November 14, 2012…
It was nearing dusk as we headed out of Port Maurelle, and it would take us about 45 minutes to clear the Vava’u group of islands and get to open ocean to make the trip south to the Ha’apai group of islands.
I had a dream awhile back that we were anchored in an area amid tall rock islands and suddenly had to leave at dusk to go someplace else. As we sailed amid these tall monoliths and it grew darker, we felt no fear at all: it was a dream with a really nice feeling. Our situation now felt like that dream came to life! It was dusk and we were leaving suddenly and sailing amidst islands, but like the dream we felt no fear. It was beautiful: very quiet and still, and the sea and sky were all twilight shades of violet and blue. Suddenly, a large bird flew over us, a white owl. This was one of the most beautiful and surreal moments of our cruise. (Yes, there are owls in Tonga.)
It had become dark and hard to see as we reached the open ocean and turned south, but we could still make out the island we needed to clear off our port side, and our course was well plotted. There was some swell, and the wind came back up to 12 knots: not the most comfortable conditions but not that uncomfortable, either. Our speed was slower than we calculated, but we would still arrive at our chosen anchorage before lunchtime the next day. It was an uneventful night passage. -Cyndi
