Position: 19:40.24S  174:17.36W    Ha’ano Island – Ha’apai group of Tonga
Saturday 5th October

After Uonukuhihifo we sailed 3 hours west to the island of Ha’afeva. We found a sheltered anchorage behind this round island and its reefs. On Thursday we went ashore and walked across the island to the village on the other side. There are about 150 people who live there. The local stores were very limited but we did find some crackers and UHT milk to buy. A local girl Paula helped show us around the village and its 5 different churches!

I checked the weather via the sat phone and decided that it was time we got a move on and got ready to sail back up north to Vava’u group of Tonga before the winds were forecast to go north next week.

So first thing Friday morning we pulled up anchor and headed back east towards Lifuka island and the ‘town’ of Pangai. The sail there was about as perfect as it gets! Sea Monkey was flying along with about 12 knots of wind on her beam and the eastern chain of islands and reefs making the seas quite flat. Connolly was excited about the view of the volcanoes just downwind of us, Kao is a perfect steep cone shaped one and Tofua was flat topped and has a large crater lake in it. Next thing we knew there was a fish on the line and we hauled in a nice little yellowfin tuna. While cleaning the fish we saw some whales surfacing. As we approached Lifuka the water got even flatter. We glided along past the reefs and shallow turquoise water over a sandy bottom and sailed right up to the anchorage.





We made a quick pit stop in town to check out with customs and buy a few fresh vegetables and some bread that must have been cooked in an oven heated by a wood fire judging by its taste of smoke. Then continued on that same afternoon for another beautiful sail along the edges of Lifuka and Foa islands to anchor at the northernmost island of Ha’ano. Now we are perfectly positioned for the sail north back up to Vava’u departing at first light tomorrow morning.

Phil