Vavau Group

16th to 20th September 2007

Pete

We spent a nice couple of days at Port Maurelle - Anchorage Number 7 (from the Moorings guide book). There is no Port here - just a fine white sandy beach. Fliss is dragging me into the water at every opportunity so that she can practice her snorkelling skills. We have found out that it is only the equivalent of £120 to do a 3-day scuba diving course that results in open-water PADI certification. Fliss wants to have a go and I should really do it as well. A lot of people actually carry diving equipment on board for emergencies as well as pleasure. A useful time to have such gear was the day before yesterday when Fliss's mask and snorkel went overboard in 16 metres of water and I will not attempt to free-dive that deep. Luckily, there was good visibility and I could see the kit on the bottom when the sun shone. We got the dinghy anchor and dangled fishing hooks from the bottom of it and I then snorkelled back and forward over the offending item until it was snagged. A good days fishing!

Yesterday, we broadcast on the Cruisers Net (08:30 Ch 6) about our quandary trying to fill our gas bottles. Don & Barbie on "Lutana II" picked up the message and are in the same anchorage. They have spent the last 20 years cruising around the world collecting gas fittingsand he hauled out his big sack of brass and soon had something that would work. We therefore upped-anchor, went back to Neiafu, and now have two full tanks. In return, we picked up groceries for them. We spent a nice evening with them and I think that we will both sail over to the "Coral Gardens" (Anchorage #16) today for some better snorkelling.

In the quiet periods, I have been sanding and varnishing the areas of the kitchen where the varnish has completely disappeared. This will allow me to get a few coats of varnish on the more exposed areas before I get around to sanding the whole lot and finishing off.

Fliss......

The snorkelling is wonderful here! Loads of different coral and brightly coloured fish, we saw a huge bright pink starfish which looked like a child had cut it out using a play-doh cutter as it was fat unlike the blue ones which have long thin legs. I am pleased with my progress as before I wouldn't go in the water without a life jacket and now I can't wait to get in the water. I've complained in the past that my fins are awkward to use but Pete said it was down to my technique (I tend to paddle with them) but he tried them today and agreed that they weren't flexible enough, when I get to New Zealand I will buy another pair.

Barbie on Lutana II made a delicious pizza for us all to share I really don't know how other people manage it as on the Yacht Nadezhda if you come over for a sun-downer you are really lucky if you get aged peanuts or olives, I must do better! Don & Barbi are Ozzies and are slowly making their way home once they get to OZ they plan to stop sailing and buy a motor home.

Don is a real character, I said "Don, I have real problems trying to dive down whilst snorkelling" in a serious tone he replied. "Well Fliss there are two reasons for this: one, you are a girl and, two, you have a big fat bum, sorry mate you need weights to sink" I couldn't help but laugh and least I know now what the problem is!

21st & 22nd September 2007

We moved today to Nuku which is a tiny but stunning island, it really is a blip fringed with white sand, tonight we are going to have drinks on the beach with Graham & Judit from Nomad Life, Rob & Lilly from Mariah III, Gerard, Monica and their three young kids and also the crew from Lassi (sorry I can't remember their names but they are from Germany). The drinks are to celebrate Rob's birthday.

We haven't mentioned that the sand on the island drops deeply off at high tide, one minute you are up to your ankles and the next the water is chest deep. When it was time to go our fellow yachties held the dinghy so that we could get in, Pete suddenly had the devil sitting on his shoulder, he noticed that Graham was standing just on the edge of the shallows. Once the engine was started he gave Graham a yank, this resulted in Graham toppling over into deeper water. Graham is a brilliant sport and took it well, but as the saying goes "Revenge is a dish best served cold". We'll have to see!

23rd September 2007.

Pete.....

As last night was great fun we decided to follow up with a BBQ on the beach tonight

We eventually fired-up our two disposable barbeques which we bought at the same time we got Naz. They worked extremely well and we had burgers, chicken and tuna fishcakes with potato salad, salad relish, pulses salad and bread. The kids from Clarabella loved Fliss's homemade burgers and a good time was had by all until we then got caught in an almighty downpour and a race developed between us to see who could get to their boat fastest and close the hatches. The rain eased up and we then re-convened on Nomad Life for a short time.

Fliss....

It really is a gorgeous setting especially at night with the moonbeams highlightingthe sand and the backdrop of the coconut trees is really quite magical, it really is tropical paradise.

We took the hurricane lamp to the beach and the kids of Clarabella loved watching the crabs come sideling up slowly to look at the light and then quickly scurry away when they spotted these huge giants looking down on them, great fun! What a wonderful life for these three small children.

24th September 2007

Pete.....

This morning, we upped-sticks and moved to anchorage 16 (coral gardens) where Don and Barbie were anchored. Nomad Life needed Dons' gas connecter converter and they followed us there but when we arrived we found messy waves coming across a 2-mile reach with 25 knots of onshore wind. Graham and Judit on Nomad life made a swift exit back to Nieafu to fill their gas bottles and Lutana II and ourselves moved across the bay to a more protected anchorage. The anchorage was not much to write home about, there was a village there but it was impossible to walk about since it seemed to have no road, only a bunch of clustered homes where everywhere seemed to be someone's back garden. We decided not to intrude.

25th September 2007

Pete....

We moved again today to Ano Beach as we have booked to go to a Tongan Feast with our usual crowd and across the bay is where it is held.

It rained all day, and then rained some more. We had just plopped the anchor down in another bay and got hit by a F7 squall (we can measure the wind speed now that I've fixed the fuse in the circuit board). The anchor jumped once and then bit-in again - lucky, since there was a shallow reef just behind us. We upped sticks later and wandered around trying to find a spot where the anchor would embed itself but it seems as though it is just a fine layer of sand over a coral bed. Anyway, we are still here and haven't dragged since we put half a ton of chain on the bottom just to make sure.

Fliss....

Pete didn't mention that we rowed over to have a look at our anchor and it was lying on it's back so we decided to go back to the boat and have another go, we both got onboard and I was raising the anchor when Pete shouted to stop, in our haste we (actually Pete) had forgotten to tie the dinghy on and it was now happily floating towards the reef! Pete immediately got on the VHF to call our mates Derek and Anthea on Sucanuk (Eskimo word for sun) to ask if they could rescue our dinghy but luckily enough another cruiser spotted our plight and raced over and recovered it, lesson learnt, more haste less speed! A dinghy in the hand is worth two on the reef?

26th September 2007

Pete.....

We had a lazy day. At lunchtime, we visited Reflections (of Hayling) and spent a pleasant couple of hours with Juliet and David over a tin of beer. Afterwards, we had a quick snorkel but the reefs were not especially interesting.


Don and Barbie came over in the evening for sundowners and we sat in the cockpit until the rain began. Don, who likes brain teasers gave us a wooden puzzle to work out, he likes dishing out those annoying MENSA-like things that you cannot put down and cannot solve either. We retired inside and had a game of Rummicub, which I think Don usually wins - unfortunately, I went down first - Nadezhda one, Lutana II zero - a rematch will have to be played! They returned to their boat just before the wind picked up and we had 40 knots of wind through the islands. At about 20:00, the wind turned 180 degrees and suddenly blew-up. We were fine since we were now in the lee of a small island to the South of us although we were hanging off a ledge of dubious holding with 35metres under the keel. The radio suddenly came alive with chatter about people dragging their anchors, getting caught snubbed tight on coral heads and the like. A boat in a particularly exposed anchorage dragged and went aground with no possibility of help from their only neighbour (Ariel - who only has a rowing tender). Eventually, at midnight, the wind started to abate.

27th September 2007

We had communicated the tide times to the stricken yacht the previous night and we got up at 06:00 the following morning ready to motor the six miles around to help pull them off at high tide (07:30). We got up and called the vessel who thanked us and told us that they had managed to re-float half an hour earlier. Luckily, they did not have any damage.

Later in the morning, we moved to a mooring and went ashore to catch a taxi into town to get provisions. We met up with Don there and had a pleasant lunch with a couple of his mates before sharing a taxi back.

28th September 2007

A quiet day

29th September 2007

We got up at 06:00 and eight of us took dinghies to the beach where there is a road that leads into town. We had booked a taxi the day before (by VHF) and also booked breakfast in a place called Mango's to watch the Tonga V England rugby match. The game started with Tonga scoring a penalty and then a try and this was greeted by roars of approval by the Tongans and the Australians who made up most of the crowd. Eventually, England started to come back and, by Half-time, the whole place was deathly quiet except for Graham, Judit, Fliss and I clapping politely and saying "Jolly good show England - Keep it up!". We won 36 - 20something. We did a bit of shopping and waited for some others of the group in "Tonga Bob's" where they had also shown the match. At Tonga Bob's, they were having a Heineken promotion with free beer during the game and, of course, all the locals and most of the yachties were drunk (11:00 am). There are quite a few Lady-Boys in the South Pacific - something to do with too many boys being born and so they bring up some sons as if they were girls. One of these was wearing white all over with "Queen of England" written all over his/her clothes. He/She was doing erotic dancing to the tune of Bob Marley and other classic Oldies - very amusing.

In the evening, all the people in the anchorage went to shore for a Tongan Feast that was put on by the locals. The usual gamut of souvenir stalls had been erected and we were treated to Tongan dancing by the kids accompanied by string and drum accompaniment. Afterwards, we sat at a long table that was set out with various foods served on banana stalks or wrapped in banana leaves. Most of it looked and tasted like coleslaw and was a bit disappointing but the company was very good and we all had a good evening.

1st October 2007

We set off today at 10:00 to return to Neiafu and start thinking about our trip down to the Ha'apai group. We took Barbie from Lutana II with us and had a fast sail under headsail-only, thrashing a Moorings boat as we did over 7 knots with the dinghy planing behind. The rain here seems set to stay and so we stayed on board.

2nd October 2007

We went into town to do some last-minute provisioning ready to leave tomorrow night. Mariah III are also leaving tomorrow to head for Fiji and so we decided to meet up for dinner in a local bar.

As it happens, Gerard from Clarabella also joined us and, after the meal, the bar started the Karaoke soon afterwards. The locals have excellent voices and the ladies sang ballads whilst a local gent sang various Perry Como's and Frank Sinatra songs.

Not to be outdone, Fliss badgered the rest of us to have our turn with some more contemporary songs. Our little group couldn't manage to fit the words to the music and we were all out of tune and finished a few songs to the bewildered and polite clapping of the locals. It was a great hoot and even the reserved public school image of Gerard was seen grappling for the microphone to add his piece.

Fliss....

Such a funny night as we were absolutely terrible! We did a brilliant job of massacring some good oldies, Dancing Queen and It's raining men didn't escape our torturous exhibition.

Lilly was the official photographer and we have some great shots of the artists performing (most of the time we were in hysterical laughter). The night was to say good-bye to Rob & Lilly as they were breaking from the pack and heading towards Australia., quite sad really as we have been crossing paths since Colon in Panama.

3rd October 2007

After all the plotting and partying before leaving, the weather was so poor on today that both Mariah III and ourselves cancelled out departure plans.

4th October 2007

Mariah III left this morning (Thursday) but the winds are too Southerly for us to want to bash close-hauled to Ha'apai in 20 knot winds. We shall wait and see what happens with the winds - there is a possibility of a shift to more Easterly tomorrow night for a brief period and we might take the opportunity to kick-off. The problem is that we have to check out here before we leave and that means we might have to check out tomorrow and then hide if we decide not to go.