November 16, 2012
We were concerned about the trip to Uoleva as it meant another passage through a large area of coral reefs, but it turned out to be relatively easy. We arrived to find a couple of the boats we’d caught up to yesterday, but this big anchorage with its all-sand bottom felt luxuriously roomy: there would have been room for 100 boats!
This anchorage is famous for it’s endlessly long white sand beach and beautiful shells; but since it was breezy and cloudy we opted to hold off on checking it out until the next morning. We did have our friends from the neighboring boat, Picara, over for a sundowner. We’ve known them since meeting them in the Tuamotus (in French Polynesia) and always enjoy running into them. We were all part of the last of the fleet and would be taking the same weather window to New Zealand, and now we were able to sort out who would be in our group.
Two boats were now in Nuku’alofa, the south island. Two boats had left Vava’u the day after us but today had arrived at an island just south of us. One of the boats we’d seen yesterday was going to a different island, and one was here but would be heading back to Vava’u for the season. For now, all of us were heading to the same place: Nuku’alofa, and all of us would need to arrive there before a bout of westerly winds that was due to arrive in a few days (most Ha’apai anchorages are open to westerly winds).
We now knew of 7 boats making the passage to New Zealand in our group, and it seemed one more was coming: our friends on Gato Go, who had to run back to the US to take care of some business, had just returned to their boat in Neiafu and were headed this way.
Boats generally leave on this passage in groups, and there is a strong sense of camaraderie and kinship within that group. In spite of modern-day weather forecasting, there is a large degree of the unknown in this journey, and you will be sharing this adventure together, exchanging and sharing advice, commiserating, offering support, and standing by to help. It was nice to get a sense of who would be in our group. -Cyndi
