To the Kingdom of Tonga we go….
For the eight day journey we’re facing, we know ahead of time to expect the 12-15 foot swells and winds at a steady 25 knots, gusting to 30, for the first couple of days. These conditions are quite tricky when at the helm, but also when making your way around the cockpit and below. The galley possibly being the most dangerous place, especially during meal preparations! On the first day, Ellie realizes she’s coming down with the flu being passed around among the ranks. Thus, it’s my turn to play galley wench. Thankfully, I’m able to function in the galley without any sea sickness. I guess all the time on the boat has had a positive effect in that regard. The time spent cooking has made me appreciate anew the stove. The gimballed stove is the best invention ever! It makes cooking an option on the open water. There can be three pots simmering away as the stove swings 30 degrees (or more) one direction when the boat heels one way and then 30 degrees the other, without a pan sliding or spilling a drop. Of course, everything that’s sitting on the counter, if not secured, slides back and forth and often onto the floor with a big swell. If a cabinet door is open, its contents may spill out. It’s a bit of a circus! In the cockpit, the occasional wave drenches us, setting Rob off in a stream of profanity. Saltwater can be annoying. The lazy watches at the helm are no longer. Constant vigilance is required, watching and adjusting to apparent wind angle, wind speed, and large swells. The autopilot has been great. However, under these conditions, at times it can’t keep up with the heading and shuts off, requiring a quick response to catch the helm wheel and then correct the heading before the sails jibe. I miss the low key sailing where I can go below and bake crossing cookies! The up side is that we’re sailing 8-10 knots, so we’ll reach Tonga faster, sailing about 200 miles per day. By the third day, the swell is easing and the winds aren’t as strong and gusty. Beautiful downwind sailing for days with the sails set up perfectly - wing on wing with the poled out yankee on the port side and the main on the starboard. We still have the occasional large swell, with Rob’s, “Hold on!” warning, but much easier to maneuver our way around the boat and get some restful sleep. See the video of us sailing. https://www.oceansfive.net/tonga
Tonga is a congregating place for whales, especially July through October. A number of our fellow sailors have reported seeing humpback, fin and pilot whales near their vessels. We keep an eye out, but haven’t seen any. On Friday night, I relieve Rob at midnight for my 12-2:00 am watch. Shortly after sitting behind the helm, before my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I’m startled by the loud blow of a whale right near where I’m sitting! I could see the white mist expelled, but couldn’t make out the whale’s body in the dark. For a good 30 minutes, I had my eyes peeled on the dark ocean and my ears straining to hear another blow. However, I didn’t hear or see any more after that, but was thrilled to have one so close! Rob and Calvin have a brief glimpse of a whale in the distance the following day. As the trip progresses, we feel some semblance of normalcy over the weekend. Bless Starlink, we were able to watch some of the PGA Open! And the calm seas allowed me to bake crossing cookies, which always helps morale (at least mine). As we’re making water, we notice the generator making an odd noise. Rob and Calvin immediately begin investigating and find a small hole in the exhaust where water is leaking. They make a patch with some epoxy and special tape, which will, hopefully, last until we replace the exhaust piping.
Meanwhile, we fish. Almost brought in a large Mahi, but as we were pulling him up, right next to the boat, he turned and swam directly at us. Laughingly, he spit the lure out directly at us. So disappointing!! Our luck changed the next day when we reeled in two lovely tuna.
On Monday, we cross a “false” international date line. The true one occurs after Tonga, but Tonga decided it wanted to be in the same time zone as Fiji, so they changed to Fijian time. Thus, we lost a day. Monday suddenly becomes Tuesday plus one hour. Weird.
At last we arrive in Tonga on Tuesday morning, feeling like the crossing was a good one (minus the first couple of days). Tonga has 170 islands, only 36 being inhabited. We will stay only in the northernmost group of the islands, called the Vava’u Group. As we’re entering the area through a large channel dotted by rocky islands covered in a variety of trees, we feel Tonga has more of a northern feel to it. Very few, small beaches. The islands are small hills loaded with a variety of trees, extending all the way down to the water. We head to the dock in the small town of Neiafu, on the island of Vava’u, where customs and health agents will board Jolie, along with an Oyster agent. Easy check-in, but not very convenient to have to dock. The people are very pleasant. Tonga is a kingdom of its own, with its own Tongan language. Many of them speak English, as well. Oddly, they have a New Zealand accent when they speak English. One of the locals, Adrian, who owns the Mango Cafe, explains that there were many expats from New Zealand when he was young who taught them to speak English. Overall, people here are very friendly. There’s a floating bar in the bay flying Canadian flags. We investigate that evening. The owners are from Canada (hence, the flags) and just reopened this newly constructed floating bar, The Hideaway. Lovely, social people. Simple menu: delicious fish and chips, strong (also delicious) margaritas, beer and wine. We love it!! End up visiting here all three of the evenings we’re anchored in this bay. The town itself is fairly small - has a few small “grocery” stores with no fresh items. There’s an open air market that sells eggs, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, casava and some kind of thick green leafy bunches, which we avoid.
Rob scheduled a two-tank dive for the following morning. The dive master (at least we think he is?) is Ricky, a quirky, older New Zealander. We ride in his dive boat, the Tin Can, over to the first dive site - a cave about 100 feet down. Before getting into the water he steps past me to the back of the boat and says, “I need to check the depth and temperature of the water.” And proceeds to pee. Maybe quirky isn’t the right word…. The dives are both beautiful - water is incredibly clear, coral is healthy and beautiful with varieties we haven’t seen. We swim through a couple of tight crevasses lined with colorful algae and other corals. The deep cave is interesting to rest in and watch a school of big-eye fish. The second dive was shallower and, again, had wonderful variety of healthy coral and interesting fish. I never tire of watching the anemone/clown fish snuggle in the tendrils of the anemone. There’s something so cute about them! When we return to Jolie it’s after 2pm, too late for us to move the boat. Because of the extensive reef system and multitude of large coral bommies, we need plenty of overhead sunlight to keep watch out on the bow to avoid hitting anything. No sacrifice - this bay is beautiful and we have another fun night at The Hideaway. We return to the boat where Ellie has made a “Tonga Pie,” aka a chicken pot pie with the crust decorated with palm trees, fruit bats and sunshine! Maybe an explanation is necessary re the bats… They’re large, furry fruit bats (flying foxes) which can be seen flying at sunset in search of fruit. They’re loved by the locals and are said to be critically endangered. Thus, we embrace the bats.
The following morning, we have a short motor over to a beautiful, small beach anchorage called Port Murielle, near the snorkel site, the Swallow’s Cave. People have raved about this cave, so we’re excited to check it out. It’s been recommended we wait until the afternoon sun to illuminate it. There are actually two caves. It’s only the four of us exploring these caves which makes it more special. We first snorkel the smaller cave on the left. Its deep, clear water and high ceiling are beautiful!
I notice sunlight coming underneath the water just below the cave wall and after a shallow dive, pop up in another, smaller, but similar cave. A high opening in the wall above allows in sunshine but there’s no entrance from the exterior. The high ceilings create an echoey sound to our excited voices. After thoroughly exploring these caves, we swim out and enter into the larger, more extensive Swallow’s Cave. The first eye catching flash as we enter the cave is the large school of small fish - a sunlit, white-silvery color, like flashes of crystal, as they shift and mold into different shapes to avoid us. Our eyes are then drawn upward toward the ceiling, very high and arched, similar to an impressive, ancient cathedral. The walls have deep cracks and ridges reaching upward, reminiscent of flying buttresses. As we dive down through the bait ball, we’re surprised by the impressive depth of the cave, as well as the clarity of the water. Cold, clear, gorgeous. The topography of the floor of the cave is as impressive as the ceiling. On the right side, there’s a free standing tall pillar arising from the depths but not breaking the surface. In general, the rock is free of any coral or algae, except around the water line, there is some bright reds and purples. Sadly, some people have used paint to apply initials, etc to the cave walls. I see a deep crack in the back of the cave and swim into it, to find that it opens up into a small extension of the cave. Looking deep under the water, there is an arch of stone with sunlight coming through. I show Calvin (Rob and Ellie have already left the cave.) and ask him if he thinks he can swim through the arch. He dives deep down and comes up in the large cave area. I muster all my courage and follow his tracks down through the arch. Amazing!!! I’m not much of a free diver, but I now understand the attraction! Dinner and Space Balls movie on the boat.
We have to move the boat back to Neiafu for the Fiji briefing that evening. In the morning, a number of boats meet on the beach with a local charity for a beach clean up. It’s not the prettiest beach - more of a muddy sand consistency. However, the camaraderie is great! And we’re rewarded by a mama pig with her babies darting by and foraging along the beach. Adorable little piggies! Evening consists of Fiji briefing (so many rules!!) at Mango Cafe followed by fish and chips with potent margaritas (except Rob’s, which has been deemed the “sissy margarita” - not virgin, just less potent)at the Hideaway.
The next morning, we are eager to go to our next anchorage, Vaka'eitu Island by the Coral Gardens. Distraction races along our stern as we enjoy a beautiful, short sail. Distraction below.
The temperature is cooler in Tonga, which is a welcome reprieve from the heat earlier in the trip. After we anchor, Emm comes by to invite me to an afternoon Gym Club on the little beach. I reluctantly join her, Mike and Johnny. As almost always happens, I feel great after we finish. We reward ourselves later with Calvin’s wonderful Basil Gin Smashes. Rob pulls out his guitar and we destroy any sense of peace and quiet in that little bay by blasting out David Bowie, Tom Petty, Shallow…. The concert ends with our Cornwall Brit friends crooning their love song with Cornwall, “This is My Cornwall.” Really fun time - exuberant, somewhat off-key, drunken singing is the best!! Actually, Calvin has quite a nice voice, but is a little shy about singing. I’m thinking that may change over the course of our trip.
The following morning, Emm leads us in a hungover Gym Club that almost wrecks us for the day. But, we did it! This area is known to have a gorgeous coral garden, but it proves to be tricky to reach. It’s on the other side of a break. First, Rob and I try to walk over the break at low tide. However, the break proves to be covered with live coral and we can’t bear to step on it. Abort that plan. Maybe high tide is a better time to try to cross the break, but that won’t happen until the following morning. Good - I can nap to try and recover from that grueling Gym Club! The four of us dinghy over to the break the following morning with Emm and Johnny following us. Anchoring prior to the break, we fall into the water and time a mad swim over the shallow area between sets of breaking waves. An expanse of gorgeous reef opens up to us. Table top corals with fragile, light colored new growth along the edges. Bouquets of hard corals of pale blues, pinks, golds. Rich purple hard corals next to huge encrusting corals, all competing for space. Stalks of happy leather corals that open into an undulating blossom full of individual tiny blooms. All look gloriously healthy. The variety of textures and colors are endless. And, of course, there’s the Nemo anemone fish, possessively tending their anemone garden. And the not-so-cute black tip reef shark patrolling the area. I enjoy floating along in the current, taking it all in, trying to remember as many details as I can, knowing there’s way too much to absorb. The break begins to get a little aggressive and we swim hard back through it to our tenders.
We’re sad to have to move on from Tonga, but we all have to arrive in Fiji on Thursday, June 27th for the customs officials being flown into the Lau Group to check us in. Tuesday, we once again return to Neiafu to check out and try to get cash (neither of the ATMs are working and bank can’t seem to help us, so we have no Fijian cash) and some minor provisions. We are warned by s/v Satori, who have just arrived in Fiji, customs will confiscate all fresh fruit, veggies, pork and chicken, so we don’t stock up. The sail to Fiji is only about 48 hours, so we’ll get by with what we have and plan on eating lots of chicken and pork sausage on the way. I really loved Tonga. It would have been nice to have had the time to explore more of the islands. But, Fiji doesn’t sound too too bad….
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