Author: richwest3

September 22, 2012

Unfortunately our weather window to Vava’u had us arriving on Saturday, and the customs and immigration in Vava’u, like Samoa, was not open during the weekend. But unlike Samoa, there are some anchorages you can duck into before you head into the main harbor and town. You’re not really supposed to do this, but no one checks.

Our plan was to anchor outside of the bay and lay low; then head in Monday morning. The plan changed when we listened to the local morning VHF radio net when we were about 8 miles out. It seemed like a very friendly, active net, and with the Regatta on, it sounded more like summer camp than a typical cruiser net. With our current unfriendly conditions: gray skies, squalls, choppy seas and 20 knot winds, we felt drawn into the festive, warm embrace of the net, and when Baker (the net controller) asked if there were any new arrivals today, Rich jumped in and said, “Legacy!” We were warmly welcomed to town, and Baker said if we’d like, he’d arrange for customs to come down and clear us. There would be an extra fee for a Saturday clear-in, but it could be done. We jumped at that!

Two hours after talking to Baker on the net, we were sitting at the Customs dock getting cleared in. Three hours later, we had miraculously gotten the last available mooring in the harbor of Neiafu, the main city in Vava’u. It is possible to anchor there, but the areas where it is shallow enough to do so are few and far between and a long dinghy ride from town. Moorings can be hard to come by at this time of year and nearly impossible to come by during Regatta week. Somehow, we just got lucky. –Cyndi

September 22, 2012

A few days before we left for Tonga, someone told us we’d be arriving during the big Regatta for the cruising fleet of 2012. We were surprised as we hadn’t heard anything about it, and we weren’t sure if this would be a good thing or a bad thing. We were afraid it might be crowded, and most of the people we knew were still behind us and wouldn’t be there. On the other hand, there would be some representatives there from New Zealand giving talks and advice. This alone would be reason enough for us to go as we could use all the advice we could get for the intimidating entry into New Zealand!

After some provisioning in town and some last-minute chores, we headed out of Apia and into unpleasant 20 knot winds and choppy seas to begin our 3-night passage to Tonga. The passage overall was uneventful. It wasn’t especially comfortable, nor was it especially uncomfortable. We had a lot of overcast skies and drizzle, and some squalls our final morning.

Our destination in Tonga was Vava’u, the main island in a group of islands also referred to as Vava’u, (or the Vava’u Group). This island looks a bit like a large misshapen hand hanging down, with islands dripping from its fingers. There are 61 of these islands and over 40 anchorages, all within a few miles of each other. Many of these islands are surrounded by reefs, and all these reefs and islands block the ocean’s swell, making the whole area feel like being in a giant atoll, or a mid-ocean lake. With all this going for it, it is one of the top cruising destinations in the world, a “cruising mecca.”

Up in the “hand” area of Vavau is the main town of Neiafu. To get there, you go up a long channel to probably the most protected harbor in the South Pacific, nestled deep between two “fingers” of the “hand.” It is very large and deep, and because it’s too deep for most people to anchor, there are over 100 moorings available for the cruising boats to use.

We hadn’t had a chance to study Tonga and didn’t know much about it aside from the fact that there are lots of eateries in the main town and that it’s a pretty festive place for cruisers. We had planned on staying in Samoa for a good month, and that hadn’t worked out so well. We hoped this would be a place where we could get comfortable, relax, and stay awhile. It was!

Heading into the Vava’u group from the open ocean was both surreal and a little overwhelming. It was gray, windy, and dreary as we made our way into this strange world of flat-topped islands. They weren’t actually flat as may of them were pretty high: it was just as though they’d all had their top halves trimmed off. Had we not been so tired or had the weather been more friendly, this would have been terribly exciting, but in our state it just felt like a strange dream to sail in amid those (seemingly) dark, hulking islands.–Cyndi

September 19, 2012

It’s about noon here in Western Samoa on Samoa’s Wednesday (Los Angeles’s Tuesday) and we’re just about to get underway for Tonga.  It’ll take us three days to get there (350 miles) if all goes according to plan.  We’ll post more soon after we arrive – as soon as we can get internet access again.  -Rich

September 18, 2012

After landing back in Apia, we had a busy day ahead as we needed to go through all the procedures to check out of the country. Our plan was to leave the next morning; so this meant we had do the lengthy check out procedures the day before.

That night, we had reserved a spot to see the fire show. It was basically a fiafia, which is the Samoan version of a Hawaiian luau and features traditional Samoan dancing and a feast. Since being here, we had been to a big professional one at Aggie Grey’s (the hotel in town) and a semi-professional one at our seafood feast in American Samoa (only with American seafood instead of Samoan foods).

This particular show was amateur, featuring local young people and kids who are being trained by a former pro to continue the tradition. There was no feast attached to this show, but it was held outside the local ice cream place that serves bar drinks along with the ice cream (imagine a 31 Flavors that serves whiskey and beer). The cruisers are crazy about this show, and they make up most of the audience. The show sells out every week!

The show was really good, and it was a lot of fun to enjoy it with our friends and neighbors at the marina. I would not claim, as everyone else seems to, that it is the best show in Samoa. The big professional show at the hotel is the best, but this is certainly the most charming and fun. -Cyndi

September 17, 2012

After two nights in American Samoa, it was time for our flight back to Western Samoa. Neither one of us were very happy about this, and when we told the nice girls at the reception desk we’d be back, we wished we meant it. We turned in our rental car, paid the bill and took a cab to the airport.

Once at the airport, we were confused to find the our airline’s ticketing counter dark and empty. We looked all over and found no one. We finally made our way to their office, which was also dark and empty, but Rich knocked anyway and a guy came out and took our ticket to check it out. When he came back, he gave us the news: our tickets were for tomorrow, not today! In the confusion over making flight and hotel reservations from the other side of the dateline (we had crossed it flying from Apia to Pago Pago), we had scheduled the flight on the wrong day. We took in this news, looked at each other with great big smiles and hailed a cab back to the hotel.

I don’t know that two people have ever been happier to have their flight booked for the wrong date. We were overjoyed to return once again to the garden of earthly delights. Luckily we were able to get a room, but this time we didn’t get a car. Instead, we holed up in the room and watched TV all day and loved every minute of it.

The next day we caught our flight back as scheduled. It wasn’t quite as scenic as the last one, but it was pretty nice. The plane flew unbelievably low over the Apia marina and we got a great picture of our boat from the air. -Cyndi