Big Mama's from the outside

Inside the Big Mama's

View of Big Mama's from our anchoring spot. It's on the left tip of the island. Note the sunken ship. There are about seven sunken vessels visible from where we're anchored. Most were driven up on a reef and holed.

More inside Big Mama's

The bar at Big Mama's

Our two favorites! Of course, John and Lisa from Orcinius, but now Big Mama. What a delightful surprise tonight to have Big Mama come and sit with us. We heard so many great stories about Tongan life. Too many to mention, but the one I’ll relate is that Earl (Big Mama’s husband) was given the island that their establishment is on by the King of Tonga. In fact, Pangai Motu, which is the name of the island, means “royal island” in Tongan.

Such a fun evening and we scored our Big Mama Yacht Club shirts as well. We’ll wear them with pride.

Other than sitting on the deck over the water on Big Mama’s island watching an amazing sunset, our day was pretty pedestrian. I took the dinghy into town and found some better parts for the propane stove. Hopefully they will work and we won’t blow up. Ann spent two hours in the water scrubbing the waterline gunk off the hull so we can pass bio-security in New Zealand; we both cleaned out and repacked the forward cabin and then Ann did some general boat cleaning while I spent an hour or two in the lazarette fixing a couple things. There was a broken ground wire to the engine, a disintegrating raw water filter and the stuffing box needed tightening as it has been leaking too much. All have been fixed for now and some are added to our NZ list as things for more complete fixes.

Tonight’s dinner with Orcinius was a going away dinner. They are leaving tomorrow for Minerva Reef. We’ll be ready to leave by Thursday. Tomorrow is fueling day and I have to change the oil and filters (I think-I’m going to look up the recommendations on engine hours and see if I can wait ’till NZ). After that all we need to do is shop some fresh veggies just before we’re ready to go and we’re off. It’s a 7-9 day trip, made longer by however we decide to stay at Minerva, so we have to pay attention to our stores.

So a work day, but a fun evening with Big Mama and the Orciniacs. How often can you say that?

PS – We thought about titling this blog “Drama on the fuel dock” due to the time delay in getting fuel. As we said in last night’s blog we thought we would go get fuel today. Knowing that a few boats were also planning to be there as the dock opened we decided to hold back and wait until the afternoon. This is how life on the fuel dock went today: The first boat pulls up to the dock to fuel at 8 am. The pump isn’t working. 11:30 the call goes out on the VHF that the first boat has completed fueling and is leaving the dock. Two more boats pull in. The fuel dock runs out of fuel and they call for a truck to bring more. At 3:30 we get the call that the fuel truck has arrived in case we want to head that way. Knowing that another boat is anchored just outside of the fuel dock, we wait. At 4:30 we see the second boat that fueled today sail away. Yes, they weighed anchor at 8:30 am and were done by 4:30. Ouch. We decided we could be much more efficient at anchor (and were much more efficient ) so we will try to do the fuel dance tomorrow! Tonga = a lesson in patience.

From Ann – a special note to my siblings, nieces and nephews on this special day – it is the 30th in Tonga and the moon is full and Mom is smiling! Love you all!