We
started the leg from Niue
around about midday
in excellent conditions. The forecast was for 15 knot winds, so we did not rig
the twistle. In the event the winds varied up to 30 knots from behind so the
twistle would have been ideal. As it was, we reefed down and tacked downwind to
get the most comfortable sail. We arrived off
Tonga
just before dawn when it became obvious from the radar overlay that our C-map
charts were about 1/4 mile inaccurate!
As we approached, heavy rain meant we could not see the
Islands
either. We therefore chose to motor the last mile to the finishing line which
was crossed at sunrise. Of course by now, we had crossed the International Date
Line and lost a day in the process.
Ever
efficient, Paul Tetlow was at the Customs wharf to take our lines and smooth our
passages through the 4 officials we had to deal with. We picked up a mooring to
the welcome discovery that we had free wifi again. We were in company with
several other WARC yachts and soon found the several dockside cafes at Neifau,
the capital of the Vava'u island group. We spent several days as more and more
of our fleet arrived so that at the get together on Saturday, 23 yachts were
present. Mike & I had a day scuba diving. The sea life was not as good as
Niue
but still worth the effort.
Saturday
was a double birthday celebration, Donal from 'A Lady' and Rui from 'Thor VI' I
baked a cake for Rui and Aileen got baker Steve to produce a cake featuring
Donal's motorbike accident! The crews of Eowyn, A Lady and Thor VI all went with
Paul and Suzana of WARC for a great lobster dinner.
Tonga
is a deeply religious country with business closing by law on Sundays. I spent
some tome at the Catholic Church which was packed with worshippers dressed in
traditional wear and Sunday best. The men wear a woven grass skirt and the women
very modest attire in traditional style.
On
Monday at the rendezvous meal, we were delighted to find we had come in 2nd
place in our group for the 3 legs from Bora
Bora.
We were beaten deservedly by 'Lady Eve VI, Dieter flying his spinnaker for much
of the 1500 miles. We had a great buffet and the traditional dancing from the
restaurants staff was first rate.
Rendezvous Dinner
On
Tuesday, a visit to the botanical gardens turned out to be so much more with
demonstrations of Tongan crafts and traditions with the ever present dancers
from the local school. We had a traditional Tongan feast featuring suckling
pig.
We
are now free cruising in Tonga
and weather permitting, plan to sail to
Fiji
next Tuesday the 15th June.
Eowyn
has had only one or two minor problems lately but this week we managed to
acquire some contamination to our watermaker membrane and will replace it in
Mackay.
