guide on a single seater.
 We set off along the streets of Vava’u and headed out of town. Our first stop was the stunning point that Ben and I had found while on scooters a few weeks ago.
Soon we were heading along tracks that Ben and I had not explored and were taken to a few more scenic views, each time having the opportunity to stop and look around. We had been told that the best part of the trip was driving around on a beach but unfortunately for us the gate to the beach was locked.  Our guide made up for this by taking us to another island not normally on the trip where we stopped and hiked for a view of the east side of the cluster. We could see the islands of Umuna and Kentuka where we’d visited last week. Fun was had by all. Helen really enjoyed herself as, in her own words, she had a good chance to gossip with Lucy.
In the evening we went ashore to have pizza at Ovava’s. I thanked Laurence, the owner, for his involvement in the evacuation of the guy from infinity as it was he who I’d managed to contact to help get a ride to the hospital. There we met a lot of the regatta organizers as they were celebrating one of their birthday. We had a good evening. We learned a little more about the chap who injured himself the night before. He’s had a lot of stitches in his head but is up and about. There are still concerns about a possible skull injury and apparently a doctor is being flown in from New Zealand to interpret the results.
This morning Ben and I went diving using the two free tickets we’d also won in the regatta. The first dive featured some excellent corals, the second involved some fascinating swims through rocks and caverns. We had a cold spell with lots of rain between dives so the second dive was a little marred by us all getting into the water before we’d really warmed up.
by steve, on October 11th, 2010 ( Infinity, Tonga) News on the injured person from yesterday is not encouraging. I won’t name him but it’s a chap we do know. He’s the boyfriend of a girl who works at one of the whale watching outfits here. We’ve seen him at a lot of the parties and is always energetic. He was up on the crows nest on Infinity when he fell, perhaps 30ft or so, landing on his back on the roof of the boat missing all deck hardware and other protuberances. Ben witnessed the landing as was soon alongside while helping to stabalize him while an on board doctor examined him more closely. There were clear head injuries but he was soon conscious and able to move fingers and toes. They got him ashore strapped to a surf board which was fortunate as the dock they landed on collapsed leaving the shore party in the water and the injured chap floating on the surf board. He is now currently in the hospital. There are medical staff here in Tonga but no specialists and calls have been made for additional help. It’s all very sobering.
From what I heard of the effort to get the patient ashore and my involvement with the individuals coordinating the effort I was very impressed with how they handled the very difficult situation in a less than perfect environment. The crew of Infinity deserve a lot of credit for their response to the wayward antics of one of their guests which could have been tragically worse.
Ben and I are currently ashore enjoying the free internet at the Aquarium Cafe. I have managed to upload a lot of recent photos so if you page back through the last few entries you should see some new pics. The earliest uploaded are those of Ben’s chemistry lesson.
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