November 26, 2012
Early Monday morning, Rich took his turn as net controller on the Pacific Drifter’s Net as the final boat from the previous group was arriving in New Zealand. Bright Angel had left Vava’u the day after we did and were now heading into the Bay of Islands. I got on the radio and talked to Linda, who warned me about the temperatures close to New Zealand, saying they’ve been in long underwear, long pants, sweaters, jackets, foul weather gear, hats and gloves. My heart sank as I sat there in my shorts, tee shirt and bare feet. I didn’t even know if I had any gloves!
It would have been tempting to head back into the Ha’apai group for a couple more weeks, but cyclone season was starting and it was time to go. Today, our group would be leaving and would be much smaller and more casual than the previous groups of up to 30 (or more) boats. In light of this, Rich slightly changed the name of the net for our group: “The Pacific Stragglers’ Net.” It was a perfect description.
Later, we got ready to be ferried into town, saying some good-byes as we headed into Big Mama’s. By the time we got back, everyone would be gone except Gato Go as we were bringing them back some vegetables. We were the only people on the ferry today; so they put us on a smaller boat, like a Mexican Panga. I’ve always wanted to ride in one of those things, and here we were, flying over the surface of the water in one.
That was the advantage of being only two people. The disadvantage: they didn’t ask us when we wanted to come back but pretty much told us to be there at noon. That left just enough time to do the check-out process and the last minute provisioning, but not enough to enjoy a final coffee/lunch at Friends or Escape.
When we arrived back at the anchorage, everyone was gone except Gato Go. They were very happy to see us get back early as we headed over with fresh veggies and wishes for a good voyage. Within an hour, they had left, too.
The winds were still feisty enough that Big Mama’s hadn’t put the docks back up. This meant beach landings along with wet rides in the dinghy. I had hoped for a final beer and dinner at Big Mama’s this evening, but it just seemed to be getting windier. Since we were wet anyway, we decided to take our final trash in right then and then bring in and stow the dinghy. In a way, stowing the the dinghy is the unofficial start of a passage as it signals the end of your time on land.
After taking a real shower after our involuntary salt water showers today, we had a relaxed afternoon and evening on the boat. The good news was that Rich had, for the heck of it, tried the internet connection here yesterday and found the internet service was back! We were able to check the Gribs (weather files) and e-mail our weather router, Bob McDavitt. Tomorrow morning, we were still looking good to go! It was exciting and unnerving at the same time.
While we didn’t get that final beer ashore, we did have some good-bye-Tonga rum in the cockpit. We felt good about the passage ahead and ready for a change. -Cyndi
Note: I have some pictures from our cruise that I love but never quite fit into the posts. Here are a few from Tonga:
