We arrived into the
islands of Vava’u from Nuie after 3 days sailing through seas of 2-3 meters and winds of
20–30kn. We sailed in close proximity to two other yachts Apropos and
Panthera, both whom we had met in Nuie.
Without the luxury of a SSB radio on Brahminy, this
was the first time we could make ‘sched calls’ as we were within range for the
VHF. We looked forward to our 1800 sched calls each evening and all discussed
one topic at length…you guessed it
the weather! At one point, Panthera claimed to be in winds gusting to 35kn barely 5nm in front of us while we were seeing 12-14kn on our wind instruments. Sara and I
looked at each other and giggled deciding that their wind meter was off kilter
and needed repair. But then Apropos only 3 miles to our starboard chimed into
the conversation and stated that they were in winds of steady 25kn! We were still
reading 12kn! Then came the slow realization that it was our wind reader
that was way off. Right across the pacific covering thousands of nautical miles
at sea we have marveled at how lucky we had been, hearing tales of viscous winds
wipping up to 30 and 40kn on the same passages as us while we have seen
maximum winds of 20-24kn. We now realize thanks to travelling with these other
yachts that our wind instruments need calibrating and generally only in strong winds are at about 8-10kn lower
than what the actual wind speeds are…!!! We generally read the wind with our own eyes but the wind instruments help to keep it real and mean less guesswork. Well Im sure we have remained calmer
thinking we are in less wind than we actually are, so probably a good thing!
We saw Humpback whales
breaching several times on our crossing changing our course a couple of times to
avoid them and a mystrerious large whale feeding with tuna and birds on bait
fish…
We arrived just before
dawn in the Northern group of Tongan islands known as the Vava’u group as 35kn fierce winds (20kn on our wind instruments) tried to batter us back out to sea again. We travelled at about 3kn directly on the nose trying to make headway.
It was about this time the fishing rod went off like a freight train. This
caused mega stress as it normally does especially as Sara was fast asleep and
tried to wake up and get her head around where we were going and take the wheel
as I struggled to get the leviathan from the deeps on board. It didn’t help matters that a
Swedish boat that shall not be named was right on our ass and had been for at least half
an hour. I finally hauled a beautiful 20kg Yellow Fin Tuna on board, had pleasant words to the Swedes on the VHF and we proceeded into one of the most
protected harbours I have seen in the entire Pacific, Port of Refuge
(Puatalefusi or Lolo-ʻa-Halaevalu).
Vavaʻu is the island group of one large island (’Utu Vava’u)
and 40 smaller ones in Tonga.
It is part of Vava’u District.
According to tradition the Maui
god fished up Vavaʻu from the bottom of the ocean with his magic hook. Vavaʻu
rises 204 m above sea level at Mt. Talau.
The capital
is Neiafu,
which is the fifth largest city in Tonga.
I was absolutely delighted that my daughter Miica
arrived with Ben the following day and we explored the wondrous and diverse
islands of the archipelago. A highlight was swimming with the Humpback whales
which was absolutely epic. We went with a local operator (there are massive
fines if you try to do it yourself) and spent at least half an hour in the
water with a mum and calf and several other whales which slowly moved away as
we got too close.
There is a great community feel in Vava’u with the close knit
group of yachties especially the ones who arrived 20 or so years ago an never
left. The radio net at 0800 is great and the VHF repeater stations around the
islands make it easy for communication with friends on other yachts or organizing
things like tours or the famous Tongan Feast. We reckon we will definitely be back to
Tonga!
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| Sara Relaxing with a book... |
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| Friends from Panthera and Apropos on Brahminy for Yellow Fin Tuna Sashimi! |
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| Miica up the mast! |
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| A lovely BBQ on the beach on a deserted island...heaven |
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| BBQ Chicken Sara and Miica style with Brahminy in the background... |
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| Mum & Calf! |
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| Go Whale Girl Miica! |
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| Mariners Cave was Awesome! You have to swim under the water for about 3 meters to get in. The most amazing thing is that as the swell comes in the pressure builds in the cave and everything goes foggy and almost steamy, its truly a bizare experience, See next photo! |
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| As the swell rolls in, the cave became pressurised and foggy...Amazing! |
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| Swimming out from Mariners Cave |
