Tonga Islands

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Cruising Log of Tonga Islands

April 8

Departed today with the temperature below freezing and a light dusting of snow on the ground.  We took off from Toronto at 9:20 am local time for a trip likely to take over 30 hours.  The first leg of the trip is from Toronto to L.A. After a 4 1/2 hr. layover in L.A., we're off on the 8,886 km. trip to Nadi, Fiji on Air Pacific.

April 9

In Fiji, it's actually 11:33 pm on Apr. 9 since we're west of the International Date Line. Traveling west we've lost nearly an entire day - we'll pick this back up on the trip back. This flight is also on Air Pacific -native flight attendants but Aussie or Kiwi crew. 

April 10

TIME & DATE NOW LOCAL TONGAN TIME. 
Brief stop over in Nuku'alofa to shower and a nap. Still one more flight to go - 1 hr. 20 min. leaving at 8:00 am to Va'vau. 

WE'RE HERE! Right now we're anchored in the lee of Mala Island (uninhabited).  Just saw a beautiful sunset over the South Pacific.

A young couple runs The Moorings' base.  Very friendly and accommodating. The boat is a 445 (45 ft. long); a bit old but reasonably well cared for. Requested "split provisioning and this was extremely well done.

April 11

Awoke this morning at about 5:00 am and went out to the cockpit to read.  Tongans on shore were already and apparently in church singing! It was incredible as it drifted out to our boat about 120 yards offshore. Last night the stars were incredible, with the Milky Way clearly visible.

April 12

Got lazy yesterday afternoon and didn't make a log entry. Sailed to a beautiful anchorage at Port Mourelle - a small cove with palm trees. We shared it with 4 other boats, all ocean cruisers — 2 from Canada, 1 from the U.S., & 1 from Pago Pago.

We took a long dinghy ride to view Swallows Cave. The afternoon (around 4:00 pm) was overcast so the light in the cave wasn't particularly good plus we forgot to bring the flashlight.  Between the poor light, bird guano dripping into the water and the graffiti on the walls, it wasn't that exciting a visit.

Today we're going to snorkel here and then head off to the anchorage at Ano's Beach where there will be a Tonga feast tonight.

April 13

The Tongan feast was excellent — quite an event! Actually, it is a must! Beforehand they had local women selling their handicrafts including woven baskets (definitely unique and well made), tapa cloths made from the bark of mulberry trees, carvings (which we're told are not part of the heritage here but done for tourists) and jewelry made from bone and coral.

They sold local beer, which wasn't bad (based on the number we drank).  Then there was a performance of native dancing with dancers from very young girls to adult women. They were dressed in colorful but modest costumes and their shoulders were oiled. That's because a traditional form of showing appreciation for the dancers is to stick $ bills to their shoulders.

The feast was then served brought in on long "platters" made from coconut palm leaves skillfully woven just before the meal. By this time it's nearly dark so you can barely see what you're eating. It was all delicious! There was pork, clams, squash, chicken, fish — all cooked throughout the day in an underground oven called an "imu". There was also a form of salad (which included cucumber but not sure what else) served on a half palm core.  There was also a fruit salad with papaya.

April 14

Spent last night at Vaka 'eitu, a nice bay with close access to the Coral Gardens, an excellent snorkeling location but that is a bit tricky since you have to cross to the outside of the reef which is best done at high tide. I didn't and have the coral cuts on my hands to prove it. Once over there (exhausted), it was interesting since there is a lot of green coral. The fish, however, were no different than seen elsewhere here.

Last night a small wind and rainstorm came in out of the north, which made for a restless night. The same weather is forecast for today so we're going to move to a more protected anchorage (from N-NW).

April 15

Spent last night in a great little anchorage (#4), which we had all to ourselves. It stopped raining long enough for us to eat dinner in the cockpit.  It did start raining again pretty hard during the middle of the night.

This morning we celebrated our anniversary and headed over to the Moorings base to pick up a few things plus phone home and the office (the latter was a big mistake!). We then headed off to Hunga Lagoon — not to be missed. But with recent stormy weather, the 10 ft. seas made the ride out a bumpy one and the narrow entrance to the lagoon all the trickier.

April 17

Oops! Missed a day! On the night of the 15th, we had a great dinner at Club Hunga (the name suggests something more substantial than it is). Pete & Hapi are terrific and very entertaining (particularly free-spirited Hapi). Spending 2 nights on a mooring ball out in front made for much better sleeping.
There are a couple of good places to snorkel — one inside the false entrance and another just outside the south pass. Pete said the best spot is outside the true entrance but current sea conditions would make it prone to surge.

Since Sunday (april 13) we've had some rain everyday — Monday it rained nearly all day. Yesterday we had a rain shower around midday. It rained again this morning starting around 6:30 am and lasted until a little while ago. It's threatening again now and will likely rain some more before the day is over.

April 18

Our last morning on the boat, although we'll spend tonight at the Paradise International Hotel here in Vava'u before starting our long trek home tomorrow.  It rained again during the night, which makes for warmer (and damper) sleeping.  We just had another light shower.

We spent the night at the anchorage between Nuku and Kapa Islands (#8).  It is beautiful, right off a large reef and shallows but a bit exposed which made for some rocking in the night.  The snorkeling is among the best we've seen here — very clear water and numerous fish including jellyfish, both large and small.

April 20

After 32 hours, we're back home in Toronto.

We spent our last day (Saturday, April 19 - which was a bit like Groundhog Day, since we actually repeated Saturday twice in our travels - for example, we left the hotel in Tonga at about 2:20 pm and arrived in L.A. at about 2:00 pm the same day [local time]) in Tonga mostly getting ready and then waiting to leave. The first leg was the trip by small plane back to Nukaloofa. There we arranged for a taxi driver to give us a quick tour to the "blow holes" (well worth the trip), the "flying foxes" (actually large bats) and to see the King's Palace.  Upon arrival back at the airport, we were just in time to see the King arrive back from Samoa.  It seemed little the major event of the week since the airport was crowded with locals waiting to see him arrive.  They even had a brass band out in full uniform to play at his arrival.
We then flew off to Fiji where we had a short layover before boarding the Air Pacific flight to L.A., which was packed. Since we had an 8-hour layover in L.A., we arranged for a car and a hotel room so we could at least shower. We then had a nice dinner by the water (naturally) in Marina del Rey before taking the Air Canada "red eye" back to Toronto.

GENERAL AND RANDOM OBSERVATIONS AND COMPARISON WITH BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

  • The prime sailing grounds are the northernmost island group, Va'vau.  There are a lot of similarities to the BVIs. The islands are closely spaced, and all navigation can be done by eye after checking your chart. Anchorages are either unhinabited or off tiny villages. They are more beautiful, primitive and undeveloped than in the BVI (few onshore dining options and mooring balls only in Hunga Lagoon).

  • The principal island (Va'vau) in the group has the only real "city", which is where the charter bases and the only stores are.  There are villages on each of the larger islands in the group, but these are in fact native settlements, with no commercial activity. 

  • Va'vau has about 50 islands in all. The sailing is good in Vava'u. Because of the inside protected waters there's no swell. Underwater is usually great but diving is mediocre because the reefs, shells, crayfish have been picked clean and the coral anchored on.

  • The beaches are pristine, the anchorages beautiful, the people English-speaking, proud and very friendly, the fish out-of-sight, but the coral is not as good as many spots in the Caribbean.  You will NOT be hassled at any point in your cruise. Similarly, there are about 40 anchorages in Vava'u that have been numbered on a charter co. chartlet and most all cruisers (as well as the charterers) talk about #4 or #9 or whatever. In fact, Vava'u is now a cruiser paradise and a Polynesian cultural desert. Spotted a pod of humpback or some similar type of whales when we ventured a few miles offshore on the western edge of the group.

  • You HAVE TO take fairly full provisioning, as restaurants are few and far between. You will make friends with many full-time cruisers, and will enjoy participating in the "net" on the VHF each morning. And you MUST see both Swallow Cave and Mariners' Caves!

  • Club Hunga for dinner with Pete and Hapi is a must. Getting into the laggon in Hunga is a hairy experience in a following sea, which fortunately is not usual.

  • The only negative I can think of (other than the lack of "action", which didn't bother us!), is that in many cases the islands are both closely spaced and steep-sided, so you get the feeling of sailing in a fjord, along with the weird winds that sometimes accompany that experience. So expect to motor a bit more than expected. All the islands, particularly in the northern part of the Vava'u Group, are relatively close together so you're never on one tack for very long; for open water sailing one needs to head offshore beyond Hunga.

  • The biggest surprise is the anchoring difficulties. Navigating, and more especially anchoring, is more challenging than the BVI because of the presence of coral heads.

  • There are many, many beautiful uncrowded anchorages. A GREAT anchorage in Tonga is one where you can find a 10-foot square area to drop an anchor without hitting coral.  You'll spend a lot of time looking for a sandy spot to drop in.  It is virtually impossible to anchor without your rode dragging through coral and your anchor will snag coral in a good percentage of the cases.  Everyone copes with it - it's just different. Make sure you have plenty of chain or else you'll be worrying all night about coral cutting your rode as you swing. 

  • Nuku'alofa is a trifle dreary & dusty but not bad. Vava'u is very popular with cruisers and charters. The real Polynesian Tonga can still be lived in the Ha'Apai Group - between the other 2. There are only 6-10 boats there compared to the 200-300 boats that hit Niefu in Vava'u in a year. The isolated Nuiatoputapu (New Potatoes to cruisers) - is further off the track.

  • Moorings staff (a couple, Alain and Kristin) are great and will greet you like lost family. With a fleet of only 15 boats, they're only 1/10th the size of the BVI base. They have a smaller choice of boats and much slower turnover of the fleet (our boat was 6 yrs. old).

  • There is definitely a rainy season and, at mid-April, we've caught the tail end of it. High season starts in May and runs until October. During their "winter" months, whales migrate to the area (an added plus).

  • The Tongan people are, as "advertised", very friendly. Tonga is very much an undeveloped country, which has resulted in a population that is more primitive than poor. People are very friendly and relatively unspoiled by modern civilization, but they will want to sell you carvings, shells and beautifully woven baskets. With the exception of some outboard motors and occasional electricity (gas generators & 12 volt batteries), there is little evidence of "civilization" having reached the outer islands.