Backseat Driving - Nukunamo Island, Ha'apai, Tonga
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 19 Jun 2009 23:06
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19:42.671S 174:17.034W
On June 2, we left Uoleva Island with plans to sail
fifteen miles north to Ha'ano Island, which would have given us an
excellent starting position for the sixty mile sail to the Vava'u group of
Tongan islands we had planned for the following day. Storyteller also
left Uoleva Island on June 2, but with their faster motoring speed, went
straight on to Vava'u to arrive before dark that same day. If we had
gone with them, we wouldn't have made it in before dark, and sailing around
the Vava'u group of islands in the dark with charts that are sometimes
off by a good half mile probably wouldn't have been the best idea. We
could have left Uoleva Island in the afternoon and sailed through the night to
arrive in Vava'u the next day, but we decided not to subject ourselves to a
night passage since it really wasn't necessary.
We left Uoleva Island at the very civilized hour of
ten in the morning and sailed north in the brisk southeast trade winds to Ha'ano
Island. We approached the anchorage very carefully per the instructions in
the guide book and waited patiently for the swell to calm down as we motored
slowly toward land and the designated anchoring spot. I was at my
usual station on the bow looking out for uncharted coral obstacles and
keeping an eye on our progress. Being so far forward on the boat means
that Don doesn't see what I see until his station at the helm travels a
good 25-30 feet to where I was a good couple of seconds ago. This brings a
whole new dimension to the concept of backseat driving. In a car, given
the typical rate of speed and close proximity the backseat driver has to
the driver, both parties are generally seeing what's in front of the vehicle at
the same time. Not so on a boat. The backseat driver, who is
technically more of a front seat driver, sees what's in front of the vehicle a
few long seconds before the driver does.
As we approached the Ha'ano Island anchorage in the
brisk southeast trade winds, it became obvious to the backseat
driver, who was standing up front on the bow, that the anchorage
described in the guide book as 'good in a southeast wind, but subject to some
swell' was an overstatement on the first part and an understatement on
the second. As we moved slowly into anchoring position, the
boat started wallowing from side-to-side in the churning
whirlpool water caused by the surf crashing on the surrounding rocks.
The waves were crashing, the designated anchoring spot small, and the boat
wallowing.
'I don't think this is going to work!', cried the
backseat driver hanging on to the life rails at the front of the
boat.
'Just wait a minute!', yelled the driver.
'No, I mean I don't think we should even bother
trying to put the anchor down! It's too rough!', explained the backseat
driver.
There was some disagreement from the driver, then
silence as he saw what the backseat driver saw several seconds
ago.
'This isn't going to work!', yelled the driver as
he turned the boat hard to port to exit the churning anchorage.
At this point, there might have been a slight eye
roll from the backseat driver, but if there was, it's certain that the driver
didn't see it as he was concentrating on extricating Harmonie out of the
too small, too rough Ha'ano Island anchorage.
Once free of the Ha'ano Island whirlpool, we
decided to try an anchorage on Foa Island, which was a few miles to
the south. On our way there, John, the manager of the ICA rally, called on
the radio from he and his wife's boat, Windflower, and directed us into an
anchorage off the coast of tiny Nukunamo Island, which was just north
of Foa Island. We wound our way through towers and reefs of coral to
find ourselves in a snug spot just large enough to hold Harmonie, Windflower and
two large catamarans also from the ICA rally; Just In Time and Island
Style. Like our first anchorage in the Ha'apai island group (Nomuka Iki),
the view from our last anchorage in the Ha'apai group was excellent - a white
sand beach connecting tiny Nukunamo Island with Foa Island.
Unfortunately, we had the same high wind in our last Ha'apai
anchorage as we had in our first, and it kept us from venturing
out in the dinghy (sorry, no pictures) and also made for a bouncy
night.
The next morning at first light, all four boats
- Harmonie, Windflower, Island Style and Just In Time - left for the
Vava'u group of islands. Finding our way out of the anchorage was
interesting since there wasn't enough light to see the coral we knew was there,
but Don piloted us out the way we came in, or at least mostly the way we
came in, so after some degree of breath holding on both our parts, all was well
as we hit deep water.
More on our sail to Vava'u
later.
Anne
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