Tonga — The Vava’u Group

Tuesday, May 31st – With a 76nm offshore passage to Port Maurelle, our first stop in Vava’u, we are up and starting the engine at 0400.  To our dismay, the anchor is stuck on coral, not an uncommon occurrence in this land of coral and lava.  The wind had been steady last night so we know our chain is probably not wrapped completely around a coral outcropping.  Since the water is deep and it is dark, we are not able to see what or how we are caught.  The best we can do is move the boat around in an attempt to free the chain by pulling it from the opposite direction in which it might be snagged.  It is pretty much an exercise in intuitive guess work.  25 minutes later, we are free and motoring into deeper water.  It is a clear, starry night with no moon.  We raise sail and head north.  At 0530, a sliver of a new moon rises in the east.  How nice — a peaceful, gently rocking ride!

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We are now abeam Fatumanga Island, the furthest southwest island in the Vava’u Group.   It is a beautiful day with only a few scattered clouds.  How nice to see Vava’u in the sun!  We had not experienced much of that when we were here last year.

At 1445, we spot a small fishing boat that appears to be in distress.  From the distance, it looks like they are waving and trying to get our attention.   Still under sail, we turn in their direction, but as we get closer, we are not totally comfortable with what we see.  The 4 men are rough-looking, and the boat has no visible motor.  What are they doing out here?  The First Mate spots another fishing boat motoring out of the channel some distance ahead.  We sail over and manage to get the attention of that boat.  After we point out their disabled comrades, they take over the job of Good Samaritan.   We would have been unable to tow the boat while under sail, and the sailing is good.  As Avante enters the channel, we look back to see the distressed boat being towed, and we are relieved.

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It is a beautiful day.  The winds are great, and we are able to tack right up to the bay at Port Maurelle.  We drop anchor at 1550.  Three other boats are in the bay including a Rally boat, the s/v Tango.  Launching the still recalcitrant Dingbat, we putter over to say hello.

Two days are spent in Port Maurelle, the first of which is a maintenance day.  The Dingbat outboard, of course, but the watermaker also needs The Captain’s skilled attention.  There has to be at least one “Jack of all trades” on a cruiser:  an electrician, a plumber, a mechanic and a wizard who can come up with ingenious remedies when all else fails.  The First Mate strongly believes that a woman can do anything a man can do, but in matters electrical and mechanical, she is irritated beyond belief that she falls into the classic female stereotype.  Amps, volts, watts, current — She cannot keep it all sorted out in her mind. How does an engine work?  Forget it!  She can listen intently to The Captain’s explanation, memorize it and spit it back at that moment only.  Do not ask her to repeat it the next day.  It will not have stuck!   “Why?” she wonders in exasperation.  “Why?”  The Captain was at first amazed at her lack of knowledge electrical and mechanical, and he set about to remedy that.  Then, he was irritated and frustrated at her inability to comprehend.  He blamed it on her refusal to pay attention.  Part of that may be somewhat true, for it takes all her powers of concentration (pinching herself, opening her eyes real wide, etc) to stay focused as he explains these mysteries.  Her eyes tend to glaze over as the thread of his explanation tangles in her mind.  Concentration, however, is not the answer.   She has tried drawing her own schematics and devising simple analogies to her known world.  She has even tried reading the books.  Nothing has worked for her.  As a result, The Captain is now calmly resigned.  She does not get it and never will.  Poor dear!

One also has to have an inordinate amount of patience to work with anything on a boat, and one must accept as fact that there never ever is anything like an easy fix to anything on or about a boat!  Just moving everything to get at the equipment takes time.  Today, it’s the Clark pump on the watermaker that The Captain must determine how to fix.  It’s never been a problem before, so out come the manuals.  The most irritating, repetitive fact of living with a boat is that nothing ever seems to stay fixed for long.  This may be the first time the Clark pump on the watermaker has failed, but there are a lot of other parts on the watermaker that have previously failed.  The old saying “if it’s not one thing, it’s another” applies here over and over again.  We know that the outboard will act up again.  Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually — though, hopefully, not when we’re again out in the middle of nowhere.  The watermaker will not work, the generator impeller will fail, a pump will not prime, a starter will not start, a light switch will only function, and the vacuum on the vacu-flush head will not seal.  The list goes on and on.  The best one can hope for is that when something fails, it does not fail at a highly critical time, but, of course, that is always when something fails.  At the worst possible moment — when else?  The First Mate is resigned to this fact because she knows beyond a doubt that all inanimate objects have minds of their own, and they are demonically opposed to those animate objects that supposedly invented and control them.  She knows.  She just knows.

Several Rally boats show up over the next two days.  S/v Overdraft anchors and radios that they caught a huge wahoo, and all are welcome to a share.   Our share is more than we can use so when the s/v Larabeck anchors near us in the late afternoon, we invite Sharon and Michael over to share our share.

There are 2 caves located near Port Maurelle.  One is Swallows Cave which we had explored last season.  The other is Mariner’s Cave which we had tried to find last season but were never able to locate in the rough seas.  Its opening is several feet underwater.  To access the cave, one must swim down to the opening and in total blackness, swim through the tunnel entrance to surface inside the pitch dark cave.  Needless to say, one should have an underwater flashlight if for no other reason than to make sure one is completely through the tunnel before attempting to surface into the cave.  Without doing so, one runs the risk of cracking one’s head or scraping one’s back on the tunnel itself.  Not only is the inside of this cave devoid of any light, the air is dank, and there is often an uncomfortable feeling of pressure due to the surging of the waves.  The First Mate was not displeased when we failed to find the opening to the cave last year, and the more she hears about it the more convinced she is that she really doesn’t want to find it this year.  Alas, our valiant Rally leader, John, knows the way.  He volunteers to take any who are interested over to the cave on his s/v Windflower.  After due consideration, The First Mate declines.  Underwater tunnels, stagnant air and eye-bugging pressure are not her cup of tea.  The Captain, of course, eagerly joins the explorers, finds the experience interesting but not all that thrilling, and confirms that The First Mate was correct in foregoing the pleasures of Mariner’s Cave.

Friday, June 3rd – We are headed into Neiafu, the major metropolis here in the Vava’u Group.  We must do so for several reasons.  We could use some provisioning.  We need to again check in with Customs and Immigration now that we have entered another Tongan island district, and we must be there to take part in the Friday afternoon Harbor Yacht Race put together each Friday during the cruising season by an expat living in the area.  By 0950, we are in the harbor and tied up to one of the many mooring balls.  We duly check in with the authorities and do our shopping.  By 1600, we are sitting on the spacious deck of the Mango Cafe waiting for rules of the race to be announced and the participants to head out to the gates. 

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Overcast conditions on Friday deteriorated to heavy rain all weekend long.  We had hoped to leave but not in this heavy rain.  We spent a good deal of the time on shore at The Aquarium Cafe catching up on our internet activities over their very slow, but free, internet connection.  

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Another reason we are in Neiafu is the need to check on a new Lewmar control for the anchor windlass that we had ordered to replace the one that failed at Minerva Reef.  It was being shipped out from New Zealand, and though it should have arrived before we left Big Mama’s, it had not.  No problem!  They will simply forward it to us in Neiafu, but when we arrive in Neiafu, there is no word of our shipment.  Monday is a holiday with all businesses closed.  On Tuesday, The Captain heads off to locate our part.  It takes him all morning to do this.  Finally, it is located in Nukualofa.  They will indeed forward it to us in Neiafu.  No problem!  Just send them the exorbitant amount of $100 for the additional shipping and handling costs.  That done, we untie from the mooring ball in mid-afternoon, pass the second buoy in the channel out of the harbor, unfurl the jib and quietly sail away from Neiafu for a few days.  We anchor off Ovalau Island, a spot we enjoyed last season, and to our delight, we are the only boat here.  This is a first in quite a while.  Cruising should be made up of times with friends and the camaraderie of other boats as well as quiet times alone in lushly tropical, sandy beached anchorages.

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We spent the next few days cruising and exploring the many islands of the Vava’u Group and trying to find other unoccupied anchorages, which proves a difficult task with so many Rally boats out and about in the return of good weather. 

There is an area called the Coral Gardens which is supposed to offer fantastic reef snorkeling.  We sail over to Vakaeitu, an anchorage near the reef, but with 5 boats already there, we motor across to anchor off Lape Island.  It’s a little further from the Coral Gardens, but at least we are by ourselves.

Thursday, June 9th – We launch the dingy and motor across the lagoon to snorkel in the Coral Gardens.  A few other cruisers arrive as we do, and we all enter the reef together.  For The First Mate, having company while out on a snorkel is just fine with her.  The scenery underwater is decent.  Certainly, it is the best we have yet seen in Tonga, but it is not all it was described to be.  Back in the dinghy motoring across the lagoon, the engine dies.  No sputter, no nothing.  It just quits working.  The Dingbat did not even give us a week of trouble-free operation this time.  If it were not such an integral part of our cruising life, The Captain would have sent it to a watery death it ages ago so greatly deserving of that fate it is!   Frustrated but resigned, the oars are unstrapped, and the rowing begins.  We are a long way across the lagoon from Avante.  Wind is up, and the waves are cutting into us.  It’s going to be a long row.  Craig from the s/v Noe Noe happens to see us as he is motoring back in his dinghy to his boat anchored in Vakaeitu.  He drops off his passengers and then swings back to give us a tow.  What a relief!  Sometimes it is very nice to have other yachties near by.

Blue Lagoon is a bay we had very much wanted to anchor in last season, but the weather just never permitted it.  The entrance is narrow with shallow reefs on both sides requiring excellent visibility to navigate.  At 1245, we leave Lape Island and slowly sail toward Blue Lagoon.  It is mostly cloudy, and knowing we must have good visibility to enter, we are in no hurry hoping that the weather will clear by the time we get there.  In an hour, we are outside the entrance to Blue Lagoon.  A rain shower passes through reducing visibility so badly that we lose sight of a boat that is already anchored in the bay.  We hunker down outside the bay hoping for some sun.  The guidebooks state that Blue Lagoon is not a recommended overnight anchorage, so we decide that if we cannot get through by 1430, our entry attempt will be abandoned. 

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We raise sail and head northeast where the sun is shining brightly.  It is just over the entrance to Blue Lagoon that dark clouds seem to hang.  As we move away, Windflower with John and Lyn rounds the corner from Vakaeitu.  They hail us on the radio and tell us that they are heading into Blue Lagoon for the night.  We tell them that we did not think that was possible, but they say it is.  “Follow us!” we are told, and we do.  It takes almost an hour for us to return to the entrance, and by that time, the sun is out and the reefs are clearly visible.  What a difference an hour makes!  With The Captain on look out and The First Mate at the helm, we follow Windflower through the twists and turns of the entrance channel to find ourselves in one of the prettiest bays we have seen in a long time. 

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We are now 3 boats in the bay, but shortly are joined by a fourth.  The s/v Nataraja we have seen before with a full-time cruising couple who are heading to Alaska where they hope to find work to augment their cruising kitty.   Sue and Bill on s/v Camomile are from England and also full-time cruisers. 

Friday, June 10th – The Captain spends a morning working on the Yamaha outboard motor.  He changes the filter and spark plugs.  He disassembles the carburetor and cleans the jets.  Water is found in the fuel tank so he purges the fuel tank.  He gets it working at last.

We do not want to leave Blue Lagoon, but we have to return to Neiafu.  We had promised to enter the Friday Harbor Yacht Race again.  In fact, we were told that it was mandatory since we had to defend our title!  We also have to check on the arrival of our shipment.  Off we go at noon.  Tied to a mooring ball in the harbor by 1400.  Launching the dinghy to head ashore to check on our package, The Dingbat will not start!  So, we rowed.  We retrieved our rather heavy and larger than expected package and returned to the boat.  Upon opening the box, we find our small, light-weight order plus 2 other boxes with no name or identification.  Island shipping:  totally unreliable and exceedingly expensive.

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Saturday, June 11th – Another morning is spent with The Captain, aka: “Man-u-elle Lah-bor”, working on The Dingbat’s motor.  Captain’s Log:  “Obviously did not get all the water out yesterday, and it is still blocking the jets.  Disassembled and cleaned carburetor using CRC66 and added drying agent to the gas.  Reassembled and engine started.”  Silently wonders The First Mate, “For how long this time?”  However, The Captain is relatively pleased with way the outboard now runs.  We bought it in the States, and it is designed to meet stringent California emission control requirements.  The problem is that it is not very tolerant of the gasoline found in other countries, and it has not really run properly since its year-long diet of Mexican gas.  This time, he has soaked the jets for a while in acetone and that seems to have worked wonders restoring the engine performance.  If we can just keep water out of our gas, it should run normally again.  Note the operative word “should”

Kenutu Island is the most easterly of the Vava’u Islands, and it can be difficult to approach.  We know.  We tried last year.  One has to find, enter and navigate the Fanua Tapu Passage.  As one approaches the entry to the pass, 2 markers are supposed to be readily visible, and under bright sunlight, the pass itself should show itself clearly.  Last season, we had neither sun nor calm enough waters to be able to pick up the 2 small marker buoys.  We motored up and down the area where the passage was located, and though we eventually felt certain of having located the entry, the turbulent waters kept the markers from view.  With foul patches to starboard for a long stretch, a quick right turn followed shortly by a left turn to avoid another reef and a minimum depth stated to be 12 feet at low tide, we abandoned our efforts.  This year we hope to navigate the pass and get to the area of Kenutu Island.  The island itself is supposed to be brush and trees, but there is a trail to the top of the island with the reward of a spectacular view of the surf on its eastern coast crashing on the high cliffs.  With the reefs and the exposure to the ocean, it is supposed to be a special place.

By noon, we are motoring out Neiafu harbor.  We soon have both sails up and have passed Swallows Cave and are heading toward Sisia Island, which is a great place to spot whales starting in July.  At 1355, we are outside Fanua Pass and turning into the wind to drop sail.  We can see the pass!  Seas are calmer this year, visibility is good and – Eureka! – there are the tiny markers right where they should be.  It takes us 20 minutes to slowly navigate through the pass, but even then we are not done.  After sailing across a nice wide bay, we still have 2nm to carefully and slowly navigate through reefs before we can drop anchor below Kenutu.  In total, it took us almost 2 hours of concentrated effort to get through the pass and the reefs to where we are now anchored.  What a relief to finally be here!  We never did see a 12-foot depth, but the occasional 20-foot depths we saw were close enough for us.

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Monday, June 13th – Our weeks in Tonga are coming to an end.  Today, we return to Neiafu to begin the preparation for our passage to Fiji.  There are laundry and provisioning to be done, refueling, a final internet check, a final boat survey and checking out with the local authorities.  Again, the ICA Rally has made the refueling and checking out with Customs and Immigration as painless as possible.   Earlier, John had asked each yacht to tell him how much fuel they needed.  Based on that, he then ordered a tanker of fuel to meet us at the fuel dock where, not too far away, Customs and Immigration would be waiting for us.  We are lucky, as the boats requesting the most fuel get to go first.  We are asked to be at the dock by 0800 when the tanker is due.  We arrive.  John and Lyn are already there to monitor the operation.  The fuel tanker is not, so leaving The First Mate to handle the refueling, The Captain heads off to complete check out.  Within a half hour, he has returned.  Still no fuel truck.  The Rally boats next in line for fuel are beginning to motor over, and Lyn must now radio everyone to stay put until they are called.  Everyone must sit and wait.  This is Tongan Time.  Not one to ever wait patiently, The First Mate involves herself in the making of a Tortilla Espanol for tonight’s farewell barbecue at Port Maurelle.

1045 – Our fuel truck due by 0800 finally rumbles into view.  We fill both our main fuel tanks and our 4 auxiliary containers.  With her belly full of fuel, we motor back to our mooring ball and head ashore for a final lunch and internet check.  At 1515, we leave Neiafu harbor for the last time and just over an hour later, we are anchored in Port Maurelle.  By the time of the potluck barbecue, about 20 Rally boats are anchored around us.

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Thursday, June 16th – The Rally departs in the early hours of the morning.  They are headed to the most northern group of Tongan islands, but we do not have the time to continue on with them.  We are sailing from here to Fiji where we will leave Avante to return to the States and Telluride for July and August.  We are going to miss the Rally.  Though we were skeptical at first and surprised at ourselves for even considering joining a cruisers’ rally, we found it a most enjoyable and facile way of traveling around these islands.  The organization and information available through Lyn and John was superb, and we feel they have become good friends.  The camaraderie with all the other Rally participants made us realize how much we had missed companionship of other cruisers as we crossed the many miles of the Pacific last year.  Yet the format of the Rally which encouraged everyone to go off on their own allowed us and everyone else the time to be alone to savor solitary island anchorages and peaceful, quiet times.   The Rally ended up giving us more than we expected.  We are delighted we joined this one and will look forward to joining another one in the future.

1125 – It is time for us to pull anchor.  According to official policy, we have checked out of Tonga and should be well offshore by now, but The Captain has promised The First Mate a last night in Blue Lagoon so that is where we are heading.  One problem:  the anchor is stuck on the bottom some 80 feet below.  The chain must be wrapped around a coral outcrop way down there.  We twist and turn the boat trying our best to imagine what the chain is doing down there.  It takes almost 15 minutes of maneuvering, and when our wonderful Rochna anchor does surface, it is cradling a huge chunk of coral rock.  Much relieved, we sail off to Blue Lagoon.

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Friday, June 17th – 1100 – Raising anchor, we motor out of the anchorage and shortly pass between Tefito Maka Reef and Foelifuka Island to exit the Kingdom of Tonga. Turning west, we set sail for the islands of Fiji.  The First Mate is delighted to report that we had a peaceful passage for the 430nm to Fiji.  It took just under three days, and we had enough wind to sail most of the way.  Winds were mild, seas were calm, and nothing broke!  She could not ask for more.  It is amazing how much happier the boat and its systems are when not being thrown around, bashed about and frequently doused with salt water.  That includes the people, too!

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