Adventures on the Sailing Vessel Moorea

Captain’s Log

Kingdom of Tonga

August 30^th 2006

Niue to Tonga: 18°39.46’S Lat. and 173°59.09’W Lon.

Kelly and I set out on what was to be our first attempt at leaving the Island of Niue.  Looking at the weather for the next couple of days I decided to make for Tonga.  Shortly behind us the S/V Sensei with Chris, Kelley and their daughter Claire aboard headed out as well.  The weather wasn’t great with force four winds and rain, but it was behind us.  Just a few hours before dark we received a call on the VHF from Claire telling us that the forestay had broken on Sensei!  We got their coordinates, took down the main sail and started heading in their direction.  Fortunately our boats were close and we sighted Sensei within the hour.  What we saw amazed us.  The boat was pounding into the waves trying to get back to the protection of Niue.  Chris was able to roll the jib back up using the roller furling even after the forestay had parted from the stem head fitting.  Now the only thing supporting the mast was their inner forestay (our boat doesn’t even have one).  The problem now was that they were able to secure the base of the stay and furling drum to the boat, but not the mid section.  It was bashing against the mast and spreaders.  We watched in complete awe as Chris went up the mast to secure the stay and sail almost half way up the mast!  To this day I’m not sure how he did it with the boat pitching like it was.  The only suggestion that I had was to run a halyard from the mast to the bow of the boat to help support it.  With everything secured they were again ready to head into the growing swell.  They asked if we would head back with them just incase they needed help and of course we agreed.  What took 5 hours sailing with the weather took us 10 to beat back.  Moorea was back to Nuie on a fishing boat mooring by 04:00.  Sleeping very little the VHF woke us up at 07:00 to say get off of that mooring because the fishing boat who owns it is coming back.  Anchoring again sleep found us again.  Since we had checked out of the country and our boat was full of water and food we decided to head for Tonga once again.  At 11:00 we weighed anchor and headed West.  By now the wind was up to force 6 (22-27 knots) and continued to force 7 (23-28knots).  An entry from the logbook: 8-31-06 Jib only. High winds gusting 30+ and seas to 14 feet boat rolling from side to side, having to check outside every 15 min. for other vessels because spray and constant rain showers kept us both inside the cabin.  One of our most uncomfortable passages.  But even a bad passage is soon forgotten, especially when one reaches the beautiful smooth anchorages of the Va’vau group.  Three days later we arrived to get some much needed sleep.

September 2^nd 2006

Va’vau Group: Anchored near Neiafu 18°39.46’S Lat. and 173°59.09’W Lon.

The great thing for me about writing this log is that even though I have been very bad at keeping up with it (I am writing this in Fiji) as soon as my log book is open and my fingers start typing on the computer the brain enters a time warp and I’m brought back to the wonderful time we spent in Tonga.  Kelly and I based ourselves out of Neiafu where provisioning in the town was easy.  From there within a day sail Moorea would have us at one of many pleasant anchorages (very calm and flat).  I can remember some of the anchorages before where at night in order to sleep we would make up the sea berths to hold ourselves in because the boat was rolling in the swell so much.  Besides the sweet anchorages the sailing was also phenomenal, great wind (20 knots or so) with no swell so getting around was fun.  They have a Moorings based out of Neiafu where one can charter a sailboat and I would highly recommend this area as one of the better places we’ve seen to take a week and have a great time.  Some of the highlights were taking the dinghy into Swallow’s Cave (near Port Maurelle), diving 6 feet down and 15 feet across and back up into Mariner’s Cave, catching a lobster at night with Bruce, having a full moon party with BBQ and great dancing.  We also had the pleasure of having Murray and Julie visit us for a few days from New Zealand.  Kelly G met Murray through PAC National (a former employer) and kept in touch.  In that short time we were able to give them a little taste of cruising with some great sails, a cruiser potluck on a deserted island and some snorkeling near a white sandy beach.  We always enjoy having friends and family visit us so that we can share this fantastic lifestyle with them.  Another highlight for me being a candy addict was finding a store that we named the “American Store”; they would import items from Costco and other places from the states.  It was there that I found a great supply of sugar: Mike and Ikes, Gummy Bears, Red Vines, and Sour Worms.  At least 30 pounds of candy left that store because of me and unfortunately before leaving Tonga all of it was gone!

Ha’apai Group

October 15^th 2006

Va’Vau group to Ha’apai group: 19°40.27’S Lat. and 174°17.35’W Lon.

Spending almost 6 weeks in the northernmost island group was a nice change of pace, since leaving Mexico it felt like we were moving all the time.  Our passage to the Ha’apai group was fantastic, the wind was blowing 20 plus so we had a double reefed main and 2/3rds of our jib out almost close hauled.  Leaving at 04:30 and sailing past what our guide book called “Blind Rollers”.  I could see them breaking and steered clear of the shallows near the white water.  Kelly and I arrived at Ha’ano Island one of the first islands in the group.  By 16:30 exactly 12 hours later the anchor was down.  One interesting note, while sailing at about 14:30 I actually got seasick twice right over the side of the boat!  I believe that because we had such calm anchorages and the fact that we were beating into it (the boat was jerky) on this leg that maybe caused it.  Who knows but my hat is off to those that head out and know that they will be sick at least for the first couple of days.  Our first anchorage in the Ha’pai was beautiful and we had it all to ourselves!

October 17^th 2006

Ha’ano Island to Lufiki island: 19°48.26’S Lat. by 174°21.43’W Lon.

Sailing off of the hook we pointed Moorea South towards the island of Lufiki in order to check into the Ha’api group.  With full sail and in the lee of the islands my wife and I dodged the coral heads in the shallow smooth waters that lead to their town.  The temperature is around 80° with only a few white puffy clouds in the beautiful blue sky.  Today’s trip only took 3 hours; we left at 13:00 to have good sunlight that was above and behind us in order to see the coral heads.  Arriving at 16:00 we decided to check in the following day.  The check in process was easy and I even got a tourist photograph with the immigration dude.  Buying a few provisions and walking the town was fun and the people are very friendly.  I even had my picture taken in front of the King’s vacation house on the island.  The black and purple fabric was put up because the King had died while we were in Va’vau.  Quite a difference between the majority of homes on the island and the “King’s guest house”.

October 18^th 2006

Lufiki Island to Uoleva Island: 19°50.55’S Lat. and 174°24.32’W Lon.

Tacking our way towards our next anchorage with just the jib in and around the boat killers definitely kept us on our toes.  Our boat has a manual windlass so we tend to anchor in shallower depths.  In this stellar anchorage with a light colored sandy beach we found a great spot with 19 feet of clear blue ocean.  Two pot luck dinners were to follow with fellow cruisers on the following boats-New Dawn, Neriad, Kabuki, Cheers, and Ohana Kai.  Cooking dinner over an open campfire was a challenge as the wind would blow smoke in your face, but the food and company was great.

October 21^st 2006

Uoleva Island to Ha’afeva Island: 19°56.40’S Lat. and 174°42.88’W Lon.

Another protected anchorage from the trade winds enabled us to rig the sailing kit on the “Walker Bay”.  There is nothing like sailing a dinghy from the “mother ship” around the bays and to shore.  Taking some of the local children out dinghy sailing was a blast.  Visiting a Mormon Church on Sunday we had the pleasure of listening to the kids sing songs because it happened to be children’s day.  Some of the locals invited us after church to an Umu lunch.  They built a fire in a hole in the ground and waited for the coals, and then they put the pork, fish and other meat in Taro leaves with coconut milk and spices on the coals.  Everything is laid in the pit and covered for just under and hour at which point the earth is taken off of the sheet metal and the food unwrapped.  Before the food was done cooking we took a trip into the jungle to look for just the right coconut tree.  Once the Tongan men found it they chopped a few foot holds in the bottom with a machete.  Climbing up to the top looked easy but after trying it myself I know that it wasn’t.  Dropping the coconuts down the group stayed clear as a coconut from that height could kill you.  The coconuts were big heavy and green, we tied two of them together using the husks and carried them back to the beach.  The next step was using their machete’s to chop the husk away at one end until reaching the nut, next by using the back side of the blade they would hit all around the exposed part until a silver dollar size piece of the shell popped out!  The water inside was filled to the top of the nut with no air space and it tasted better to me than any I have tried prior or since, almost like it was carbonated.  While waiting for the food to cook we played a game of bocce ball.  The locals played unbelievably well, they picked up on the game very fast and were extremely accurate.  Kelly Girl at one point while playing with the locals said,”Alright lets kick some Palangi butt!” That had everyone laughing.  Palangi is the Tongan word for us “White Breads” as I call us, in Mexico of course it is Gringo.  About eighteen cruisers and half as many locals enjoyed a traditional Tongan lunch that day, and I am sure none of us will ever forget it.

October 25^th 2006

Ha’afeva to Nomuku Iki Island: 20°16.59’S Lat. and 174°48.14’W Lon.

After four days it was time to continue south on our way through the Ha’apai group, next stop Nomuku Iki.  The anchorage was a little rolly so we stayed one day and explored an old ship wreck on the shore.  KG and I also beach combed looking for shells and fruit on the old desolate island that in the past was used as a prison.  The temperature was around 75° and the water about the same with a nice breeze at night for very comfortable sleeping with just a sheet to keep us warm.

Tonga Tapu

October 27^th 2006

Nomuki Iki Island to Malinoa Island: 21°02.07’S Lat. and 175°07.90’W Lon.

Originally KG and I planned on stopping at an island on the way to Tonga Tapu called Kelefesia.  Being a fairly small anchorage with already about a half dozen boats in it we decided to continue our fantastic sail to the southernmost part of Tonga.  In the cruising community if you happened to make it some place that another cruiser did not, then that place becomes one of the best places, since the other cruiser did not make it there they will never know.  Case in point-Moorea and Ohana Kai did not stop in Kelefesia so it became (to the people that did stop) the nicest anchorage, most picturesque, with the nicest people in other words a cruisers utopia.  When cruising one cannot “see it all” and most of the time you don’t have the time to anyway.  We pick and choose and remember what we saw, not someone else.   Malinoa Island, an uninhabited island was OK (Ohana Kai) and Moorea’s island for the day, with beachcombing and coconut hunting all to ourselves.  I would have to say (because none of our fellow cruisers stopped there) that Malinoa Island had the nicest anchorage, most picturesque, with no inhabitants in other words a cruisers utopia.

October 28^th 2006

Utopia to Pangiamotu: 21°07.47’S Lat. and 175°09.70’ W Lon.

Our next stop is pangiamotu a great spot for cruisers with a restaurant/bar that had darts, table tennis, and rope swings from coconut trees.  The motu (small island) is located just north of Nuku Alofa the countries Capital.  The resort runs passenger ferry to the town about four times a day.  This was convenient for provisioning and just exploring the area.  As soon as we arrived our refrigeration decided to give up the ghost.  Bruce on OK was nice enough to supply us cold packs from his freezer to keep us going while we tried to repair ours but to no avail.  KG and I ended up making the passage to NZ without the cold box the only thing that I missed was having that cold pop in the afternoon and evening. We spent about a week waiting for a weather window in order to sail to our next port being Opua.  We spent the time provisioning, fueling up, watering up and just exploring the area.  Checking out of the country Bruce and I put some mileage on our shoes going back and forth visiting the various Tongan Offices.