November 17, 2012
While we were enjoying the beach, the two other boats remaining here left, and we were on our own. At this point, no one was behind us; we were trailing the last of the pack. Our plan had been to head on to our next destination, Ha’afeva Island, just after lunch, but plans change. Rich was still recovering from a back injury, and a day here just to rest sounded like a nice idea. Plus, we had been enchanted by the beautiful beach and if we stayed, we could go back again this afternoon. With that, we decided to stay one more day.
I noticed I felt strangely uneasy sitting in the cockpit that afternoon. We had this incredible anchorage and beach to ourselves, which is a rare and precious thing, and I have never felt anything but giddy when this happens. Now, though, the situation was a bit different, and I realized I was dealing with a primal feeling: the back of a traveling pack is the most dangerous place to be. Stragglers are picked off first, and suddenly we were the stragglers. I came up with a nickname for us: Tiger Bait.
As soon as I realized what I was feeling and named it; the feeling dissipated. Rich and I laughed about it; and we kept the nickname Tiger Bait through the rest of our time in Tonga as we had a tendency to linger behind the others. -Cyndi
