Anders and Alexandra have left us

Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sun 3 Nov 2013 00:11
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.