Two At Sea

July 14, 2014 in Neiafu, Vava’u Tonga

We were wrong back in May of 2012 when we thought by leaving late to cross the South Pacific, we’d miss the crowds.  It seems that while we missed the crowds from North America, there were still tons of boats coming across the Pacific from the Panama Canal – at least more than enough to make for crowded anchorages.

We were wrong this year about Tonga.  We thought getting here early, before the puddle jumpers, we would have quiet anchorages all to ourselves.  Nope.  It seems that while only one in four people in New Zealand own boats, the rest of them borrowed boats and are also here in Tonga cruising.  Sprinkled in with that is a liberal helping of Aussies as well as cruisers from all other parts of the world who thought as we did.  I offer proof of what I say.  Here’s a screenshot from our chartplotter from yesterday.  See for yourself! -Rich

And this doesn’t even count all the boats without AIS!

We posted a step-by-step guide to using ZoneAlarm to save sat phone minutes. You can find it on our cruising information page under miscellaneous or here’s a direct link.

Dateline Neiafu, Vava’u Tonga 12 July, 2014

In a move that shocked the cruising community, the sailing yacht Legacy with Rich and Cyndi aboard departed Neiafu today bound for outer anchorages. “I expected them to be stuck in Neiafu for at least a month, maybe more” says Timor Fugury, a long-time sailing analyst. Fugury’s analysis was largely based on Legacy’s previous record of hanging on to a Neiafu mooring like old gum on a Reebok. “It seems this year is different” said Fugury.

Tonight Legacy is just east of anchorage 16 (those who’ve been to Vava’u know to what this refers). When Legacy was reached for comment, they said “we plan to cruise around for the next week or so before returning to Neiafu for more pizza.”

Hershall Beneford, Staff Writer.

June 9, 2014

We just added a post to our Cruising Info / Miscellaneous page about the “Picket Fence” anchor alarm we’ve been using when anchoring in tight quarters.  We hope it might be useful for you.  You can find the post here.

July 6, 2014… Well, one of our homes anyway. We’re in Neiafu, Vava’u, Tonga where we spent a month back in 2012 (Cyndi will be getting around to blogging about that soon – Just kidding – she did that weeks ago ;-). It’s nice to be back – strange, but nice. We’re going to spend about a week in town (Pizza, pizza and more pizza!) and then head out to cruise some of the Vava’u anchorages, both those we missed before as well as our old favs. We’ll work out some internet soon and post some pictures soon. For now, we’re still using the sat phone. -Rich