Tapana and Vicinity

Tapana Vicinity

The Exploration of Tonga Continues!

Our next exploration took us to Tapana, anchored between Hinakawa Beach and Motuha Island. We found a mooring ball close to the Ark Gallery and spent the better part of the day and night here.

  Jim and Kim, from New Zealand, have recently taken over the business which includes the moorings and the floating gallery. Kim makes silver jewelry and once she accumulates enough inventory she will be selling it in the gallery along with work from other local artists.

The moorings are hurricane rigged, meaning four separate anchor lines joined together on a 2 inch diameter line which in turn is attached to a mooring ball. Fee is $10 paanga or $5 per night. This anchorage is actually on the south end of the island of Vava'U. For $20 US you can get a return taxi ride into Neafu to reprovision. So no need to take the boat all the way back if you do not want to.

More on this anchorage later when we return on our way back to Neafu.

We left the next day under a cloudless sky to traverse through Fanua Pass. There are numerous shoals and coral patches so it is wise to do this when the sun is high and you have good visibility. That was our intention. We were just entering the pass when a squall presented itself - it seemed out of nowhere. The previous markers were long gone so were dependent upon our GPS, way points mentioned in the Tonga Guide (longitude & latitude donating a change in direction) and me on the bow as a lookout. I have the handheld VHF on and David is reading out depths as I verify. It is an art to read the depths in this water - it always seems to be deeper than I think- which is a good thing!

The rain stayed to the west of us but the cloud cover was significant enough to erase the color depth differentiation in the water. This always makes things a little tense as we traversed our way around and between the coral patches.

There were two large coral patches to maneuver around, passing to port. Once we got abeam of these patches we altered our course to the North for a quarter of a mile to the next shoal, also keeping it to port. I could just make out the path of darker water running East/ West. We then turned East heading into another passage and facing Lolo Island. We were instructed to keep our course by keeping our stern in line with the southern district of the beach on Ofu. There were shoals on both sides of us and our passage getting as low as 11 feet under the keel. Remember our boat needs a minimum of 7 feet so this did not leave us with a lot of room to spare!

We passed the shoal on the port side and turned towards the beach on Kenutu. It was a straight shot into the anchorage at this point where we dropped the hook in 38 feet of water. Now I can breathe!

Kinabalu and Balvenie were already in the anchorage. We joined them and a couple from Amerula on the beach for a potluck dinner and bonfire. Nice evening. There was a small moment of apprehension for me as we spotted a black banded snake - apparently venomous but with a very small mouth so it only tends to bite you between the toes! There was a bit of grass near the shoreline so I guess this is the type of environment that they like. I would never have gotten out of the dinghy and walked through the grass to shore if I knew they were there. But I guess they are not that aggressive. The tide came up by the time we were leaving and David was kind enough to walk out and pull the dinghy into shore so I did not have to walk in the grass again!

I got David to get in close enough to get this picture!

Snorkeling was okay. The water was crystal clear and the water was warm so I enjoyed some good swims around the boat.

A simple dinghy ride along the beach to find a cave on Kenutu Island resulted in a very pleasant experience. Anne and Mark, from Australia, have leased 12 acres and are in the final stages of building a house (Dreaming Gecko) and a small bar close to the cave. Views to the southwest from their home are spectacular to say the least. The reflection in the full glass front of the house is a painting in itself. 

Anne and Mark took a break from their To Do List and gave us a tour of their property. Our first stop was the cave with a brackish ( mixture of salt water and rain water) pool at the bottom. It was a bit of a challenge to climb down. Amanda was the only one to take it on. Future plans will include cement steps down to water level.

Further exploration brought us to another spectacular vista on the northeast side of the island showcasing dramatic cliffs, the open ocean, the main reef and apparently whales if you are lucky. We looped back through a section of the island that had experienced a fire but had already started to regenerate. We were rewarded with another lovely view through the trees of Confidence at anchor. It was kind of neat as I was sitting beside a gap in the lava rock and all of a sudden a blast of air came up through the hole - the blow hole was too deep for the water to reach us but the gust of air was substantial.

Anne and Mark have done a lot of work landscaping the property always trying to keep in mind the natural setting. Their water comes from the skies. Their power comes from the sun. Papaya, coconut and mango trees grow naturally and they try to grow their own vegetables. It is a lovely place. I offered to be the cook in their bar when they open next year.

On Saturday we left our beautiful anchorage #30. We were fortunate enough to have our course line on the GPS from our entrance. The sun was also high in the sky with little cloud cover making it a lot easier to pick up the shoals and the channels. The tide was also a little bit higher.

Confidence led the way with Balvenie and Kinabalu following behind. But I still kept watch and I still had butterflies in my stomach until we were safely through. I got most of it on the GoPro - should make for a great movie when ever I get all this footage organized!

We took a round about route back to Tapana and the Ark Gallery and put the hook down in 30 feet of sand between Tapana and Pangaimotu. We had reservations at La Paella restaurant for dinner.

We must thank our friends, Tim and Constance, for our wonderful dinner out. While in Mexico they had brought down some supplies and boat parts from Canada. They would not allow us to pay for them but asked us to promise them that once we made it across to the South Pacific that we would go out for a nice dinner on them. Did we ever find something special!

La Paella is a small restaurant on Tapana Island. Maria and Edwardo came to Tonga on their boat in 1988 from Spain. They spent 5 years in Tonga, sailed to Thailand, sold their boat, and flew back to Tonga and never left. They have had the restaurant for over 18 years. They are Basque and prepare a four course dinner, featuring wonderful tapas (Small appetizers - 8 in total) and their signature dish - Paella cooked on the wood coals! The food was exceptional. After dinner we were entertained with the beautiful voice of Edwardo with Maria and their sous chef ( sorry I did not get his name) on percussion. He is Tongan and Maria has taught him to cook. He has worked with them for 18 years! We shared this wonderful evening with Bob and Judy on Kinabalu.  What a magical night!

Sunday was a lazy day. David borrowed the hookah ( small air compressor hooked to a mouth piece) so he could replace the zincs on the prop and finish the small area of the hull that I could not clean from the surface. Excitement for the day - I was enjoying my morning cup of coffee in the cockpit when I felt a tremor through the keel and rudder. Channel 26 was on and we were immediately notified that there had been an earthquake 124 km away at a depth of 179 km and a measure of 6.3 . Too deep to produce a tsunami. Remember the Tonga trench has depths greater than Mt. Everest! And is the second last in the world. Apparently there are two new volcanic islands being produced west of here!

Monday we head back to Neafu to provision, get rid of garbage, pick up my made to order baskets and fill up the water tanks! Then we have to decide where to go next. That is the great thing about Tonga. Most of these anchorages are only one to two hours or less away from town! 

Vaca'etui

We have read that the lagoon at Vaka'eitu Island is one of the best all-round anchorages in the Vava'U Group. This was our destination for the next five or so days.

We completed provisioning in Neafu and headed out Tuesday morning, the 7 th of September. We had a good sail but with the late start we decided to spend the night in Port Maurelle again as winds were picking up and the anchorage was almost empty. That changed throughout the night and by sundown there were twelve of us. 

Next morning we headed out to Vaka'eitu Island. It was early so we decided to take the long way around in hope of seeing whales. 

We were not disappointed. They were close enough for us to see their blow, one tail wave, a couple of breeches with one coming right out of the water. I was not quick enough on the camera but to be honest we were still too far away to get any real good photos anyway.

As we turned into the entrance to our anchorage we managed one last sighting. What a treat!

The anchor was set in 40 feet of water with five other boats. Aros Mear (David and Gitte) were here and had made arrangements with the family who lives on this island to prepare a Tongan Feast for that evening.

The water was warmer than we have been experiencing so I was in the water before the ladder was in place! The winds were also reduced. The sun was out. It was a perfect swimming day! I shared my swim with two local turtles - heads up to check me out but quickly dove under when I made a splash!

Kinabalu ( Bob & Judy) arrived in the early afternoon and Judy joined us for a snorkel on the east side of the reef. There were a few interesting things, large schools of small light blue fish and good Go-Pro footage. But we knew the better snorkeling was on the other side of the reef. You need a high tide to traverse the reef so our plan is to try it tomorrow. I swam the half a mile or so back to the boat while David and Judy followed me just in time to get ready for the Tongan Feast!

Tongan feasts are organized for a variety of reasons - birthdays, holidays, tourist attractions. Six boats at the anchorage and 12 people was reason enough for David, the proprietor and his wife Hika to arrange a feast for us. A fire is built in an open pit or open oven (umu). The fire is used initially to heat stones for cooking the side dishes, while the pig is pit on a spit and roasted over the coals.

But there was a bit of confusion, due to poor radio reception, as to when the feast was to be held. Next week? No - today! David's ( the proprietor)  outboard was broken and the pig was still running around alive and happy on another island. So he needed a ride to go and get it. David (Amos Mear) volunteered to take him over to get the pig. Little did they know what this would involve. They got over there, russelled up the pig, put it in a sack and threw it in the dinghy - squealing away! During the 20 minute dinghy ride the pig managed to eat away at the sack and get his snout out. Gitte had to keep her foot on him to keep him still. Not as bad as another incident - people on a catamaran had the pig on board and it did escape and was running all over their boat!

Our pig made it to shore where it was quickly stabbed, gutted and prepared for the spit. At 1730 we took our dinghies to shore and were amazed at the feast that was laid out for us. Not all of the dishes were prepared in the traditional way, in coconut shells in the hot coals covered with banana leaves, but the types of dishes prepare were authentic. And a few not so authentic dishes - grouper prepared three ways - sweet and sour, curry and fried, poison cru, local clams, Teryiaki chicken, beef in sobi noodles, potato salad, crab salad, Cole slaw, sweet potato, and of coarse - the pig complete with lots of crackling. Hika is a professional chef and worked for 14 years in a restaurant in Nuku'alofa. The meal had a real home cooking feel to it and everything was wonderful. The next day we were able to look into her kitchen - very very primitive - making the success of all the dishes even more amazing!

David stealing some crackling!

They also entertained us with traditional Tongan music and dance and a little history of the island. The island was originally inhabited by the King. 150 years ago David's family took ownership. With the beginning of a change to democracy, the monarch held control of all the land and handed out 99 year leases to the people. Due to the history of his family they were awarded a lease for the 8 acres of the island where most families received only  4 acres - 2 to live on and 2 to farm.

I found out the next day that the evening did not end when we returned to our boats. David on Aros Mear was asked to transport two of the family members back out to the other island with the remainder of the food - dinner for the pastor, the school mistress and one old man. Such generosity of spirit. So David did one last trip in the dark!

The next morning the girls decided to go on an adventure by themselves. None of the men wanted to snorkel the other side of the reef. This was to be an adventure as none of us have lots of experience operating the dinghy. We headed out at 1130 just shortly before high tide.

It was Judy's dinghy so she was on the outboard. I sat forward to read the waves ( like I knew what I was doing) and watch out for any shallow coral patches. Gitte was the moral support for Judy with one hand on an oar.

We had another dinghy just ahead of us to find the path but Judy got a bit apprehensive and decided to kill the motor, thinking there wasn't enough water under the keel. "No Judy - we need the power to get over the reef!" Gitte had to restart the outboard as Judy was not strong enough. I am watching the water knowing that we are going to have a few waves break on our bow! Thank goodness they were small  though still big enough to get us all wet and dump 6 inches of water in the dinghy. This resulted in one of the oars getting washed out of the dinghy so we had to do a quick 180, pick it up and then another 180 to get back on track. No panic. Just three very wet girls, laughing and very proud as we passed over the reef into calmer waters! High five to all!

We caught up to Michelle and Beth, put down an anchor and snorkeled up and down the drop off. There was some interesting  coral  though not very colorful. But it was still beautiful.

Now we get to cross over the reef again! But at least this time we get to ride the waves over it. I had to convince Judy to keep more throttle on the motor and to keep us perpendicular to the waves. We went a bit sideways at one point, me urging Judy to keep us perpendicular and we made it across.

I must say - we were very proud of ourselves. Crossing the reef back and forth was actually more exciting then the snorkeling! I swam back to the boat while the girls stayed close by. Pretty tired after so the rest of the day was spent writing this story, fresh water shower and reading.

The next day Judy, David and I went ashore and took a small hike across the island to the other side. The pictures speak for themselves. A couple of shorter swims throughout the day then a quiet evening with chicken sate and peanut sauce, Thai cucumber salad and Thai fried rice for dinner under a half moon! Just another day in paradise.

The beach on the other side!

One last story to show the generosity of these people. A couple of days ago we had lost one of the oars for the dinghy. Not an easy thing to replace. During our walk on the island we noticed that David - the proprietor had one leaning up against a tree. We knew that they did not have very much money so My David offered to buy it from him. It was exactly like the one we had lost. No way he said - y can just have it as I found it in the first place!

David returns with the oar and a smile!

Anchor up on Saturdat, sails set and we head back to Port Maurelle for the night and then into Neafu to reprovision and extend our visa.

Port Maurelle Tonga

Fangakima Port Maurelle - Anchorage #7

The weather started to clear and we decided to check out some of the anchorages. So on Saturday we picked up some fresh vegetables and fruit and bread, released the mooring lines and headed to Fangakima. We had a nice easy sail with the Genoa carrying us along at 5.5 knots to the small cove, tucked into a bight on the island of Kapa. 

David looks for a good place to drop the hook!

This was a beautiful anchorage and we ended up staying for six days. The swimming was excellent. We could see our anchor quite clearly in 40 feet of water! Sereta and Marilyn were here. So for the first couple of days there were just four us. But word must have gotten out as soon there were twelve! 

So I was in heaven, swimming back and forth between boats, swimming back and forth from shore everyday! I cleaned the water line and did another polishing of all the stainless.

We had a fun happy hour on Marilyn one night with Sereta joining us. Good nibbles, good conversation, good company.

But the hi- light was Swallows Cave. We joined Sue and John on Marilyn and headed out one afternoon equipped with our snorkeling gear and my Go-Pro. This was one of the best snorkeling experiences in my life. It was like being in a David Attenborough documentary. There were huge schools of fish, nothing scary. The light from the sun comes into the cave around four o'clock and it is amazing. The cave is about 30 feet and the water is so clear that your can see the bottom at about 40 feet. And when I say schools of fish, I mean thousands of small fish, all following each other in circles and streams. Beautiful!

We were going to head out to another anchorage on Tuesday but then Al showed up on Nauti Nauti so we stayed and had him over for dinner. Then the next day a huge thunder and lightening storm descended on us and we decided to stay put. Two boats had left that morning for Fiji but turned around and came back. At least the 25 knot winds did not come into our anchorage! They will head out tomorrow.

So David spent the day collecting rain water - managed over 10 gallons! And I worked on the blog, finished another book, made a cake and worked on my sweater. 

And look at that - the sun is starting to peak through. If it clears up I may even get a swim in! 

Clouds did make for interesting sunsets!

First night!

Last night!

Neafu Harbor (aka Port of Refuge

Neafu Harbor (aka Port of Refuge) 

This would be our home base for the next couple of months. It is considered to be one of the best hurricane ( cyclone) holes in the South Pacific, comparable to a lake and protected on all sides from the wind and waves. The town overlooks this harbor and is very yachty friendly. First of all it provides several well maintained mooring buoys at a reasonable rate of $7.50 per day. This harbor is quite deep and none of us like to drop anchor in water over 50 feet. That would require 250 to 350 feet of anchor chain at a minimum! 

The town is the main commercial quay for the northern group and we are quite impressed with the services that it offers us. Laundry is done by Vanessa at Bubbles at a reasonable rate and she even irons our sheets, pillow cases and David's shirts! Several businesses will take care of our garbage at $1 a bag. Duty free diesel at half price is available when we check out and gasoline can be purchased for the dinghy. There is a boat yard for haul out and storage during cyclone season, two sail and canvas repairs, custom made t- shirt business, several grocery stores and the best fresh fruit and vegetable market we have seen (Utukalongalu Market) - say that five times quickly! The variety in the stores is a bit limited but the locally grown produce is impressive. There are several very good restaurants around at reasonable prices. The fish and chips ( local fresh snapper) at Bonavista is excellent, the coconut encrusted snapper with mango sauce at Mangos is exceptional and taco Tuesday's at the Aquariuim is not to be missed. I can buy freshly ground coffee from Tropicana as well as homemade chicken pot pies ( for the freezer) and whole wheat bread.

View from Bonavista Restaurant and the place where we tie up our dinghy.

We spent our first ten days here as the weather was a bit rainy and cool. This gave us time to clean the inside of the boat, empty and clean out the freezer and fridge, restock and familiarize ourselves with the town. We were able to get a phone chip for the cell - French Polynesia did not have one that worked in our phone - and a small modem for our computers so that we can get wifi on the boat!  This has a lot to do with the efforts by the government to move Tonga into the Information Age, making it one of the few countries in the South Pacific that can brag about their advances in this area. It is wonderful to be able to sit here on our boat and connect with the people back home! The device was $50 with 1 GB of data, and ability to use in New Zealand and Australia when we get there. 

There is a local cruiser's net run by the local businesses every morning providing us with information about checking in, weather, special events and just about any service you might require. This continues to be a valuable tool for all of us to give and get help. Someone got n the other day and asked if anyone had a spare inline blower fan for the engine and miraculously someone else did! Other boaters have been able to acquire filters, screws, belts, sail tape, VHF radio, outboard motor (we needed that), solar controller (we needed that too)and various other necessities. It always amazes us that someone out there has the particular item in need.

Since arriving we have been reacquainted with several people that we have met along the way. So our social calendar has been very busy! I will detail our activities as we experience them during our stay.

Neafu, Vava'U, The Kingdom of Tonga

The Kingdom of Tonga

 0900 : Neiafu, Vava'U, Tonga

There were three other boats tied up to the Customs dock on the Halaevalu Wharf awaiting inspection. We spent the next hour circling around until an opening came up. Rain was coming and going and the wind was going to be pushing us onto the dock. And an ugly dock it was with rough pillars covered in barnacles and a jagged cement lip. 

This required a little more preparation on our part. The first thing was to extend our mooring lines. We were lucky that two of the guys from the other boats were on shore to give assistance. I nailed the bow line but the stern line came up a little short. At that precise moment the motor stalled out.

We are still having issues with our starter so David had to leave the helm, go down below, lift the cover off the motor, tap the starter and pray that she would turn over. In the meantime I recovered the stern line and connected with one of the guys on shore. They were able to secure us before we came down on a boat that was anchored at the end  with extra mooring lines all over the place. None of this was as easy at it sounds. A large pike of gravel around one of the shore cleats and wet and mucky surface added to the excitement. But we finally got everything tied down, moving the fenders to keep us off the barnacles. 

1100: Customs official came on board and we completed the paperwork and the quarantine  flag was lowered. The Immigration officer did not want to step down onto the boat ( about 2 feet) so she instructed us to pick up our mooring buoy and return later in our dinghy with the rest of the paperwork. They also took the garbage off our hands. We were lucky to pick up the last available mooring buoy as a lot of boats had come in from neighboring moorage due to weather.

1200: Position: 18* 40' S 174* W

We spent a couple of hours reorganizing the boat, collecting the laundry, putting the dinghy in the water and enjoying a nice brunch. Then it was time to head to shore and finish our check in.

So where are we? We are in the Vava'U Group - in the northern region in the Kingdom of Tonga. Tonga is the oldest and last remaining Polynesian monarchy and the only one never brought under foreign rule. It occupies 691 square kilometers over 700,OOO square kilometers of ocean! It is made up of 171 coral reefs, 36 of which are inhabited. It is bordered by Fiji to the west, Samoa to the north, the Tonga trench ( second deepest ocean trench in the world) to the east and New Zealand 1300 nm to the southwest.

Tonga is the country west of the International Dateline and as a result calls itself " the place where time begins". 

Most of this background can be read on many websites but because of its uniqueness I felt that it was worth a mention. The government is in its final phase of democratic reform led by the present King but initiated by his father 150 years ago. So even though the King rules, they do have an elected Prime Minister and a parliament in accordance with the people's wishes. Sound familiar?

Tonga is not a rich country and less than half of the people live from subsistence farming, fishing and handicrafts. The general consensus is for a family to have four children. As they become older, two will go to New Zealand, Australia or the US to be educated and work in order to send money back to the family and the other two will stay in Tonga to help with the farm. All families are given two parcels of land (though the monarch owns the land) - one to live on and one to grow food.

No foreigners can own land but can be awarded 99 year leases. For this reason the big name hotel chains cannot be found in Tonga. You will find lots of foreigners setting up small resorts and businesses.

What makes this country special is its emphasis on the family. Each family member plays a role with the women commanding more respect  than most Polynesian countries. It is not uncommon for children to be raised by grandparents or aunts and uncles. They are an extremely religious country, Sunday is sacred and dress is conservative. Dresses are below the knee, men often wear a type of wrapped skirt rather than pants, bare shoulders are frowned upon. A few of the tourist facilities are able to function on Sunday's but all other businesses are closed. In fact, any contract signed on a Sunday is considered to be null and void. 

So ends my brief description of Tonga. We plan on staying here until the end of October, waiting for our weather window to New Zealand, and giving us lots of time to relax and explore the islands and different anchorages. As a result the following blogs should allow my armchair travelers to share this experience with us. And if our first impression is any indication of what that experience holds, I know you will not be disappointed.

Confidence is the sailboat right there n the middle of this photo with the blue sail cover!