Ovalau Island - Vava'u - Tonga 18 44.917S 174 04.806W
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Sat 2 Oct 2010 09:27
It's like a web of inland waterways bordered by tropical islands and reefs. So the sea is flat and with a good wind the sailing is very good, except that the anchorages are only 2 to 5 miles apart, if that, so hardly time to raise the main before you are there. The water here is exceptionally clear, the best we have seen so far. We are currently anchored in 65ft and can clearly see the bottom. The anchorage is at Ovalu Island and borders one of the waterways used by the Humpback whales that visit Vava'u. So if we're lucky we might see some while we're here. They visit from July to October, so we're still in with a chance.
We hope to send some pictures up to the blog on our return to Neiafu to re-provision - they have a few small grocery stores with quite limited choice, but some of the cafes have internet connections. We also have to chase some generator spares (being sent from NZ) and chase Raymarine back in the UK as the autopilot problem we had crossing the Atlantic, and which they sorted out under guarantee, has returned. There's never a shortage of things to do when cruising!
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com