Anders and Alexandra have left us
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sun 3 Nov 2013 00:11
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Thursday morning we checked out of Hapaai and then
se sail to the outer islands of Hapa'ai. It took a couple of hours then we
anchored by yet another inhabited beautyful island surrounden by white
sand.
There all went ashore but me, I prepared the boat
for the sailing and fixed a few things.
After dinner we took off towards Tongatapu. A 50nM
sailing that was extremely comfortable in perfect winds around 18
knots.
We came to early so when I got my shift at about 4
in the morning I decided to minimize sails to almost nothing just making 1,7
knots till dawn. When the light came it was time to roll out sails and Salsa
soon went back to her 7 knots between patches of reefs that surround Nukualofa,
the capital of Tonga.
As we had Anders and Alexandra on board that were
going to the airport next morning we decided to "park" in the
harbor.
There you go aft to and we had a very strong
sidewind. A man from a boat called Ganush jumped in the dinghy and offered to
help us by taking the stern line ashore. We dropped anchor and then moved
quickly backwards and he got the rope and in the last minute it was fastened and
Anders could start to pull and keep us up in the wind. When the man in the
dinghy passed us he just mentioned his name, "by the way my name is
Fatty".
My immidiate respons was "Fatty
Godlander!!!?" , "Yes" he responded, I had to shout and give him all the
wows I have felt when reading his books.
He appreciated it shily.
First thing after breakfast we took off to clear
with customs and then immigration. Our family needed extended
visas.
After that we had lunch in a very busy city, with
many friendly people.
Poor Anders who had taken a seasickness plaster had
a hard time seing things, walking into poles etc. He was really affected by it,
but it may be because he took a doubble plaster by accident. He lost the first
and then put on a second one. We have learned now, that even if you loose it it
has effect 12 hours after, so he got a double dose...
Back on board we caught up with some sleep and then
Anders and Alexandra where packing. As a last dinner we had a mexican minifeast
in the sunset.
Next morning it was time to say good bye as their
taxi pulled up behind the boat. A sad moment but also filled with happiness that
we have had such a great time. Anders is a dream to have on board. He is not a
guest he is probably better than most people that call themselves
crew.
Alexandra is also very very easy to get along
with.
Now you would think that we would have time to sit
down and have some afterthoughts. Well we did indeed have a "monday meeting" the
first one since Rarotonga. Andreas did very well, and his big question was of
course if he could get more time with the iPad...
But soon after the monday meeting we had a small
chat with Windara as they where on their way in to Nukualofa, we have not seen
them since Marquesas.
And soon after that we had Miss My on board. They
wanted to go downtown to shop vegetables and food and they took soon off and
left Gustav with me. Ellinor and Erika went downtown as well so I took the boys
to a playground and then we took a ride in a local bus back. It was fun,
everybody on board wanted to talk to us.
Back to the boat we found the family of Miss My and
our own on board and Ellinor had started to make pasta for all.
Soon thereafter came Windara and said hallo, as
they where going to town we offered that they could leave their children on
board.
Now we had 4 adults and 7 children on
board.
We had pasta party and when the filling station was
empty we raised anchor with a lot of muscle power from Miss My, went to the dock
and started to fill up about 600 litres (with a speed of 5 litres per
minute...")
To ride the dinghy one way FROM the anchor place is
swift, but going back yesterday was a wet affair. So Miss My prefered to ride
with us back as we were taking the boat to anchor.
As we were filling up, Karl and Becky from Windara
showed as they were done in town. They also wanted a ride to the
anchorage.
So we had six adults, and seven children on board
when we took off, and three dinghies.
Great party on board!
As we came out all kids played on the beach, Karl
and Becky offered to check them from the dinghy, I took the kayak for a ride and
then joined them.They had cold beers in the dinghy so we had a great cha´t while
the kids played Robinson Cruise.
As the afternoon moved to early evening, Windarra
offered to have our kids on board over night. So Ellinor and I where all by
ourselves last night!
What a treat!
Today we have worked hard, I have been repairing
deck and Elinor is doing laundry.
The weather is gorgeous, nice wind and
sun.
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