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   AUGUST , 2010
TONGA OR BUST


This month’s Journal is dedicated to Margaret Armaly, my (Mary) mother, who died while we were in passage to Tonga.  My mom lived to the great age of 88 and was only terminally ill for about six weeks.  She managed in her last weeks to say goodbye to all of her children, their spouses, and grandchildren, and planned her entire funeral. 

Thanks to our ability to stay in touch by email, I was able to participate in final preparations.  As I said to a friend, “If my mom had to die while I was on the other side of the world, then I am glad that I was at sea when it happened.  I felt very close to my mom that final week, especially on my night watches when I was gazing at the stars.  I have always felt very close to my dad (who died 20 years ago) on night passages and now I will have my mom and dad and Paul’s dad watching over us on future offshore passages.”
Here we are in happier times with my mom, Margaret Armaly.  Mom was one of our biggest fans in our retirement life.  In the ten years that we prepared for life aboard Bella Via, she actively participated in the planning and gave us so much encouragement.  Thanks mom – we know that you will continue to watch out for us.


July 16, 2010

We had an appointment with Customs on Saturday, July 17, to check out of New Zealand so we motored down river to Marsden Cove Marina the day before.  This is a new marina near Whangarei Heads.  Our chart plotter and paper charts did not show the marina but we have noticed the channel buoys several times as we have headed upriver.  Unfortunately, it was a very windy and rainy day with poor visibility.  As we neared what we thought would be the location of the channel markers, our visibility was down to near zero.  To make matters worse, we had a serious wind against tide situation and the boat was bouncing around madly in the choppy seas.  Paul called the marina on the VHF radio and was able to get a few directions from the office personnel.  We cautiously made our way towards what we thought was the channel.  Due to the amount of rain coming into the cockpit and spraying the instruments, Mary was inside the saloon watching the chart plotter and giving Paul depth information.  He mistakenly thought that if we headed towards some boats that were moored, that we would have enough depth but we were rapidly running out of water.  We backed off quickly and then spotted the channel.  We determined later that the moored boats had gone around a shoal and back into deeper water.  By this time, the wind was gusting to over 50 knots and we contemplated dropping the anchor and waiting for things to settle down before going in to a strange place.  As we had no idea how long a wait that would be and anticipated that things would be calmer inside the break wall we decided to proceed.   Well, the seas certainly did become much calmer but we still had the strong winds with great gusts to contend with. 

We have noticed in our eighteen months in New Zealand that no marina personnel ever assist boats to tie up to docks.  This is certainly different to our experience in Canada.  True to form, there was no one available to assist us, even though we had called on the radio and said that we were coming in.  We found the courtesy berth across from the fuel dock and, while Paul put out lines and fenders on the port side, Mary rotated the boat and tried to hover in one spot until Paul was finished.  Easier said than done as the strong wind was right on our nose but Mary managed and then Bella Via was nestled up against the dock and made secure.  Whew!  We hoped that the past few hours weren’t a harbinger of our passage to come.       

And wouldn’t you know it, the wind and rain stopped within ten minutes and the sun was shining.     We watched a fishing boat calmly motor in to the marina and tie up in its berth without any dramas!      

July 17 – July 27, 2010

Our crew, Dave Sanson, arrived at Bella Via with his family shortly after 0900h.  He unpacked and settled in to the guest quarters and then we reviewed a few safety features with him as we awaited the arrival of the Customs officer.

Checkout of New Zealand was easily and quickly accomplished and we were on our way shortly after 1100h.
Our last view of Whangarei Heads for several months.  We will be returning to New Zealand in late November, early December but will probably make landfall at Opua in the Bay of Islands.


The weather window that Paul picked started out with northwest winds of 10 – 15 knots.  We were heading northeast, which meant that the wind was on the port side, forward of the beam.  We tolerated this because the wind was predicted to come out of the south/southeast/east for the next few days, which indeed it did.  However with the northwest winds (which meant that we were close-hauled), we had confused seas and as soon as we cleared Bream Head, we started to bounce around. 

We had all started taking a new seasick remedy called Paihia Bombers.  Other yachties have raved about the effectiveness of these – it is a 2-part dose; one tablet is a strong dose of caffeine and a capsule is an antihistamine, each taken once a day and 30 minutes apart.  A chemist from Paihia in the Bay of Islands developed the Bombers.

Well, Mary lasted until five hours into the trip and had the worst case of seasickness yet – and it lasted for 48 hours.  She couldn’t keep anything down and was very weak.  On the third day, she felt that she just may live and was able to resume her normal watch schedule.  Instead of taking the Paihia Bombers at that point she started taking Stugeron, the medication that she knew had worked in the past.  Paul and Dave fared a bit better in regards to seasickness.  Both were queasy but they managed to eat and take their watches as scheduled.

We never had any threatening weather and the most wind was 25 knots.  We even had periods of light wind and motorsailed a fair bit.  Once the wind came out of the south, the seas calmed and the most we had was 2-3 metre seas.

On the 6th day, we motored into Minerva Reef at 1000h, a large atoll in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.
This was our view of the Pacific Ocean just after entering a large atoll called Minerva Reef.  There were no other boats.  We were very comfortable here for two nights with just a bit of a bounce at high tide when the reef was completely covered.
Dave and Paul snorkeled and spearfished for our dinner every day at Minerva.  It was all that they hoped it would be.  On the first day, they snorkeled outside of the reef where all of the reef sharks are but were not bothered by them.  They said that the view of the underwater mountains disappearing down into the deep was stunning.

On Sunday, July 25, we departed Minerva Reef at 1200h.  It was time to get on to Tonga.  Dave’s wife, Margaret, was flying in to Tonga on Tuesday and we wanted to be there on the same day.
Imagine the excitement on board when this beauty, a Mahi-Mahi, was landed.  This was the second large fish to be caught on this passage.  A blue fin tuna was landed in the first leg of the passage.  A second Mahi-Mahi was caught a day later but released, as there was no room in the freezer.


On Tuesday, July 27, at 1000h, we motored into Nuku’alofa Harbour in Tonga.  For the first time ever, we tied up ‘med-mooring style’ to a break wall.  The maneuver went very well as there were three of us on board.  We dropped the anchor in the middle of the harbour, rotated the boat, and then backed down and brought the stern close to the break wall.  Mary kept the boat in position using both engines and Paul and Dave jumped into the dinghy and went ashore to secure two lines to the break wall.

Thus started a few hours of waiting for clearance in to Tonga.  We had time to celebrate with champagne and orange juice and poached eggs on toast with bacon and grilled tomatoes.  First, the Immigration officer showed up and then shortly after we had a Customs officer and a Health official on board, all asking questions and handing out forms that needed to be filled at the same time.  It was a busy time.  And Margaret showed up at the break wall with a few groceries that we had asked for in a text message sent that morning.  As soon as we were cleared in, Margaret came aboard and we started to put the boat back into cruising mode and not passage making.

July 28 – August 10, 2010

We spent two nights in Nuku’alofa harbour.  We needed to get some fresh produce and wanted to walk around the town.  Everyone we encountered was very friendly. We also wanted to obtain an additional three-month visa to Tonga, making a total of four months to cruise this country.  There are three main island groups in Tonga.  Our four-month visa (the easiest experience in any of the countries that we have visited) would give us plenty of time to explore all of the groups.  In addition, each island group requires that we check in and out of the group.  It is their way of keeping track of foreign yachts, as they have no money for patrol boats or planes.
On our first night there, we had dinner at a charming café with very good food.  The next day, when we were walking by that restaurant, we heard some very good music and found this group tucked away in a corner of the patio of the restaurant.
As we were walking down a street we spotted a small building with a barber and a customer inside.  The barber told Paul that the price of a haircut would be $5.00 Tongan.  We returned to the barber two weeks later and, as you can see in this picture, Paul got his haircut.  The barber didn’t talk much but we did get it out of him that he actually slept in his small shack – he had a folded up camp cot and a small hotplate and a kettle.
We celebrated the warmth of winter in Tonga when we put away our glass saloon windows.  From now on it will be screens in those windows.
And, of course, Paul managed to find a school and asked permission to teach the kids the “One Bottle of Pop” song.  He said that they did a pretty good job.  When he went back the next day some of them started singing the song when they caught sight of him.


Margaret and Dave would be leaving on August 5 to return to Australia and we wanted to get out cruising a bit.  Unfortunately, the Tongatapu Group, which is the group where we were located, only has about three good island anchorages and all within close range.  So, we headed for the nearest island, Pangaimotu, for a few days of relaxation.  The weather so far in Tonga was warm but cloudy with periods of rain.  We were hoping for a few sunny days before our guests left.  It really didn’t clear up until Thursday afternoon, the day that they left.
Pangaimotu Island is owned by the Royal Family and is mostly uninhabited, except for a resort and one home.  The resort welcomes yachties and it can be seen at the tip of the island in this picture.  A white sand beach surrounds the island and the walk around the island is 30 minutes in length.
Dave and Margaret treated us to dinner at the resort and Dave and Paul played a few games of pool on a table that wasn’t in the best of shape.  The entire floor in the restaurant was covered in a thick layer of very fine sand that was raked every morning.  This is definitely a beach side restaurant and you don’t need shoes!


On August 2, for a change of scenery, we sailed a few miles to the next island, Atata, and entered a lagoon.  The anchorage was a bit choppy due to the strong southeast winds but the anchor dug in well.  Paul and Dave went snorkeling and spearfishing but came back empty handed – there were just no fish to be found. 

For dinner that night, Dave and Margaret again treated us to a restaurant meal at the island’s resort.  This was noticeably more upscale than the one on Pangaimotu Island.  We were greeted by Auckland, the Guest Services Manager, who showed us to a table.  He gave us a lengthy drinks menu and went to the kitchen to find out what was being served that evening.  The service went downhill after that and here is what we laughingly remembered to write down after we returned to the boat later that evening:

Regarding the drinks menu – although it was very lengthy, it had serious limitations:

  • No white wine served by the glass.  They were out of cask white wine.
  • Only 2 bottles of white wine to choose from – and both were chardonnay
  • Dave and Paul could not get the beer that they wanted from the menu
  • We were left wondering, “Why did he give us a list?”

Regarding the food menu:

  • The menu was recited; they hadn’t yet printed it off of the computer
  • The choices were – lobster for $50, beef for $40, and chicken for $35, soup and salad were each $16 and dessert was $16
  • As we felt that these prices were quite steep, we each chose a beef dinner (the chicken burger that we had at the other resort was not a chicken breast, but other bits and pieces, and we didn’t want to experience that again)
  • Auckland came back 15 minutes later and announced that the beef dinners were for the resort guests.  He said that he was sorry.  Paul said that he would want the lobster if he could have it for the same price as the beef.  Auckland went to ask the manager.  He came back 10 minutes later and said that he would have to check how many lobsters there were but that we could have them for the beef dinner price.  We then ordered 4 lobster dinners.
  • Auckland came back 15 minutes later and said that he was sorry but there was only 1 lobster dinner.  We then ordered 3 additional chicken dinners and hoped for the best.
  • Auckland came back 15 minutes later and said “Good news”.  There were actually 3 lobster dinners, so we were going to have 3 lobster dinners and 1 chicken dinner”.
  • Guess what!  Auckland came back 15 minutes later and said, “Sorry.  One of the lobster dinners was promised to one of the resort guests so we were going to have 2 lobster dinners and 2 chicken dinners”.  We sincerely hoped that Auckland wouldn’t come back again.
  • We were seriously hungry by now.  Auckland showed up shortly after with a free dish of peanuts.
  • Our dinners finally arrived and were quite tasty.  Not too many unusual bits and pieces in the chicken dinners.
  • We arrived at the restaurant at 1800h and our meals were finally in front of us at 2000h.

That’s life in tropical islands!  But as in most tropical islands, the resort staff were very helpful and voluntarily escorted us to the beach and our dinghy.  A large spotlight was used to illuminate Bella Via as we made our way through the choppy water.  Such friendly service.

August 10, 2010

Dave and Margaret flew out of Tonga on August 5 and we have been relaxing at Pangaimotu Island.

We went in to Nuku’alofa and checked out of this island group today.  We also went to the market and a large supermarket and stocked up on fresh produce and dairy products for the next while.  The next group of islands, the Ha’apai Group, has very few places to provision and the selection will be poor.  We are leaving in the morning and are looking forward to cruising the Ha’apai Group.

 

    Journal 2009
    
Exploring Tonga