Author: richwest3

November 21, 2012

One of the things Big Mama’s offers is ferry service to Nuku’alofa. It’s about a 10 minute ride in a small motorboat that can seat approximately 20 people. It leaves Big Mama’s around 9am and then takes you back at an agreed-upon time in the afternoon. (This means the everyone all has to agree on a time, but it was never a problem.)

The group this morning consisted of nine people, and all of us needed to check in with customs. We were dropped off with some very loose directions to the customs area: it’s about a block down amid the dock buildings over there (pointing). And so began the unscheduled surprise Palangi Parade. (Palangi is the term used for non-natives, often light-skinned touristy types).

The nine of us walked through the dock area, out to the sidewalk and down about a block. We checked out one building and no, that wasn’t it. We marched on to the next building area, going through an opening in a chain-link fence to get there. We went to the first building, but that wasn’t it. We filtered into a bigger building that actually said Customs on it and confidently marched up the stairs, single file, to the second floor. That wasn’t it, either. Down we went. I should point out that every building we went to we’d ask for directions, but every time they weren’t specific enough, always saying, “over that way.” We marched on down the road, asking at another place. Nope, but we were getting closer. We finally ended up marching down a long side street to a loading dock area. After asking at least one more person, we found it, a small unmarked room in a small, unmarked building. We had probably walked a good mile at this point.

Only a few people could go in at a time, and we learned a lesson quickly from the first people to check in. They said they had arrived yesterday evening, not yesterday morning. They are very serious about customs protocol here and you are expected to check in immediately if customs is open. (Sadly, the one person who arrived day before yesterday had gone in first and ended up with a severe verbal spanking when he was honest about his arrival day!)

We all waited for each other, then continued our parade back down to the main street going to town. We were all offered a lift downtown by a guy in a truck for 1 pa’anga each. Too tired and hot to walk any more, we gladly took him up on it. We all piled into the truck and after a 5 minute ride we were deposited downtown. We all had different agendas at this point and the group split up. The Palangi Parade was officially over, but I’m sure there will be more such parades next season. -Cyndi

 

November 20, 2012

The group was heading in for drinks and (for us) dinner at Big Mama’s around 6pm. We were pretty excited to get to see the famous Big Mama’s at last! We went ashore to find a big, waterfront thatched and tin-roof “beach hut” with a large bar and dining area, a sand floor, and a deck over the water. Except for having a disappointingly limited menu (fish and chips or burgers), it looked like a great place.

The fish and chips turned out to be pretty good, and the beer was cold. (A lot can be overlooked if there’s cold beer.) This would be a nice place to spend some time before heading out to sea. -Cyndi

November 20, 2012

We pulled into Big Mama’s and dropped the hook. Sockdolager, Beau Soliel, Morning Glory and Sam were already there. Arriving just behind us were Picara, La Luz and Taima. Except for Taima, these boats would be in the next (and last) “flock” heading south to New Zealand for the southern hemisphere summer, along with one final boat: Gato Go. They had recently arrived back in Vava’u from the US, picked up their boat, were anchored in the Ha’apai and were soon heading this way (stealing our Tiger Bait status in the process). In all, there would be eight boats in our little flock. It looked like we all had about a week to provision, prepare, and see Nuku’alofa before the next weather window appeared.

After we had our anchor set (it took two tries which is rare for us), Rich dove into the water to check it as it was pretty grassy here. Satisfied it was well set, he showered and we made biscuits and an omelet for breakfast. The morning light was soft and gold, and a light sea breeze wafted through our open hatches. After the dishes were done, all that was left to do was any puttering we felt like doing before taking a well-earned nap. There are few things nicer in the world than that fed and cleaned-up post-arrival, pre-nap feeling. We were both asleep by 11am and slept until about 4pm. -Cyndi

November 20, 2012

We were very excited to be arriving in Nuku’alofa as it is an actual city, our first in a long time, and both of us were starting to crave a city. (In truth, Nuku’alofa might be closer to being a large town than a city, but we’d take what we could get.) While we looked forward to a supermarket, cars, people, decent internet access, and a range of eateries, the thing we were most excited about was the famous coffeehouse called Friends Cafe. We’d found acceptable coffee in Tonga, but we were missing Starbucks and were looking for greatness.

When you bring your boat to Nuku’alofa, you have some choices on where to go. The first option is a wharf right within walking distance of town, the second is an anchorage outside of this wharf, and the third is an little island, Pangaimotu, a couple of miles out from Nuku’alofa.

The wharf is the most convenient to town, but you have to Med moor to a jetty which can be a challenge, plus we’d heard that your lines can provide a convenient drawbridge for unwelcome visitors such as rats and cockroaches. No thanks. The anchorage outside could be a consideration if we had a big, fast dinghy as it’s a long ride to the marina, but we don’t. That left Pangaimotu, which has a good, secure anchorage and Big Mama’s, a restaurant/bar/small resort that provides ferry service to town and services for cruisers such as laundry and getting fuel jugs filled. Sold! We’d heard a lot about Big Mama’s and were excited to finally be able to see it.

It is a long trip down a winding channel once you enter this area of reefs and islands, about 15 miles, but it was nice to get out of the feisty, windy ocean and into more protected waters. These islands, like the Ha’apai, are very flat, and we could clearly see the skyline of Nuku’alofa on Tongatapu Island. Big city, here we come! (OK, very large town, here we come!) -Cyndi

November 19, 2012

Our next destination was Tongatapu, the southernmost island in Tonga. It’s in a group of islands known as the Tongatapu Group and includes the capital city of Tonga: Nuku’alofa. We would have to clear in with customs when we arrived (you’re supposed to check in and out of each island group even though it’s all the same country); then we would check completely out of the country when we departed for New Zealand.

Unfortunately the trip from here was one of those dreaded “overnighters.” This particular overnighter needed careful timing in that one needs to leave Ha’afeva in daylight as you are going through an area riddled with reefs and islands. You get somewhat out into open ocean for the passage south, although there are still islands around, then you enter into another area of reefs and islands to get to Nuku’alofa (on Tongatapu). Naturally, you want to enter this area in daylight. We planned to leave around 4:30pm, which would get us out into reasonably open ocean by dark, and then arrive in the area around Nuku’alofa around 7am or so – assuming we could keep our boat speed down to 4 knots through the night.

The winds were predicted to be light, and since the other boats hoped to sail, they left earlier in the afternoon to give themselves some extra time. By 3pm, everyone had gone, and we were Tiger Bait once again, all alone in a usually-busy anchorage. By now, we were used to it, and it didn’t bother us. Actually it was pretty neat to have the place to ourselves!

We pulled the anchor and headed out around 4:30. It had been a hot day, and it was just now getting cool enough to be out in the cockpit to keep an eye out. The trip out through the rest of the island group went fine. Maybe it’s the medication, or maybe we’ve just gotten used to this, but Rich and I are much calmer and more matter-of-fact when it comes to going through these reefy-rocky-islandy extravaganzas.

The passage itself wasn’t too bad, although the wind was stronger than predicted and our problem became making Legacy go slow enough. Rich took some sail in, and she was still flying! We managed to slow her down just enough. Unfortunately, the boats ahead of us had the same problem and were now hove-to (had stopped their boats) and setting off our radar alarm as we caught up to them. Luckily it was getting light as we approached the Tongatapu group and though we were arriving earlier than planned, we wouldn’t need to stop and wait. We ended up passing all three boats as we made our way straight in. -Cyndi