Harmonie - Hunga Island, Vava'u, Tonga

Hunga Island, Vava'u, Tonga

Harmonie

Don and Anne Myers

Sun 21 Jun 2009 04:36

18:41.949S 174:08.096W

On June 8th we left Neiafu for the first time and motored out with Storyteller to meet Lady Kay in the beautifully remote and protected lagoon formed by Hunga, Kalau and Fofoa Islands, which is just a few miles west of Neiafu. We knew the pass into Hunga Island lagoon was extremely narrow, and at low tide the depth only 2 meters (we need at least 2.1). The guide books suggest the best time to go through the pass is at or just after high tide when the water depth is at least 3 meters and the current in the pass close to nil. We ignored this advice because it didn't fit with our schedule and arrived outside the pass about half-way to low tide. Hmmmm. The pass looked mighty small and the giant rock sticking up on the left side made it look that much smaller. Don and John decided the most prudent thing to do was to take Storyteller's dinghy on a reconnaissance mission through the pass and back while Sue and I piloted the boats around in circles outside the pass. The men returned after about 15 minutes and reported a thumb's up for a run at the pass.

We volunteered to go first. Up I went to the bow to keep watch while Don steered us into the pass, all the while yelling out depth and current information to keep me fully informed. As long as we didn't look too closely at the bottom looming up at us or the rocks on either side as we slowly motored through the pass, we were fine. Once through, the depth went as low as 1 meter below our keel as we skimmed over part of a reef, but since we really only need about 1 inch below our keel, we were happy. Two more minutes and it was all over as we hit deep water and headed toward where Lady Kay was anchored alone in the lagoon.

Picture 1 - Motoring from Neiafu to Hunga Island, we passed the now familiar parade of mushroom shaped islands topped with palm trees that are unique to the Vava'u group of islands in Tonga. This is one of those mushroom shaped islands. (At low tide it looks more like a mushroom than it does in this picture taken at high tide.)

Picture 2 - Hunga Island lagoon pass. We had to go between the rock on the left and the hard place on the right to get in. (This picture was taken from the bow of Storyteller in case you are wondering why there are two very shiny anchors on the bow instead of the single not-so-shiny anchor Harmonie has on its bow.)

Picture 3 - Harmonie and Storyteller at anchor.

Picture 4 - The day after we arrived at Hunga Island, John and Sue hosted a fishing party and the six of us (John, Sue, Michael, Jackie, Don and myself) boarded Storyteller and motored out of the pass for the day. Don and Michael brought all their fishing gear, and were completely prepared to haul in, gut and cut up as many mahi-mahi as possible. We put out three fishing lines, motored down one side of Hunga Island, back up the same side, around the north end and back again with nothing to show for it. Lunch time came and went. We continued to make plans for a mahi-mahi dinner as the afternoon slipped by. We watched the horizon for bird activity on the water and directed John to take us there. The birds (and fish) cleared out every time we arrived in the area - no doubt snickering about it as they went. We decided it was about time to give it up when we saw bird activity nearby and John swung us directly through it before they (and the fish) could get away. We watched from Storyteller's tall fly bridge as a huge mahi-mahi dashed from where he was swimming alongside the boat to swipe up Michael and Jackie's fishing lure trailing off the back. A cry went up across Storyteller's upper deck as the fish was hooked and tried to run off with the line. 'Get the other lines in! Slow the boat down! Get the gaff ready! Where's the fish vodka? Get Michael a harness! It's a big one!' In the picture, Michael is reeling in the fish as Don and Sue watch anxiously. In the end, Michael got the fish up to the back of the boat where Don was positioned on the lower stern with the gaff when, yup, you guessed it - the Pacific mahi-mahi performed the now famous triple back-flip, double twist freedom move and just like that flipped itself off the hook. Michael was none too pleased, but the fish was more than likely giggling in a big way and pleased as punch as it darted back to safety. So much for our big day of fishing. The outing on Storyteller was a treat for us sailboaters though - fish or no fish.

Picture 5 - The next day we stuck to landlubber activities and found an abandoned citrus plantation / resort on Fofoa Island where we stocked up on mandarin oranges and admired the hibiscus flowers.

Picture 6 - The day after that we explored the ocean side of Hunga Island at low tide and were treated to an nifty array of coastal rock formations and rock pools. That's Sue admiring the view.

Picture 7 - Two of our favorite blue starfish high and dry at low tide.

Picture 8 - On our last day in the Hunga lagoon, we explored Hunga Village, where they are building a road from the main wharf to the town center. Aside from one small bull dozer brought over from the US by the Tongan gentleman in the white t-shirt and visor who used to work construction in California, they are building this concrete road completely by hand. Funds for the materials were donated by India ($2,000), but the men doing the work are doing it without payment. We asked the bull dozer gentleman how far they planned to take the road. 'The whole length of the island!' he said with a proud grin. We wondered later why they would choose to do that when there didn't seem to be any cars on the island (or any need for them)?

Picture 9 - As the sign suggests, this is the Hunga primary school (Government Primary School to be exact). If kids go on to secondary school, they have to take a ferry to Neiafu (and probably stay for the week with only weekends at home).

Picture 10 - This is the backyard of one of the homes in Hunga village. Note the outhouse in the right-hand corner.

Picture 11 - On June 13th we finally pulled up anchor and left Hunga lagoon for Neiafu where we planned to stock up and finalize plans to sail north to the fourth Tongan island group, Niuatoputapu. More correctly, we attempted to pull up anchor. During the five nights we stayed in Hunga lagoon, the wind changed directions several times and tended to be gusty now and then when the strong trade winds occasionally found their way into our snug anchorage. We knew our anchor chain was hooked around coral because we could hear the chain grating against the coral (a sound not unlike fingernails on a chalkboard) and because we were not swinging in a proper arc around where we knew our anchor to be. Instead we were moving this way and that around some other point, presumably a lump of coral. We didn't realize how badly our chain was wrapped until Don started pulling up the anchor chain using the windlass, and after a tremendous BANG! this giant coral lump appeared along with our chain. If you can't see it in the picture, the chain is wrapped completely around the coral and itself. You can see the rest of the chain below the coral leading down into the water. Wow. We've pulled up rocks before, but this giant coral lump was a first for us. After using a rope to take the weight off the chain, it didn't take Don long to wedge the chain off the coral and return it to its home on the bottom 20 meters below. We decided the coral lump was too big to keep as a souvenir (not to mention the fact that Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Australian quarantine or customs might have a problem with us carting around a giant lump of Tongan coral in our boat). After that the rest of the chain and anchor came up without a hitch and we were on our way.

More Vava'u adventures later.

Anne