Neiafu, Vava'u Island, Tonga - Again!

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 20 Jun 2008 14:34
18:39.608S 173:58.960W

On the way from Vaka'eitu Island back to Neiafu Harbor on Thursday (6/19),
we had a nice sail in some gusty winds. Right out there with us was this
Tongan in a traditional outrigger canoe (picture 1).

We also had many great views of palm tree topped button mushroom islands
(pictures 2 and 3).

Picture 4 is a close up of the sometimes craggy coastline of these
islands. This is one of the many sea caves.

Our main reason for heading back to Neiafu Harbor was to clear out of
customs (must be done on Friday, if one plans to leave Tonga over the
weekend) and fill up on duty free fuel. Of course you can't fill up on
duty free fuel until you clear out of customs, so we made our way to
customs at about eleven this morning (Friday, 6/20), and finally made our
way out of customs at close to one o'clock. We had unfortunate timing.
Just as we were trying to clear out, the bulk of the competing Blue Water
Rally boats were also clearing out of Tonga for Fiji. There are only two
round-the-world rallies that we know of and they both operate only every
other year. Why then, are they both operating the same route in the same
year at the same time? We've been bumping into Blue Water boats since
Panama. If you ask the Blue Water people why their rally is conflicting
with the World ARC rally, they say it's because the World ARC rally
changed their schedule after the Blue Water rally had already been set.
Of course, if you ask the World ARC people the same question, the answer
is because the Blue Water rally people changed their schedule after the
World ARC rally had already been set. So silly. But when all sixty or
seventy boats of the two rallies combined hit one, small country harbor
and try to fuel up and clear out through customs, it's not easy for the
boaters and certainly not for the customs people, not to mention the fuel
truck guys. So started our long day.

After clearing customs, we rushed back to the dinghy and back to the boat
in order to make our one o'clock appointment with the fuel truck. In a
harbor like this, there is no fuel dock. You can't just pull up to a dock
and expect the fuel to be there. Oh no. You have to arrange for a fuel
truck to come down to the dock at a specific time, and you have to do this
at least twenty-four hours in advance. So we and Lady Kay made a fuel
truck appointment for one o'clock today. We rushed down to the area where
we were supposed to tie the boat up and wait for the fuel truck. On the
way down the harbor, we noticed a fuel truck at one of the other docks
fueling up Blue Water Rally boats. Oh no. We had to get our fuel today
because we had already cleared out of the country and technically once
that is done, we are supposed to leave Tonga within 24 hours. Hmmmm...

We reached the area where we needed to tie up for fuel and, look at that,
no room for us. Lady Kay was rafted up to another American boat, Serapin,
who happened to have been waiting for the fuel truck since 10 in the
morning. Not looking good for fuel. We decided to throw the anchor down
and wait. So we waited. Two o'clock rolled around and look at that! The
fuel truck arrived. Forty-five minutes later Serapin was done fueling.
Now Lady Kay. Not an easy task since their fuel tank capacity is
relatively small, making the use of jerry can fuel storage on deck a
necessity - resulting in a fairly laborious fuel filling operation. Three
o'clock - Lady Kay is done. Next Lady Kay and Serapin have to go back to
customs for some final paperwork. Customs closes at 4pm and we have not
even started fueling yet! Don's blood pressure rises. Ok, we won't wait
for Serapin and Lady Kay to exit the dock, we'll just squeeze in Med-moor
style (anchor down, back in to the dock, then tie off with two stern
lines) next to Quasar (a World ARC boat) and this nice local boat. Don
was confident, I wasn't. What else is new? Don backed us in fine and all
was well. Our fueling starts. The big, black hose is handed over from
the dock. What's that rag tied around it? Oh, it's a diesel leak. No
problem. Don asked the fuel truck guy if we had to pay for the fuel that
leaked out. He didn't realize Don was kidding and got a worried look on
his face for a minute. Ok, all humor aside, time to fuel up so we can
make it back to customs before they close for the weekend. The fuel
starts and we watch the liter counter on the side of the truck. We need
400 liters and at 3:20 we've only gotten what we think is 10 liters. We
are never going to make it! Don gets worried and stops filtering the fuel
because the filter is slowing down the filling process (plus the fuel
doesn't look half bad, so what the hell?). All of a sudden the fuel
stops. Don looks up at the fuel truck guys. The liter counter says what
we thought was 40.0. Forty liters! Head ready to explode. We said we
needed 400! The fuel truck guys just look at Don. It is 400 they say.
Don and I look at each other. How can that be? Don quickly checks the
fuel level in the tank with the dip stick. Oh, look at that, it's just
about full. Guess that was 400 liters and not 40. Oops. I try to
explain our confusion to the fuel truck guys. They didn't seem completely
interested since it was almost four o'clock on a Friday afternoon. Can't
blame them. Don gets out all the His Majesty King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV's
faced bills and pays the fuel truck guys. Don moves on to customs with
twenty-five minutes to spare. Shew! Another exhilarating fueling episode
successfully completed.

We got the boat back to the mooring in the bay, hopped in the dinghy to
get to shore in time to pay for our mooring since the dive shop is not
open on weekends. We caught the dive shop just in time and when all was
done, heaved a great sigh of relief. Afterwards, Michael from Lady Kay
called on the radio to say that they were wiped out and planned to spend a
quiet evening on their boat. I said we were doing the same, and wasn't it
sad that something as ridiculous as a fuel filling episode could wipe out
four boaters in one afternoon? We have definitely grown soft, I fear.

More pictures:
Picture 5 - Lady Kay rafted to Serapin with the fuel truck in the
background as seen from our not-so-patiently-waiting anchorage.

Picture 6 - A view of the local boat next to us in our Med-moor position
with the Neiafu Harbor in the background.

Picture 7 - The Tongan Tourist Bureau kindly provides this device for all
tourists to use for navigation purposes. Very handy.

Picture 8 - A pretty view of Neiafu Harbor during one of the rare times
the sun was shining. (No complaints about the cloudy weather here, Don
and I have enjoyed the cooler temperatures, although the rain got a little
tiresome after eight straight days...kind of like living in Buffalo, only
warmer.)

Picture 9 - Can't sign off without at least one more sunset photo. This
was our last Neiafu Harbor sunset. A nice send-off for us.

Speaking of which - we leave tomorrow around noon for Fiji. The trip
should take us about four days, and will be a bit challenging as there are
some reefs between Tonga and Fiji that you wouldn't want to encounter at
night...especially with an electronic chart that may be not be accurate.
So, we'll monitor our progress closely and manage our speed such that we
arrive in the crucial areas in the daylight. Never a dull moment on
Harmonie. In Fiji, we will meet up with the other rally boats in Musket
Cove. I believe we will actually be tied up to a dock or at least some
type of wharf. Wow, that hasn't happened since early May in Tahiti. Huge
luxury. Maybe they'll even have a laundry room with machines that work
and, could it be? showers. Wow - that would be something, haven't had a
'real' shower (non-Navy variety) since the east side of Panama in
February. Life is good.

More on Sunday from the high seas.
Anne

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