October 3 Janet
We are hanging out in a bay off the island of Uoleva in the Hapaai Island group in Tonga. I can feel our trip drawing to a close. We are starting to get the boat ready for the final passage of the trip.
This island is classically gorgeous. It is one long white sandy beach. There are no villages, just two backpacker resorts and a more upmarket one called Serenity, all tucked into the trees by the beach And only one other yacht here. When we arrived we knew of the backpacker places so set off down the beach to explore them. These places are rather basic with no power or food services, one was a bit rough but the other was lovely. However while we were there we learned of this place called Serenity that had a bar and a FRIDGE! (they have a generator for power). And they were having a birthday party for the owner. So we piled back into our dinghy and headed down there.
Serenity is everything that my perfect island retreat would be. The bar/restaurant is an open round building on the beachfront, fale style. Even the kitchen is open. You help yourself to beer and wine from the fridge and write it on a piece of paper. There is only one thing on the menu so you know its fresh and you don’t even have to make any decisions! The lighting is candles, hurricane and solar lamps. You can sit there and gaze out through the palm trees at the moonlight on the sea. To go to the loo you follow a path through the coconut palms lit by lanterns creating a magical effect. The accommodation is fales and thatched huts amongst the coconut palms.
We arrived and joined the backpacker people at a table. Then a group of five men from the other boat, an Australian ketch, arrived with guitars and drums. This looked promising. After dinner a very large cava bowl was brought out and many of us sat around it on the floor on mats. Speeches were made then we were told the protocol – drink, sing, drink, sing.... perfect! Oh and one clap for half a bowl of cava and two claps for a whole bowl. Gradually all the guitars came out and a drum. First the staff sang some Tongan songs with lovely harmonies then one of the Aussie men started with reggae. David and I sang a range of songs. It was a great night.
I like the feeling cava gives me. It is not a strong drug high but a lovely mellowness. Very gentle.
The Aussies had been having trouble with their single sideband radio (SSB), the radio we use for contact with the world when we are away from land, so the next morning I went over and helped them sort it out - well I sorted out channels and frequencies but the hardware left something to be desired. Great progress for a bird who hardly knew how to use this piece of equipment before she left NZ. The Aussies were impressed (they certainly were!! D).
Yesterday we had the best snorkelling on the whole trip. We followed a reef out from the beach. The coral was stunning.
Andrew, our crew for the return voyage, an old friend of mine from primary school days, arrives next week to cruise with us for a week before we head south. Yesterday I was listening to a boat on the net (an SSB station where we get weather and check in with) that was only a few hundred miles south of here, on their way back to NZ, and they said it was cold already! Frightening.
Tomorrow we head back to Pangai (the local town) to get more fresh food and water, our watermaker has packed up, and will meet up with Migration (American friends), and Hoki Mai an NZ boat we met in Samoa.
Well the sun is going to set soon so I’m off to the Aussie boat with David to have a drink with the rather lovely Aussie men. I tell you at 53 to have the attention of five ocean sailing men (ranging mid-forties to 60) does my self-esteem a world of good. (curiously David has been slightly more attentive!).
Later
Never got this posted last week so I’ll add a bit more. We are back in beautiful Uoleva. Several more boats turned up, most of whom we know now and we had a beach party. It was a beautiful calm night, pot luck dinner, full-on milky way and we played music around the bonfire. Perfection.
Then the next night was Bruce’s birthday on Migration. David made him a delicious chocolate layer cake and, using a calking nozzle, piped a whale in icing on it. Then he wrote a song for Bruce, typed it up and put it in a bottle (Bruce and Alene have a tradition of putting messages in bottles and setting them adrift). We took the guitar over and sang it before dinner. He loved it. Migration is a large trimaran with a huge foredeck. Bruce and Alene invited everyone in the bay over after dinner, set up a screen on deck and fired up their data projector. We watched The Wizard of Oz under the stars. Outrageous!!
Every morning we check into a radio net to say where we are and get weather updates. Twice this week Jim, who runs it, hasn’t been able to do it and asked me to do it. So I call up a whole lot of yachts who are on passage and get their positions and directions and check if they are okay. I love it. Alas my skills are nowhere near up to doing the weather. (But they ARE amazing – lots of cruisers have commented very favourably - D)
We will be in phone contact till we leave Tonga and will get to check the email one more time on about the 14th. We are really enjoying the emails you send.
Xx Janet