27:01.567S 176:34.701E Tonga, Minerva Reef and not far to go!
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Fri 14 Oct 2011 23:02
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We arrived in Tonga on Thursday 6th October, a
little earlier then expected. The weather wasn't very nice, overcast and raining
for most of our stay. The first priority was to clear in with immigration and
customs so we anchored just outside the harbour and tendered in. The customs
office was a little blue box shaped building that looked more like a guardhouse
then an office. We knocked and entered to find two officials cramped in behind
desks that must have been lowered into the building before they put the roof on.
The first official, a very large man, looked as if he was trapped in the corner,
wearing the furniture, but he wasn't bothered. The second official looked
more like a security guard or maybe he was just sleeping on the job because he
had very dark glasses on with his earphones plugged in and wore a thick jacket.
He looked as if he didn't want to be bothered.
  One of the hundreds of churches on the island (The
Catholic Church)
The blow-holes at low
tide...At high tide they blow 30ft into the air
They were both friendly enough once we'd sir'd,
please'd and thank you'd them. We were told that we should come back the next
day and check in and out after visiting immigration which was in town. On
our way to town we stopped for lunch at The Billfish and met a hilarious group
of guys on they way north to do some game fishing. It was great to see three
past-middle-aged men having such a ball. After lunch we caught a cab to
immigration. At immigration we were told we should come back the next day
because the official in-charge of the yachts was off. So we made an appointment
with him for the next day at 13:30. We then headed back to the boat weighed
anchor and moved to a small island nearby.
It was on this small island where we found Big
Mamas Yacht Club... yes! Big Mamas Yacht Club! A quaint little island getaway,
very rustic, with some very big mamas. All very happy to see us and we had some
great meals there while playing darts and watching rugby.
  Big Mamas Yacht Club
The next day clearing-in took us the better part of
the day but lucky for us we'd met Wes. Wes was our taxi-driver for the rest of
our Tonga visit. We went from Customs to the Port Authority to the fuel dock to
the Port Authority for a tax-free fuel certificate to the fuel dock to customs
to the Port Authority and then to Immigration. At Immigration we were told our
appointment had somehow been forgotten and that the very busy official in-charge
had gone home. Apparently if you live on an island it's ok to go home at lunch
on Fridays. This was where Wes got involved and arranged a meeting
Pacific-Style! We simply went to the officials home and got cleared in and out
on his dining room table, while his wife chopped coconuts outside to feed their
pig and the children ran around snot-nosed and smiling.
On the way back to the boat, Wes told us about a
place on the beach that served a great buffet dinner, he said we hadn't seen
Tonga unless we'd been to Oholei Beach. Wes picked us up again at the harbour
and drove us across the island to paradise. It was an amazing place. The
restaurant was built on the beach but into huge caves, there was a live band and
the owner was an awesome entertainer. Everything was rustic, but very neat and
well organised. The buffet was brilliant with roasted suckling-pig and heaps of
other local dishes all prepared from the owners gardens and of course fresh
fish. After the meal there was a really good show of traditional dancing and
singing. A real highlight of the trip so far!
  Not the best shot of Oholei Beach but you get the
idea...
We were only in Tonga to watch the rugby, but we
thoroughly enjoyed it. The people were genuinely the friendliest we've
encountered so far and everyone went out of the way to help us find a spot to
watch the game. In Tonga Sundays are holy, holier then holy. The local TV
station doesn't broadcast on Sundays and all the locals close up shop. We had to
find a spot open on Sundays that also had Sky TV. Thanks to Big Mama we were
taken to a little B&B where we found all the rugby supporters, mostly
Aussies, waiting impatiently for the game to start.
  Dad's birthday cake... Devil's Food by
Reece 8kg
Mahi Mahi
The next day we left Tonga after saying our
goodbyes and headed for Minerva Reef. Now we were under no pressure and could
take our time getting to New Zealand as the semi finals were no longer
important.
  One of the many stalls selling great fresh
veg
Shaya Moya just outside Big
Mamas
Minerva Reef was miserable. The wind blew
constantly and it rained on and off. Still I'd read that the lobster were pretty
good and was keen to have a go at one. Dad hung about in the tender while I went
hunting. Armed with the little spear-gun and motivated to the max! It took just
5-6 minutes till I saw feelers sticking out from under a ledge and I dived down
to get a better look. He was massive, as long as my arm and just parking there.
Of course I hadn't loaded the gun yet, not expecting to see one so soon. I
surfaced, loaded and swam down again to shoot dinner, only realising once I
was down there that the safety was on and had somehow jammed. Up again, safety
sorted, and down... he was gone.
After about an hour or so of searching and not
seeing any sign of another lobster I gave up. We decided it was still to
early and that we'd come out again just before dark. At 17:30 we were back
at it and I was determined to get that biggie ( I had of course also
marinated the wahoo we caught near Tonga just in case). It didn't take long to
find the spot where I had seen him and there he was. Checking that
everything was primed, I swam down and shot him. The spear ricocheted off
his shell, but he didn't even flinch. I reloaded and tried again, this
time I shot and hit him but his armour was just to much for my little
spear-gun and he retreated. Irritated by my insufficient weaponry, we returned
to the boat. We ate baked Wahoo and watched a movie while it rained that
night.
The next morning we woke up to a heavy
thunder-storm and decided to wait and see how it played out. We were
determined to leave that day but hoped the wind would die down a little. At
midday there was no sign of letting up, so we climbed into our wet weather gear
for the first time this trip. How sad! The wind was howling and the pass was
narrow but we managed to get out of Minerva safely and then headed SE. At one
stage the waves were about 5m high and the wind was blowing Force 11 that's
55kts, 63mph or 102kph. The rain was not falling but strafing us at 90 degrees.
It wasn't pleasant but it was still safe. Shaya Moya was rock solid and seemed
to just push on.
After enduring the worst of it without any issues,
the sun started to fight its way through and the wind died down a little. I
decided to gybe and take advantage of the wind direction to get some westing.
During my, what I thought to be by-the-book gybe, the boom suddenly
shook free and swung out against the rigging. Then the boat healed to port and
the boom came swinging across the boat and smashed into the rigging on the
other side. Realising the main-sheet block (an important part) had broken I
shouted into the galley ",We're gonna lose the boom!"
After an epic battle against gravity and all other
odds we managed to get the main sail away, the boom secure and the boat steady.
At this point the damage assessment took place and we realised how lucky
we'd been. The main-sheet block had broken, probably bending in the strong winds
and then just giving way as I pulled the main in to gybe (turn). Anyway we
secured the boom and got to work on a solution that would enable us to still
use the main.
  Problem Solving. True Africans would have used
wire, but ropes all we had
Not long now! NZ here we come. Dawn in the
Southern Pacific
It's now been two days since the action with the
boom and all is still going well. We're sailing beautifully and should be in
Opua in just less then 4 days. The sun has been shining as well which means
we're finally out of our wet-weather gear and having fun again.
I know it's been a long blog but the weather's good
today and I thought I'd better take advantage of that, who knows when I'll
be able to sit here for this long again. Thanks for
reading.
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