Last Departure...by boat

After a wonderful stay in Vava'u we are preparing to set sail for New Caledonia. Steve and Stephanie left for New Zealand on the 7th of May and recent weather has not been so good for heading West. We saw some spectacular coral here in Vava'u and overall Tonga is the best that we have seen. Neiafu is the small capital city that is young and vibrant.
Stephanie and I waxed the hull before she left so that was quite an undertaking; we needed a flat anchorage, but with enough wind to keep us slightly under boiling temperature. The other work that has to be done will happen in New Caledonia before she goes on the market. We have not yet done a passage with only three people so this next sail will be a new experience. It should take about a week to nine days, depending. I had my birthday here in Vava'u and I simply could not believe that a whole year has gone by. But we ate a lot of good food and did some wonderful snorkeling. After being in the marine environment for so long it is amazing how much I am craving to swim in fresh water (i.e. Lake Tahoe). We'll see how quickly my wishes come true.

We are leaving here right at the beginning of both whale and cruising seasons. Apparently the best time for whale watching is also the busiest for boats. It has been nice coming West early, albeit weather risk. There are fewer boats and it is hard to imagine how busy this harbor gets by August and September. Now our trip is coming to a real close. All we have left to do is work on the boat, which can be fairly hard in this heat. There is always water that's awaiting you though. I really can't wait to see the Golden Gate again.

Giovanni

Tonga -- April 23, 2008

Tonga is a beautiful country, it was never colonized so it retains a culturally independent spirit. We entered into the less visited Ha'apai group, geographically central to the country. The capital, Nukualofa is to the South and the popular Vava'u is farther North. The islands of the Ha'apai are mostly coral atolls, but some have been raised or sunk depending on the whims of the fault line at the Tonga trench. The people and the villages we saw are still part of the old Tongan way of life, mostly all subsistence living. Aid money has brought in solar electricity to some of the villages and gives them a taste of some comveniences. The snorkelling that we did was probably the best we have seen on our trip so far. Some of the uninhabited atolls have spectacular reefs in the vicinity. I bolstered up my cowrie collection; the shelling was fantastic. We got some rainy and overcast weather so we were stuck in our anchorage for a few days. Moving the boat with so much coral and no sunlight to see could turn out to be disastrous. We left the Ha'apai on the 15 of April and set sail for Vava'u. We had weather reports predicting bad weather so we wanted to get into Neiafu harbor. The winds were not so strong so we needed to run the engine to make it in by sunset. The Vava'u group are raised atolls with deep channels between them. The harbor at Neiafu, the capital, has been used as a hurricane shelter. It is quite a lively town, a lot of foreigners have sailed here and simply stayed because it is so beautiful. The provisioning in Ha'apai lacked fresh vegetables and cheese, but we found big yams which were delicious. The markets in Vava'u carry a lot more produce and with the onset of the cruising season the selection is bound to increase.

We have been doing some work to make the boat more presentable on the market in New Caledonia, cleaning and fixing. Our plan is to sail direct from Vava'u sometime at the beginning of May, providing there is a good weather window. We are at the tail end of the cyclone season and it remains to be seen if another could be generated or not, but the chances are now only diminishing. Once in Noumea, New Caledonia, we will have some work to do before we can board a plane bound for San Francisco. The bottom has to be painted while hauled out, there's a lot of cleaning, and we should move most of our stuff off of the boat into storage.

Steve is arriving here in Vava'u today and he will be staying with us for a little while, enjoying the island experience that he and Nico missed out on after the crossing from San Francisco. After the time on the boat, Stephanie and Steve will spend some time travelling in New Zealand. Everything we have heard is that it is a beautiful country. A French family that we met in the marina in Tahiti just went there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Right now our trip is really coming to a close. A year has almost passed, it went quickly but it has been so filled with memories and experiences. Sailing has transformed from something that we did occasionally on the bay as a family to an enjoyment that will stay with me for the rest of my life. For my parents, the trip has given them a clear idea of what are necessary design elements when purchasing a boat for them. This is a lesson that only experience can teach, so the purchase and outfit of a next boat, once our Haapsalu sells will be clarified by first-hand knowledge. I am trying to add some more pictures to our blog so you can take an updated look.