Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Still in Tonga. Actually, we're stuck in Tonga!

Vava'u Harbor at Sunset !
Our time in Vavau harbor
We are stuck here in the tranquil upper reaches of the harbor. We were lucky enough to be given the use of Boris's mooring ball. There are two boats on mooring balls nearby, one from Berlin the other from Origin. The latter is a small boat around 26 - 28 feet missing a rudder. The German boat is covered in tarpaulins, like us neither of them is going anywhere fast J

Our exhaust elbow
The part we need attaches to the engine manifold. Its purpose is to cool the exhaust gases and thus injects salt water into the elbow. You can imagine such a part is subject to heavy corrosion so it’s no surprise it failed; too bad I never ordered a spare while the boat was in Mexico.
The said part delivered, costs about 125USD in the USA. The same part costs about 156USD off the shelve in New Zealand. Here in Tonga it costs 328USD of which 172USD is shipping costs. I have no idea what additional costs will be involved with customs when we hopefully pick the part up on Friday. Talking to some of the locals they say it’s just about impossible to get the part out of customs. We will see.

Nationalities
We have met a large percentage of Australian and German boats on this trip, not to mention a disproportionately high number of Swiss boats. The others are mostly USA and Canadian. We know of at least 6 other boats heading to NZ either from Tonga or from Fiji. We plan to go on to Fiji but again it’s dependent on the part arriving and weather. Ideally we would like to be in Fiji around the beginning of October and head to NZ mid-October to the beginning of November. The trip to NZ is the most feared by all the cruisers (expect the Kiwi boats who look at you blankly if you express concern about the dangers of the trip). In fact we know of 2 Kiwi boats that have just left one is only 26 foot. These days with the weather information you have a lot more control over the trip. For example you can slow down if you see bad weather ahead. Given the weather travels West to East and you are travelling south it is possible to avoid bad weather. The danger though is a low pressure system tracking down from the North; these systems cause a squash zone and can catch you out. Needless to say all the cruisers will be watching the weather carefully come mid-October.

Characters
One of the boats heading to NZ is Will on Sojourner. He's a black single hander one of three black single handers we have met so far - I think the other two, Al and Phil (brothers) are also heading to NZ. Will is here in Tonga with his big smile and greying temples and Pookah shell neckless. "They think Iaam from Fiji" says Will in his slight Southern drawl. His eyes twinkle in amusement as he tells the story explaining to the locals he's a black man from America.

Knot Tide Down
The “girls” took pity on us and took us away for a few days on their boat. We anchored in 55 feet of crystal clear water. In fact it was so clear you could see the bottom at night under the moonlight. Steve speared and caught fish so we had 2 great days of paddle boarding, eating, snorkeling and diving. On the second day, Steve declared that the cabin top looked as though an explosion occurred at a rec center because we had so many toys spread out all over the deck!
The Girls and Bill heading out on Knot Tide Down
Bill trying his hand at fishing.....

Tony holding up Steve's trophy fish of the day!

Bill paddle boarding

Carolyn paddle boarding

Steve ready to dive with his spear gun - GO GET EM STEVE!

The beginning of the Backgammon tournament...
Beaches, Bon Fires....AND WHALES!
We spent about 4 nights in a little cove off the island of Tapana. The second night at anchor we organized a bonfire dinner on the beach with 5 boats attending. (Kailani, Knot Tide Down, True Blue Five, Lady Carolina and Sudoeste.) The three kids were in charge of fire wood patrol. Emily is 10 and a little Kiwi firecracker belonging to Jonathan and Kiri onboard Sudoeste. Kyle(14) and Joel(10) onboard “Lady Carolina” with their parents Carolina and Steve from Canada. The party lasted for about four hours after much eat and Drink. Like usual, the Fantastic 4 of Kailani and Knot Tide Down, ended the night after solving all the world’s problems and running out of firewood and rum.

Bon fire on the beach!


The next couple of days where overcast and downright cold at 70 Degrees! We actually wore long sleeved shirts and covered up at night. 70 felt more like 50. Some snorkeling (wet suits) and basic laying around. The wind picked up the last night and sleep was interrupted with brief anchor watches. We woke up at 7am to Tony whistling for us to get out of bed and looked out the cockpit to a grand site. Just 25 yards off our stern were three humpback whales splashing at the surface! There was a baby calf and it's huge mother, plus what we think was its massive father. The calf started playing around, breeching over and over again right off our stern. Super Steve had his GoPro charged up and now was the time to slip in the water and get some video. He entered slowly and swam up cautiously to the front of the mother and calf so not to spook them from behind. The “father” was on the other side just under the surface. The calf stayed close to the mother’s pectoral fin. The fin was about the same size as the calf. Steve was able to hang out with them about 10ft. away for about 10 minutes…. Then, I forgot to mention this part, “Naked Girl” from the young German couple we met at campfire night who are camping on the beach swam up to the back of Knot Tide Down (much to Tony's delight!) from shore to drop off her shoes in their dingy and asked if she could borrow a mask. For some reason Tony told her he didn’t and she swam off toward Steve and the whales. Then, much to Steve’s surprise, “Whales Are Scared by Naked Women”…who knew??? They take a breath and dive off away from the boats. By this time Craig from True Blue Five swam up just missing the encounter. Well, I mean the whale encounter…..:).


Whale breaching off Kailani's stern!

The mother and calf. They were soooooo close!
Beautiful dive

Our plan was to leave to another anchorage that night, but after Steve, Carolyn, Leighanne and Craig’s trip into the small village we decided to indulge ourselves after hearing of a feast there for a mere $10 U.S. for a (6) course meal.

The group of us at Three Little Birds

In the village, a boy walking home from school in his school uniform
Another favorite anchorage is just off Kennutu. To get in, you had to go through a really tight 'S' channel, and then motor 1 hour to a reef surrounded anchorage. With a sandy bottom, the anchor set quickly, and we got to enjoy the area for 3 days. There was hiking to the Pacific side of the island, where there were big crashing waves. There was a tree house someone built a long while back out of wood and a twine that really degraded from the sun. Not a very safe structure, but fun to climb. There were also some trails around the island you could hike on, and Steve got a bit of surfing in.

Bill walking the reef on Kennutu

The Pacific side of the island

Steve and Carolyn in the tree house

The Pacific side. See the tree house on the ridge on the right?

A local collecting shell fish

Paradise

Steve surfing

Carolyn and Leighanne at another bon fire!

Everybody else at the bon fire!

Activities
What do cruisers do while sailing around for years on end?
The most common thread is scuba diving and spear fishing. Often coupled with the scuba is surfing or kite surfing. Fishing is also popular with some boats catching countless Tuna Mahi-mahi or Swordfish.

Others just like to sail and are not interested in anchoring in beautiful places, for them it’s about the sailing, getting there and then going on to the next place.

There are a variety of cruisers who fall in between. Some have children onboard; others just like to sip rum in tranquil bays and are not into all the physical stuff. Some cruisers have been on their boats for over 10 years and have no plans to stop. Often they are houseless and seem able to leave their boats for periods of time while they fly "home" for some R&R.

Then there's the delivery cruisers (similar to us I guess). They are only interested in getting their new boats back home. These are mostly Australians. We have met just the one Kiwi boat so far that is being delivered to NZ, Jonathan Kerry and Emily on Sudouest.
There are a few cruisers who take their diving and desire to see the most remote places to a whole new level. Jack and Cami on Iguana have a dive compressor onboard. When Jack talks you feel like he is much too wise and humble to be only 29 or so. If you want an example of a couple getting out there and doing it they are a prime example. We were lucky enough to be invited to Iguana for a fantastic Mahi-mahi - Dorado dinner cooked Asian style by Cami - I can see why he wants to catch so many fish!

Finally; us - not sure where we fit in as neither C nor I can dive, due to bad body design. J As for surfing the reefs, too tricky for me and we leave that to the “girls” on “Knot Tide Down”. Being Californian I think Steve at least was born with a surfboard under his arm. Our activities are limited to snorkeling and exploring the islands by foot or by bike, oh and photographing Steve on his surfboard etc.J Oh I forgot to mention we are always fixing our boat, sails, rig, engine or something and are the butt of plenty of jokes - all in good nature of course. On that note the social side is great, there is always someone to have a drink and a laugh with anytime. Oh and fishing, we try but neither of us are that keen to first clean the fish on board the heaving deck and secondly killing them is so sad. Needless to say we haven't caught any fish so far.

One of the fattest pigs we've seen yet!

Yup, that's the pig at his house on the beach!
Chikungunya
This is one of the mosquito born vector diseases which is a problem in American Samoa. The main symptoms are severe joint pain, headaches, stomach upsets. I was down with the above symptoms, there was no clinical diagnose but it sure looked like I was infected by the virus. Steve and Tony on “Knot Tide Down” were also affected by something with similar symptoms. Good news is once you get it you are supposedly resistant.



3 comments:

  1. You fit in under the "awesome" category of cruisers ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the Great pictures and the nice Report! What a life ����
    Enjoy and best of luck with your spare Parts

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dearest Carolyn & Bill,

    Gosh...I wrote you a great comment/letter. It disappeared after I hit publish. My first blog comment got lost. Bottom Line: I Love You! Be Safe. I know you're good at that.

    I got a Beautiful orchid. Soft Purple with a bright yellow center. The most beautiful fragrance I have Ever smelled in a flower. I can see it whenever I close my eyes and smell it every time I walk past the dining room table. It's a plant. I can understand now why people can get what is described as being addicted to orchids.

    Got this part clearly in mind.
    LAST PHASE OF TRIP: Have Fun! Safety First. Your New Home awaits you in NZ.

    "We know of at least 6 other boats heading to NZ either from Tonga or from Fiji. We plan to go on to Fiji but again it's dependent on the part arriving and weather. Ideally we would like to be in Fiji around the beginning of October and head to NZ mid-October to the beginning of November. The trip to NZ is the most feared by all the cruisers (expect the Kiwi boats who look at you blankly if you express concern about the dangers of the trip). In fact we know of 2 Kiwi boats that have just left one is only 26 foot. These days with the weather information you have a lot more control over the trip. For example you can slow down if you see bad weather ahead. Given the weather travels West to East and you are travelling south it is possible to avoid bad weather. The danger though is a low pressure system tracking down from the North; these systems cause a squash zone and can catch you out. Needless to say all the cruisers will be watching the weather carefully come mid-October."

    I Love You...Thankful to be your Mom.. XXXXXX OOOOOOO

    ReplyDelete