Position: 19 degrees 50 minutes south; 174 degrees, 24 minutes west @ Uoleva Island

Anchored at Uoleva

Another amazing island. We anchored here this morning. Had a nice two hour sail south from Lifuka in about 16 knots of wind. It’s always a little sketchy sailing in these waters as there are uncharted reefs, but in the right weather (i.e. pretty good sun/light) you can see the change in water color and avoid the ones that want to bump the bottom of the boat.

Once anchored in nice, soft sand, we went ashore to a beautiful sand beach. Funny how Tonga comes closest to the image we have of the “South Pacific” than does most of French Poly. Back there are coral beaches. Here the beaches are fine sand that you can walk on with bare feet, which we did today for about a mile. This island is all beach and coconut trees. Then we went for a snorkel.

Another day, another island, another snorkel. You may be getting tired of hearing about it, but we’re not getting tired of living it. This is amazing!

Our International hang out (actually it's the only cafe in Lifuka)

The "Bad Ferry" giving the brush off to one of the other boats that didn't move out of the way

Still in Lifuka.

Some days have unexpected encounters that help us appreciate how small the sailing world can be. Today we went into Pangai on the island of Lifuka to officially check into the Ha’apai Group. Check in was very simple. Hand over your check out form from Vava ‘u. That’s all. When we check out we will get it back. Simplicity is good.

We ventured to the only internet café on the island, Mariner’s Café, for lunch and a peek at the internet. While there we noticed the skipper of a Brazilian boat that we have seen in several anchorages and wondered if the name, Santa Paz, had a fun play on the name. Boldness wins again. We introduced ourselves and asked the burning question. And yes it does have a fun play on the name. Literally it means sweet peace. But in slang it means life is great! Lucas and his wife and two daughters are living the sweet life! We exchanged cards only to admire each other’s cards and found that Lucas’ wife was also in advertising and also had a great art department design theirs. I love the small world.

As we returned to our dinghy we continued our bold “let’s meet those we haven’t met” and introduced ourselves to a boat often heard on the VHF with Santa Paz, Aquamante from Holland. We have seen/heard Aquamante as far back as Niue when our paths first crossed. Today we have new Dutch friends, Vries and Daphne.

Other than that international excitement we avoided two bad ferries, one that left Lifuka and one that came into Lifuka, while enjoying a quiet sunset on Charisma. I mention the bad ferry because the port captain actually called out to the anchorage and told us all that we should all move to make room for the ferries. Few other instructions were provided. Having had personal bad ferry experiences we raised our anchor and moved 50 yards closer to shore and into water too shallow for ferries to play in. As it turns out we had been well clear of their exit routes but we were happy to comply.

Several other boats that didn’t move experienced the “Bad Ferry Brush-off”. We’ll sleep better tonight. They won’t. Unless they move.

Position: 19 degrees, 47 minutes south; 174 degrees, 21 minutes west

I thought this was a Wahoo....

...until I saw these teeth.

We had a great overnight sail from the Vava’u Group to the Ha’apai Group. All in Tonga, but Vava’u is the northern set of islands and Ha’apai is the central set. We’re now comfortably anchored in a little bay in Lifuka cooking dinner. Oh, what’s for dinner you ask? We caught a nice barracuda in about 300 feet of water just a few miles off the island group. At first I thought it was a wahoo, but once I gaffed him and pulled him up, I realized those big (huge actually) teeth could belong to only one fish; the barracuda.

Some barracuda harbor ciguatera, so we hailed some local fishermen who came over to look at our catch and they said, “No problem”. They were also very impressed with the size. This is the biggest barracuda I’ve ever seen. About 4 feet long. Even once he was dead, I still used pliers to pull the hook out of his mouth given the set of teeth in there. We’re cooking fillets in chipotle, black bean, corn and butter sauce, all wrapped in foil and baked.

OK, dinner is over and I can say- It. Was. Delicious! Wow, I didn’t know a fish that looks like a barracuda could be so delicious. Hopefully our lips won’t start to go numb and our feet fall off, or whatever the symptoms of ciguatera are. For what it’s worth, we’ve read that only Atlantic barracuda have ciguatera.

Anyway, last night’s sail was delightful. A nice 15 knot breeze on the beam, stars and shooting stars galore. We each got a couple hours of sleep, so we’re not completely trashed today, although right now (at 2100) we’re starting to fade.

A last note on last night’s sail. We staged out of an island that was close to the western side of Vava’u, but we still had to navigate through a couple reefs, miss some rocks and an island that is about 10 mile outside the main group of islands. We had to navigate all that in the dark, since we left at 2300 (or that was the plan anyway). Just before it was time to go, I realized that I hadn’t checked the radar or confirmed that the GPS was accurate in the island group we were staging out of. Dumb! So I fired up the radar expecting to just get confirmation that all was right in the universe. Not. Turns out we had stored some canned powdered milk near the flux-gate compass and gave some away to friends during the day. Oops. The tins were magnetic enough that they influenced the compass. That was fine because we did a magnetic deviation calibration a couple weeks ago. The problem now was that we disturbed the magnetic field by giving away/using some of the tins. The flux-gate compass was flummoxed and so were we. The radar which relies on this digital compass flipped out and was at least 30 degrees off of reality. So, I was left with a disagreement between the radar and GPS. No bueno. I was ready to cancel the night time departure when I realized we had a solid radar hit on a charted object-a lighthouse. So I calibrated the radar on the lighthouse and now we had a picture of what was really out there-and it aligned with the GPS. OK, trip back on. I still have to recalibrate the whole thing now that we’ve moved all the tins, but at least it worked long enough for us to use it for reef avoidance. Yay! Lesson learned? No more metallic objects within 3 feet of the flux-gate compass. Duh.

Back in the States, you watch Stupid Pet Tricks. Out here we have Bob’s Stupid Tonga Tricks.

Anchored at Ovalau

We had this island all to ourselves

Such a beautiful spot

Later on Ladybug and Black Dog showed up and we had sundowners on Charisma

We’re still anchored at Ovalau Island. But today, only one other boat was here and they didn’t go ashore, so we had the island to ourselves. We went ashore at low tide and walked halfway around until we couldn’t go any further without swimming! The sand was very fine and felt good between our toes after so much coral sand that is much coarser. One of the benefits of your own private island is there are no footprints in the sand. But wait! There were! Closer examination revealed they belonged to a goat family-looked like a large male, a female and a couple of baby goats including a very tiny one. I had visions of myself stealthily moving through the jungle with a bandana tied around my head to absorb the sweat, gripping a large knife in my teeth while parting the foliage with my sharpened stake. Ann just wanted to see the cute little goats.

So there we were; Rambo and Heidi. We decided to compromise and just hunt for sea shells.

After our island excursion it was back to Charisma for lunch and a nap (actually Ann did some sewing on the mainsail where a couple of seams had rubbed the thread off) in anticipation of our leaving tonight around 2300 for Ha’apai. More specifically we’re going to the island of Ha’apana in the Ha’api group. It’s about 63 miles from where we’re anchored and we’d like to get there early in the day for a change. We’ve been making too many landfalls at the last possible minute of sunlight. Not safe in an area like this.

OK, now that I think of it, I actually did something useful today besides nap. I made four new lures for fishing. They are very nice looking, but there’s one flaw-the biggest line we have is 100lb test and for the handline we really should be using 300# test. You can’t find it here so we have, what we have. I put a new bungee cord on the line so hopefully that will absorb the shock and we will catch something instead of losing the lure. They say the fish (like a 100 lb Tuna) hit at something like 60 miles/hour so you can see that the lures need to be tough! Well, like I said-they look really good.

Pray to the Tuna god, we need some sushi.

Position: 18 degrees, 45 minutes south; 174 degrees, 04 minutes west

It is Sunday here so I had the enjoyment of attending mass at St. Joseph’s church this morning. Most of the mass was in Tongan but joyful prayer in the form of song is universal. These people sing a cappella with many different voices blending in prayer. It is just beautiful. Add to the musical atmosphere, the fun of people-watching and I am totally entertained. The Tongan people really dress up for church. Most of them dress in black with the traditional woven wrap. Both men and women. They must be melting in the heat. And the children seem comfortable with everyone in a very packed church. These toddlers wander from pew to pew with their faces lighting up as they recognize another friend. Hugs and smiles and off to the next pew. Very entertaining. Then, under a brilliant sun-filled sky we slipped our mooring lines in Neiafu and started the journey south to the next island group in Tonga – the Ha’apai. We had nice 10-15 knot winds that carried us down the somewhat familiar waterways toward our last anchorage in the Vava’u Group.

We are anchored at Ovalau and have found the perfect South Pacific sandy beach! We dropped our anchor in 40 feet of clear water and dinghied ashore with our snorkel gear. But snorkeling had to wait because we found soft, warm sand. The beaches in the South Pacific look perfect from the boat but when you go ashore you can hardly walk on them in bare feet. Too much coral. But not today. Soft sand on a deserted island with sea shells to be found!

We did don our snorkel gear and caught up with our friends on Lady Bug for a beautiful snorkel through meadows of coral. Seriously, these coral formations looked like bouquets of flowers. Just lovely. And we were surprised at the number of new fish we found. I think we are going back for more tomorrow.

Back on Charisma we showered off and ended our day with cocktails with both the crew from Lady Bug and the crew from Black Dog – a very cool boat named after a beloved dog. Another lovely day in paradise!

Today was provisioning day. We dinghied into the wharf and went into town to get supplies at the store, produce at the market and beer and wine at the duty free shop. Three trips back to the dinghy and two trips all the way out to Charisma full of stuff and we were done. Then we went back for some internet. Slow, but it let us check bank accounts, email and catch up a bit on Facebook. I’m afraid that most folks have given us up on Facebook since we only check in about once per two months when we have some connectivity.

We spent the afternoon doing some boatwork, Ann cleaning up and organizing and me working on the darn chainplate. I hope I’ve sealed it this time. We’re both tired of the leak.

Then we had a nice evening with Jim from Sockdologer who came over for a Charisma and sunset watch. We had a delightful evening chatting about mutual friends we’ve met along the way and places we’ve been to and seen.

So, nice, easy day. Tomorrow, Ann goes to Church and then we slip the moorings and head south.

Yes, it’s getting to be time to check out of the Vava’u Group for Ha’apai, which is the next set of islands in Tonga, south of here.

We left our anchorage this morning in brilliant sunshine and blue water. Had a wonderful, gentle sail in 15 knots of wind around the islands on the way into Neiafu. Magical. Then we had to do the “checkout dance”. It’s often pretty funny as long as you keep your sense of humor. First you go to Immigration which is in the middle of town. That didn’t take long, but that’s just step one. Then you have to go to “the harbormaster”. Well, you’d expect that to be near water. You’d be wrong. The immigration guy said, “Turn right, go a block and turn right again”. Close, but not quite. Turns out the first right is is the road out of town. The second right is the one I wanted. Fortunately I could tell this was wrong, so I kept walking. And walking. And walking. I’m going through some farmland at this point and several pigs and chickens were crossing the road in front of me. This is the way to the harbormaster?? I stopped at a likely looking spot and asked if he was the harbormaster and he laughingly said it was the next right turn then two houses down. I’m guessing many others have had this problem. So a good mile out of town and I finally got to the next right turn. More pigs and chickens, but no harbormaster. Just when I thought I would have to retrace the whole trip, I caught sight of a sign. Another hundred meters and I could read: “Ministry of Tongan Infrastructure”. Aha! That’s why it’s not at the wharf. The harbormaster is part of overall infrastructure. Anyway, I went inside. There were three people there and all three were doing nothing useful that I could discern. One however came over and when I said I was there to check out, she said the lady I needed to talk to just left to go to the bank. I can’t get anything else done until I have this part of the paperwork complete, so I just sit down and wait. This is Tonga after all. If you try to push things, you’ll get a lesson in patience. After about ½ hour the lady came back and I was able to complete Part II of the checkout procedure. Now I had to hike back into town and down to the wharf to customs.

In the meantime, Ann, in a divide and conquer maneuver went to the laundry and Beluga Dive to register us on the mooring. We were being exceptionally efficient. We then met at the customs place. I, to fill out the paperwork and Ann to get our “woven goods” such as the tapa paper art, woven placemats and 12 foot woven mat/carpet, registered by “Quarantine” officials so we can get them into New Zealand who are known for confiscating such items if they are of questionable origin. Well, the paperwork part went fairly quickly by Tongan standards, but the quarantine part was more of a chore. The guy in charge of that said, “You have plastic bag?” We said, “No”. He said, “You need plastic bag. And you have cellophane tape?” Our response; “No”. He then said, “We need plastic bag and cellophane tape, and you have Shellpox?” “Huh” was our best response. Turned out we had to provide the bag, tape and bug poison. So, Ann ran up to the Chinese grocery store and bought all the stuff (for a surprisingly low price of about $9). Then back at quarantine with the goods. The quarantine guy said,”OK, now you help”. He then proceeded to roll all the woven goods together while Ann opened up a plastic bag. Once all together, he started to stuff them into the plastic bag. Once inside he sprayed inside the bag with the insecticide we bought. After he had sprayed most of the can, he said, “Quick, wrap the tape!” And so it went. We now have all our stuff in a heavily taped plastic bag. But we also have a very official looking certificate certifying them as having passed quarantine inspection. I don’t know whether this is going to be effective, but it looks very official. We’ll see.

So, we’re now checked out and officially bug free. We’ll spend Saturday and Sunday here provisioning and doing some internet (sorry no pictures, it’s pathetically slow here) then leave for the Ha’apai Group for a week or so. These are supposed to be beautiful islands with great sandy beaches and snorkeling. Then on to the southern Tonga island of Tongatapu where we’ll do our check out of the country for New Zealand.

Wow, New Zealand. Seems amazing we’re almost that far across the world from where we started!

Floating innertube things with drinkholders is how Ann describes a floatie. She and Lisa ended the day sitting in one each, sipping a beer and just talking while tied behind Orcinius.

It was that kind of day. Just lazing around. Partly because we were just enjoying a day with no clouds and no rain. This time of year the tropical convergence zone can drop monsoon-like weather for a week straight-like we’ve been having. So with such brilliant weather, after coffee, we decided we’d try to snorkel outside the reef in front of where we’re anchored. After dinghying into the little island beach, hiking around the other side, then swimming/snorkeling 150 yards out past the shallows, I can tell you it was a bust. Mostly broken coral, sand and sea cucumbers. Boring. So we backtracked and decided to dinghy over to another island ¼ mile behind us and check that out. We motored ¾’s of the way around when we came across a likely looking spot. We dropped our little grapnel hook anchor, donned our gear and rolled over the side. Wonderland! It was gorgeous. There was an 80 foot drop in the reef covered with fish seemingly suspended in mid-air in the incredible blue just off the reef.

So, one bust and one wonderland. Not a bad percentage.

By now it was on toward 1500. Sometimes the day just disappears and you wonder where it went. One minute we’re sipping coffee and the next it’s late afternoon.

The only thing to do after that was floaties. Well, Ann did that with Lisa over on Orcinius who is anchored next to us. I, left by myself on Charisma, had no choice but to take to my hammock for a nap. Nice.

Such things are possible when the sun comes out. It’s been a stunningly gorgeous day and there’s not a cloud in the sky right now (at night) making star-gazing a distinct possibility tonight.

The hammock’s still up.

Position: 18 degrees, 42 minutes south; 174 degrees, 02 minutes west

Since we’re on the theme of one year, here’s a year plus a day. We left our nice little bay on Hunga and spent the day out fishing and making water. We were almost out of water, so that was the priority. We went five or so miles west of Tonga out to sea to try and find some fish. We did find some but they won. The first fish hit the handline and broke the leader. I was trying a new swage kind of thing and it didn’t work. OK, I’m going back to basic knots. The second fish was on the pole, but we never heard anything. We just saw the damage when I reeled the lure in. Half of it was cut clean through. Whatever did it missed the hook by an inch and cut as clean as a knife right through the side of the lure. I’m thinking wahoo, but it could have been a shark.

So after four hours and some change motoring around to charge batteries and make water, we came back into the Vava’u Group of islands and are now anchored in a delightful little spot just between Nuku Island (uninhabited) and Kapa, which has a couple of little villages. We plan to spend just a day or so here to do some snorkeling, then head in to the main town of Neiafu to provision for the next couple of weeks of island hopping as we move south toward Tongatopu, which is the southern-most Tongan island and has the largest city. From there we check out of the Kingdom of Tonga and make the jump to New Zealand.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying the peaceful setting here. We’re anchored in the sand, just behind a reef which is providing protection from the SE winds and waves. It was one of those wonderful anchorages where you come in from the dark blue water (deep) and find the water getting lighter and lighter until it’s turquoise and then ice blue. Ice blue is usually less than 20 feet over sand and that’s when you drop the hook and back down. It’s very tranquil. After over a week of clouds, we may even see some stars tonight.

Nice.

Wow! A year ago today we pulled away from the dock in Berkeley. The year has flown by. We have been to places that I was unaware existed before our departure. Probably most of you were unaware of small countries like Niue too! We have encountered glorious vistas, enchanting local residents and made some incredible friends over the year. There were moments of fear (for Ann more than Bob) and moments of elation as we sighted land after long passages. No one has been required to walk the plank. Many incredible memories have been stored for us to enjoy in our old age (when we finally settle back on land!).

I thought it would be fun (being the accountant that I am) to review the year by numbers. (How many of you are asking why Bob hangs out with someone who thinks numbers are fun? – Wait and see!)

The Year by Number:

7,745 miles traveled! I really wish there was some kind of frequent sailor program that allowed us to redeem these miles for airfare home!

7 countries/island groups visited (Mexico, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands, Cook Islands, Niue, Kingdom of Tonga)

57 days on passage

42 Mooring balls versus anchoring

3 Mediterranean style moorings (all in Rarotonga)

2 side-tie anchoring (thank you Orcinius!)

21 books read by Ann during our passages

10 fish caught (does not include the whale that got away or the lost lures)

4 hats lost overboard and one given to an island chief

14 batches of cookies inhaled

24 games of cribbage played, 13 won by Ann

3 times grounded (going into Aitutaki, at anchor in Aitutaki and leaving Aitutaki) But the really amazing part of this statistic is that we would love to go back to Aitutaki! Put it on your travel list.

9 cases of wine consumed

6 cases of rum consumed (we entertain a lot and that means treating our friends to a Charisma)

518 seashells collected (including the lovely “Environmental Elements” gifted at Christmas)

9,623 photos taken/collected. Seriously – there has been a lot to document. Please let us know if you are interested in the full slide show or an abbreviated version.

332 blog posts

Not able to quantify – the cases of beer purchased (it disappears too quickly)

Not able to quantify – the number of times we’ve counted ourselves fantastically fortunate to be able to make this trip.

So there you have it, a year of sailing on Charisma. The adventure continues……