Nuku, Vava'u Group, Tonga

Jarek
Fri 31 Oct 2003 07:44
Thursday, October 30, 3003
This is anchorage #8 in the excellent Moorings Cruising Guide. It is well
protected from all sides around, with an extensive reef and a small, one
family islet of Nuku from SE. East end of the islet turns into a pretty spit
of pinkish coral sand, which makes a nice two-sided beach. We have been
happily anchored here since last Saturday doing the usual small maintenance
chores and getting our boats ready to the jump to New Zealand. The place is
quiet but far from boring. On Sunday morning we dinghied to the picturesque
Swallow Cave and had picnic lunch there. On Monday, three humpback whales
majestically swam quite close by, showing their flukes and blowing fountains
of spray. On Tuesday, a Polish captain of a German container ship overheard
our conversation in Polish on VHF radio and invited us to his ship moored in
Neiafu. It was a longish and wet dinghy ride but we met a very nice fellow,
indeed. His ship makes regular rounds between Samoa, Tonga and Auckland and
we will probably see him again in New Zealand. Yesterday, we had dinner with
Sandrine and Luc, a French couple, aboard their yacht "Nilros". They turned
out great young people and we immediately became good friends. On Saturday
we are going to a "Traditional Tonga Feast" at Barnacle Bay nearby. To us,
low-key, low-budget cruisers this is quite a busy schedule.
We arrived to Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga on Tuesday, Oct. 21 and it
immediately became Wednesday, October 22. Tonga does a lot of business with
New Zealand so they use date west of International Dateline, in spite of
their location at about 174* W longitude. Clearing in was quick and
painless. Having spent a few days in Neiafu we moved to the present
anchorage.
On our last day in Niue, Saturday, Oct. 18, the sun eventually came out and
we did a trip around the island in a rented car. We saw numerous caves and
chasms at the coast of the island. They are available from the inland only.
One cannot get there from the sea as there is no anchorage around the island
except for roadstead at Alofi. Moreover, the whole island is surrounded with
a fringe reef making the coast inaccessible even by a dinghy. There is also
a number of picturesque natural swimming pools on the island formed by
erosions in the fringe reef right next to the cliffs. The water is crystal
clear there.
We left Niue on Saturday evening and sailed to Tonga down strong (35- 40
knots) easterly winds. It was fast and rather uncomfortable run. Poseidon
must have heard our grumbling: On Monday morning, some 30 miles away from
our Tonga waypoint, the wind suddenly died and then came back shifting to
all points of the compass for about two hours. Then, having us all confused,
it settled at northerly forcing us to close hauling in the equally confused
seas. Thus, it took us all day of beating against the wind to cover those
remaining 30 miles. We ended up at the pass to Vava'u group on Tuesday,
about 1 am and, as there was a considerable discrepancy between our charts
and the reality, we had to wait until the dawn adrift .