18:39S 173:58W

 

The Pacific has been a lonely place at times – with long passages and remote anchorages resulting in spread out yachts.   After leaving Bora Bora – apart from a pot luck on the beach in Suwarrow – social occasions had been sadly lacking.   That all changed once we arrived in the Vava’u group in northern Tonga.  This area is a crossroads for cruising yachts – most pass through here on their way to either New Zealand, Australia or further afield therefore it’s been a great catch up time.   We’ve met up with old cruising friends, made lots of new ones and, best of all, we’ve been able to put names to the voices we hear on our daily radio nets.   Since leaving French Polynesia we’ve had two SSB radio nets – the Isabella net and the Bora Bora net.  Most boats only listen to one, but as David is a (reluctant I might add) net controller on both we tend to listen to both.  It’s an odd feeling meeting someone who you feel you know very well but have never actually met.

 

Since arriving here life has been busy.   We’ve had pot luck dinners on the beach, drinks/dinners on friends’ boats and drinks/meals out ashore.  It’s been a wonderfully social time and fantastic to catch up with so many people we met as far back as 2011.  Back then we met Mike from Tashi Delek in Lanzarote and have heard his dulcet tones on the SSB as we crossed the Atlantic, sailed the Caribbean, east coast of the States and Pacific.   We finally met him again (and his lovely wife Carol) here in Neiafu.   But the “longest” award goes to Harry off Malua who we first heard on the Magnet in the Mediterranean in 2009.   We finally met him in the States last year and again in Bora Bora and Tonga.

 

We’ve continued to have some amazing whale experiences – check out our www.yachtbandit.blogspot.com blog to see some stunning pics.