Last Days in Tonga

Last Few Weeks in Tonga

We spent a week at our favorite anchorage at Port Maurelle. A lot of boats use this bay as their stepping off point after clearing with Customs and Immigration in Neiafu and waiting for the weather window.

Al and Patricia on Nauti Nauti were doing just that so we decided to head over for a proper send off celebration. That included a bonfire on the beach with some other boaters and a belated Thanksgiving turkey dinner the following night. They are off to Fiji to wait out this year's cyclone season.

Note: Hurricanes are called Cyclones in the South Pacific and the wind direction is clockwise around the low.

Weather was cooperating so we decided to touch up some of the varnish. I got in the dinghy in order to clean the top sides. Stock supply of cleaning products are starting to dwindle, some of which are difficult to come by in this part of the world. But I found a brand new bottle of On & Off, from the previous owner, which is specifically formulated for cleaning the hill and top sides as it will not harm the fiberglass. Now there are a lot of boat products that cost twice as much as some regular household cleaners and do not even do what they are advertised to do. Well this one was an exception. I put a small amount on an absorbent cloth, wiped one of the rusty spots around the exhaust and voila! Instant removal. No elbow grease required. You just have to rinse well with water as the active ingredient is oxalic acid. But it works well and I was able to complete the topsides in less than an hour!

The disappointing part was the condition of the hull. We had cleaned the hull a couple of weeks ago and there was already signs of heavy growth and barnacles .I guess the protective qualities of the ablative paint has finally given up the ghost. We got more than two years out of it so we really can't complain. So the decision was made to have the boat hauled out here - little cheaper, good feedback from other boaters and a way to give back to the community. If we as boaters expect to have these facilities available to us in these remote areas then we must be willing to support them!!! So we are booked for Tuesday at 1430 to coincide with high tide.

The truck and trailer were right on time. 

We hooked up a bow line to the trailer and Joe secured a stern line from an anchor mooring in the water to help align Confidence onto the trailer. The boys were in the water for the next half hour with mask and snorkel to ensure that all straps were in place, pads were in place and that Confidence was secure. 

The tractor in the yard needed some assistance to haul us out so a second front end loader showed up. It gave the extra power to haul our boats' 14.99 tons up the ramp. The second loader was un-hooked and power washing began.

By 5 o'clock we were secure in our cradle 

and the decision made to have the crew from the yard do the prep work on the hull. They have the coveralls, masks and vacuum attached sander. We opted to do the painting ourselves. 

We had 2 gallons of Sea Hawk ablative bottom paint but would require two more. Thank goodness the yard carried this same brand! A little more expensive but not bad all things considered. While the boys were sanding David replaced the diaphragm on the manual bilge pump. YES I did work also it is just that I am the photographer!

Then we went for a real shower with hot water! First real shower since June! I love my shower on deck and had forgotten what a real shower was like.

The yard is quite nice - not dirty like some. It is located on an old quarry and kind of reminds me of a KOA campsite except there are boats instead of tents on the lawn. The location makes it an ideal location for hiding out during cyclone season. If you do leave your boat here they add extra supports in case the winds do pick up but the hills around give you pretty good protection. 

Any yachties looking for a relatively inexpensive, cyclone protected storage facility should give serious consideration to the Boatyard.

boatyardvavau.com email and website address

Al and Joe run the place and are busy expanding to provide cruisers with a one stop service. The major trades are on site. All journey men are certified. Ken is a welder and does work in stainless. Cyril is a finishing carpenter and cabinet maker and will look after your woodworking issues. Kevin specializes in Diesel engines and outboards and is a service and sails agent for Yamaha.

Other staff work with fiberglass, painting and just about anything else you may need.

They have a few chandlery items in the office and plans are underway to open up a proper chandlery. But if they do not have what you need, they will assist you in getting it in. Plans are also in the works to improve on the shower facilities and maybe even a small beach bar. The yard is about a 20 minute walk from town but there is usually someone going to or from to give you a lift. 

But the best part as far as I was concerned, next to the showers was the ability to go for a nice swim off the ramp after a sweaty day of work. Al and Joe are constantly monitoring water quality and their environmental impact to keep the area as pristine as possible. So good snorkeling right there and on a good day you can spear your dinner, catch some squid or see an octopus!

We were back in the water Friday afternoon. One last check to make sure there were no leaks after David repacked the stuffing box. Hugs, kisses and handshakes all around and then we were off to our favorite anchorage for a couple of nights.

Confidence with a nice clean bottom! And prop!

Most of the boats have left for New Zealand or Fiji so Confidence and Swiftsure had the bay at Port Maurelle  to ourselves. Our two days were spent cleaning the deck and house, cleaning the dinghy, wrapping and stowing the Suzuki outboard, changing the oil, completing the paper work, making chili and lasagna and getting in as many swims as I could!!

We were going to check out on Monday but the weather forecast is not in our favor. But we returned to Neiafu anyway. Monday was spent filling up the water tanks, getting rid of garbage, picking up the laundry, sending our advance notice of arrival form to New Zealand, getting rid of the old oil, catching a World Series game at The Bounty Bar (all work and no play makes for a not so good day) after all we are retired. 

And last but not least the ability to send off this last blog. Tuesday's plans are to do one last trip to the market for fresh fruit and vegetables, Taco Tuesday at Aquarium and goodbyes to all the people we have met here. Then back to the boat to reorganize the v-berth for storage and the port settee for sleeping. We are getting into cooler country so we may empty out the shower and return it to its original purpose.

The plan for Wednesday is to check out with Customs and Immigration, get our duty free booze and fuel and head out. There is a weather system moving in later today, so our reason for delaying our departure to Wednesday. If it does not settle down or the other system coming from Australia moves north then we may just sit it out at Port Maurelle until Mother Nature decides that we can go.

So this will be the last blog entry til the latter part of November. You can follow our passage on www.mmsn.org as before . The crossing is 1200 nautical miles with an option of stopping at Minerva Reef at the 450 nm mark due to weather or just a need to rest. We bank on averaging 100 nm per day but so far we have been exceeding this. When we actually get there will be in the hands of the Angels.

So do not fret if you do not hear from us. There are times when radio communication is sketchy or we may just be sleeping and have missed the radio call in times.There are also a lot of boats leaving around the same time - more then twenty - and we will be in constant contact with them.

Yes I am a little apprehensive as this is a big crossing for just the two of us. But I have total confidence in David and Confidence and I also have all those angels looking out for us.

It is hard to leave this place. You can probably tell from the blogs that we really enjoyed our time in Tonga. The people, the services, the restaurants, the anchorages and especially the swimming.

Malo aupito Tonga!

So let the next leg of the adventure begin! See you in November!!

  

Hunga Lagoon

Hunga Vicinity

A few days back in Neafu to re-provision and get some things done. We had been told that Philip at Vava'U Canvas Repair did good work so we brought in the sail cover and the dodger for fixing. He did an excellent job and we had our covers back on the boat within a day. Ian at Trouble in Paradise also had a good reputation when it came to fixing outboards. The Suzuki that we bought in Bora Bora has been running well but the repairs on the Yamaha did not fix our problem. Ian was able to get it running for a very small fee so we had to go and pick that up. 

I had some hanging baskets made by one of the local artisans and they were also ready for pick up. So no more rusty copper hanging baskets! Bearta did a wonderful job!  A souvenir from Tonga.

Then it was over to the market for more fruit and vegetables. Tropicana for whole wheat bread. And the the Chinese grocery store for beer, wine and the rest of the groceries.

David made several trips over to the dock at Aquarium to get water to fill up our holding tanks. 

Patricia, from Nauti Nauti had returned from Wisconsin so a couple of days were spent welcoming her back. I made dinner on Confidence one night - Thai Green Chicken Curry and Phad Thai. The next night we went over to their boat, along with a Canadian couple from Toronto for happy hour and the sharing of many more stories!

But after four days in town I was starting to get antsy. Time to get back out to the quiet anchorages where I could go swimming!

We only made it as far as Port Maurelle which is only  an hour away but one of our favorite anchorages. We spent a couple of days doing boat chores - you will never hear me complain about doing chores in a setting like this. I cleaned the decks while David cleaned the cockpit. David stripped two of the dorade boxes and refinished them. They look beautiful. 

And then there is my endless job of keeping the salt off the stainless and making it all shiny. With lots of breaks in between to go swimming and snorkeling. Boat maintenance in exotic places! The definition of cruising - and I love it! We finished the last evening with a big bonfire on the beach with fellow boaters - some we knew - some we just met. Lovely evening with the sun setting in the bay!

On Wednesday we pulled up anchor with some careful maneuvering around the coral heads. We are headed to Hunga Haven and the location of a very protected lagoon formed by a volcanic crater. 

We had to time our entrance for higher tide but decided to leave early and do some whale watching. I sat at the bow with my GoPro all powered and ready to go. Nothing seen after 1 hour so I decided to go down below and make preparations for lunch - Gazpacho with crackers and cheese and Danish salami. I was in the idle of the preparations when David yells out - whales breaching just north of us. Of course by the time I get the camera and am back at the bow the whales are no where to be seen. Maybe I will get lucky on the return trip.

Hunga lagoon lies on the western border of Vava'U. 

There are three small outlets from the lagoon out to the open ocean. One can be traversed by dinghy, one is impassable and one has been dynamited to provide access to the lagoon.

This outlet is very narrow with a pinnacle rock just off center. 

The channel is only 35 meters wide and 2 meters or 6 feet at low tide.  Remember that our boat requires 2 meters plus so we had to wait for a medium to high tide. We traversed with 4 feet under the keel - not a lot of room to spare. 

There is a reef just inside but one can maneuver around that by steering 115*M.  There are three mooring balls at Hunga Haven on the opposite side of the lagoon. We had reserved one for the next couple of nights at $15 US.

Barry and Cindy (the proprietors) were quite excited when they saw our boat name and Canadian flag from their deck as they are also from Victoria. She actually grew up in New Liskard - we figured I was probably one of the few people that she had met who actually knew where that was - having lived in Timmins and Cochrane in Northern Ontario!

The snorkeling right around the boat was like a bunch of mini aquariums. We took the dinghy through the other pass the following day into Blue lagoon. This is a beautiful anchorage. I will let the pictures tell the story. We might just hang out here after checking out of Neafu to wait for our weather window on our way to the southern islands in Tonga which are on our way to New Zealand.

This was a very lovely couple of days with perfect weather, white sandy beaches, warm crystal clear water and good company - as Nauti Nauti were beside us.

Tomorrow it is back to Neafu to fill up the freezer and cupboards again!

 

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