Nuku'alofa
SV Jenny
Alan Franklin/Lynne Gane
Wed 21 Oct 2015 21:41
Hi all
Jenny arrived in
Nuku’Alofa after a boisterous 27 hour hard-on-the-wind sail from Neiafu, this
routing passes Ha’afeva again and threads its way through the other lovely
islands of the Ha’apai group before arriving at the capital of the Tongatapu
group. It’s been quite a bit windy over
the last few weeks in the whole of Tonga so it’s quite a treat to be now
sitting in ”Big Mamas” yacht club in a gentle breeze tapping this out - in
these places simply a bar seems to constitute a
yacht club but suffice to say we have had a warm welcome here, so there
are no complaints.
Big Mamas is a well known
yachtie spot to anchor, a lovely little tropical island called Pangaimotu a
mile or so from Nuku’Alofa harbour, however it feels far more welcoming than
the main town of Nuku’alofa and its somewhat dilapidated marina. This is stern to mooring - i.e. anchoring in
the middle and running lines to the shore from each “corner” of the stern - you
still need a dinghy to get ashore, however there are no good places to land or tie the dinghy
up!! - so Big Mamas wins for me.
We have a few other boats
here, with others arriving soon, we are all waiting for a good “weather window”
to depart for NZ. Both my crew have now arrived and are on board so apart from
fuelling up tomorrow and last minute fresh food victualing we will be leaving at the first
opportunity. This looks like the earliest will be Monday 19th
October, presently 2 days before the off we are still experiencing 30 knots of
wind and the seas will be heaped up for a while after this dies down. The “Grib
files”, the wind strength/direction weather files we all download and study are
not wholly reliable!! These are automated weather predictions and lack the
human touch, come back Michael Fish!
It seems strange to be
sailing south towards temperate latitudes again, although word is that North
Island New Zealand is experiencing early heat wave!! Certainly there is more to consider
weather-wise when planning the 1200 mile passage to Opua, North Island, various
weather/routing strategies coming into play dictated by weather “gurus” whose
expertise here is vastly superior to mine. We wait for the advice and for the
word to go like runners on a start line!!
It is not unusual to have to anchor at North Minerva Reef, a small, just submerged circular haven 250
miles from the nearest land. It has a narrow passage into the reef which provides
good shelter from waves but alas not the wind, however it is just outside the cyclone zone. Boats may anchor for days waiting
for better weather to take them towards NZ.
Apart from clearing into
Opua and suffering the “Bio security” measures we hope to rest there awhile, then
to sail a little in the Bay of Islands with its numerous anchorages. The boat hull is now clean - amazing how
quickly growths appear underneath!! No major problems other than the cockpit
plotter that is working intermittently at best and the SSB mic which probably
needs to commune with the fishes, the miles have however taken their toll on
the sails. We will have to repair the
genoa foresail as it has suffered greatly from being use half furled in heavy
winds, so now its repairs and a good overhaul, We have a tougher smaller sail
that will do just nicely. We’ll travel from Opua towards Whangarei until the marina we’ve booked
tells me “your time is up, come on in Jenny” and the boat sits safely ashore
whilst I make my way back to UK. We have the inevitable list of things to do,
however it’s a great place to get it done.
I’m’ really looking forward to an extended
stay back in Blighty.
All for now
Alan
P.S. from Lynne, I am a bit late posting this so Alan and crew Chris and Natalie are on their way to New Zealand, hoping to arrive around 27th -28th October.
