Goodbye Tropics, Hello New Zealand

Passage to New Zealand (Saturday, October 22 to Saturday, October 29)

Goodbye Tropics, Hello New Zealand!

Our last passage for 2011 was a trip from Nuku’Alofa Tonga to Whangarei, New Zealand.  We’ve been cruising since August 6, 2010 and have clocked approximately 9,000 ocean miles upon arrival to New Zealand.  Since we started, we were always on the fence as to whether we would sail to New Zealand or to Australia.  This passage to New Zealand is known for some pretty nasty weather off the coast of New Zealand and is considered one of the world’s most treacherous cruising routes.  It’s generally an 8 to 11 day passage with gale force winds hitting off the coast of New Zealand about every 5 to 6 days.  Once we realize that going to Australia is also known for having poor weather, we decided to bite the bullet and head to New Zealand.  Hence we had a third reef sewn into our main sail just to be prepared for this passage.

There’s lots of good strategy on how to get to New Zealand successfully – for example some cruisers sail from Tonga to Minerva Reef (about a 3 day sail) and wait out the weather conditions for another good weather window.  Other cruisers go way west in hopes to avoid such bad weather fronts.  We kept all these strategies in mind, including using Bob McDavitt as our weather router.  Bob forecasted that we would have strong winds in the first part of our trip, with the winds lightening up towards the latter part of our trip as we neared New Zealand.  He also predicted that our passage would take 6 days and 19 hours and he was pretty much spot on.

So we sat around for 4 days waiting for our router to give us the go ahead; first we were going to go on Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday (which is bad luck to sailors for a departure date – probably an old wives tale generated by seaman who got called out on a Friday, hence they had to work the weekend), and then finally we got clearance to depart on Saturday, October 22 – our 28^th wedding anniversary.  So off we went – it was like being given a big push to hurry up and get going before the weather changes.

For the first four days, we had terrific winds of about 20 knots.  If Lardo had wings, I would say that we flew instead of sailing and had record breaking days of 150+ miles.  Normally we reefed the main at night to steady and slow down the boat for comfort but because we were trying to beat the typical weather window – i.e., 8 to9 day passage to New Zealand with the possibility of a front with gale force winds hitting the New Zealand coast every 5-6 days, we opted to give up comfort and put the pedal to the medal.  At first it was difficult to sleep, cook and move around the cabin due to the boat being so far keeled over and the constant rockin’ and rollin’ motion from Lardo’s high speed.    Any attempt to make coffee resulted in the coffee grounds flying around the cabin.

Winds finally died down starting in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, and we needed to turn on the iron wind.  Once the wind settled to about 7 to 9 knots and the seas flatten out, it got a lot more comfortable.  After the seas mellowed out, we all took heavenly showers and were able to open a few hatches without water spraying into the cabin - nice to air out the cabin which was getting a little ripe.  It was a nice break to have the winds slow but they did pick up to about 15 knots on Thursday and Friday – very nice sailing conditions.  So for the remainder of the trip we were mostly under sail.

We saw our first Albatross with its magnificent wing span about 2 days before reaching  land.  After having such warm air and water temperatures in the tropics, we finally experienced a cool down – day time temps were a pleasant 70 degrees Fahrenheit, night time temps chilly 50’s and the water about 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  Ooh, brrrrz – we dug out our jackets and woolies for night watches.  Lovely clear night skies where we could gaze at the constellations.  Sometime in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, we crossed over the western to eastern hemisphere.

We checked in daily with two New Zealand nets – Southern Cross net at 7:30 a.m and the weather net at 8:00 a.m.; it was thru these nets we learned that New Zealand All Blacks won the Rubgy Cup.  Additionally, MaryLee chatted with Ruthie (s/v Rutea) and Beth (s/v Sarah Jean II) each day at noon on SSB channel 4B – nice to have boats nearby and within range to chat with.  We spotted Ovation again on Thursday – Ovation had followed us out of Tonga, disappeared for a few days and then there they were on Thursday;  Ovation is returning to New Zealand, their home, after completing their second circumnavigation and being away for seven years.

After all of our fears and anxiousness about the trip, it was truly amazing that we were blessed with such great wind and sea conditions.  Because of great boisterous trade winds in the beginning plus the ability to go nearly “rhumbline”, we were able to get to New Zealand in 7 days, beating the normal trip time of 8 to 9 days.  When telling Kiwi’s how anxious many cruisers are about sailing to New Zealand because of all the weather horror stories that we hear, they always seem to respond with a comment to the effect – “you’re right mate, the stories are all very true Luv!”  Boy, we were so glad to beat weather fronts that arrived shortly after our safe arrival.

Good Day Mate!

Nuku'Alofa, Tonga

Nuku’Alofa, Tongatapu,Tonga (October 15 to October 22)

Lardo did an overnight passage from Vavau to Nuku’Alofa with 20 knot winds and of course, bumpy seas.  Along the way, Dennis caught a lovely Dorado that fed us for three nights and MaryLee had a whale siting.  Poor Mari laid comatose in the cabin praying to Neptune for a speedy recovery from sea sickness.  Both Gary and Dennis were up all night as we had to dodge the many islands of the Ha’apai group; the guys did an excellent job piloting Lardo through the maze of islands.

We anchored off of Pagaimotu Island –an awesome sandy anchorage close to Nuku’Alofa, the capital city of Tonga. There were many sailboats from all over the world, including U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Australia, Hungary, Holland, Germany and Finland.  An added attraction to this anchorage was that it is next to Big Mama’s Pagaimotu Island Yacht Club Resort complete with beach, coconut palms, island style thatch roofs and an outdoor restaurant right on the waterfront.  We could take the island ferry easily into Nuku’Alofa to explore the city and to shop at the bakery, produce market and grocery store.

Mari and I spent our final days in the South Pacific walking, kayaking and snorkeling around the island while Gary and Dennis spent most of their days getting the boat ready for our upcoming passage to New Zealand, discussing strategies, and working with our weather router Bob McDavitt to determine best weather window/route to New Zealand.  Fortunately, they kept a few hours open each day to do a little napping on the boat & to simply absorb the lovely tropical view of the island from our boat.

Towards the end of our stay, our departure date for New Zealand kept changing due to revised weather forecasts.  But while waiting out some nasty windy weather over Tonga, we all somehow managed to simply enjoy hanging out at our last stop in the South Pacific - Big Mama’s tropical resort on Pangaimotu Island – before taking off for New Zealand on October 22nd.

Vava'u, Tonga

Vava’u, Tonga (September 28 to October 14)

We quickly shot down from Niuatoputapu to Vava’u to make sure that we were there before our friends Mari and Gary Campbell arrived from Alameda.  Mari and Gary are our neighbors in Marina Village and also members of the Oakland Yacht Club.  We value Gary’s 40+ years of sailing experience, including a Baja Ha Ha and blue water sailing in the Marshall Islands, south of Hawaii.

We left early in the morning, sailed all night and arrived at Neiafu late afternoon.  We hauled-ass the 175 miles because the unpredicted winds of about 20 to 25 knots kicked us along with some pretty nasty squalls. Other cruisers (Night Fly, a Dutch boat and Kagetora, a Japanese boat) who took off at the same time, were also caught off guard by the poor forecast.  Needless to say, this was a very long overnight due to rough sea conditions.  Despite all of this poor weather, at least Dennis was able to catch a 30 pound Dorado along the way.  After we got settled, we finally relaxed just long enough only to be bumped off our mooring ball a few minutes before darkness – we scrambled to find another mooring but ended up anchoring.

The Vava’u Group, in my opinion was cruiser haven, as it had a town with everything that cruisers desired – restaurants, internet, ATMs and laundry and was close to many beautiful anchorages.  We loved Neiafu; it was a cute town with great restaurants, including the Aquarium Café and Café Tropicana which were our favorites.    The town hosted a lovely produce market where there was a vast array of tropical fruits, vegetables and Tongan crafts.  Our ultimate decadence while in Neiafu was having fresh lobster caught by local fisherman for lunch on our boat!

As an added attraction, we got to experience “Rugby Mania” in Neiafu when Tonga beat powerhouse France.  The town literally went wild with jubilant celebrations - everybody was dancing in the streets and jumping on police cars; and then promptly at 10:00 p.m., the streets went dead silent as locals explained that they had to get ready for church the next day.

Sunday is a religious holiday and is strictly observed….most businesses are closed and swimming is strictly forbidden on Sunday.  In Tonga, going to any church service, is a very reverent and formal occasion where traditional Tongan clothing is worn.  We attended St. Joseph Cathedral for mass where I got to wear my lovely traditional Tongan dress made by our Samoan friends’ family. 

We spent a day in town with Mari and Gary Campbell before taking off to two lovely anchorages – Port Maurelle (#7) and Tapana (#11).  We all loved these anchorages because of their tropical settings, climate and of course warm aquamarine water.  Port Maurelle was a beautiful well protected anchorage with a sandy beach and sheltered cove which was nice for swimming.  It’s about a half hour walk to the village.  Tapana was also another beautiful South Pacific anchorage where Oregonians Sherri and Larry, owners of the Ark Gallery, now live in their cute little houseboat/gallery after escaping to Tonga a little over 20 years ago.  After they sailed here, they decided to make Tonga their permanent residence and now they run an art gallery, a delivery boat service and maintain mooring balls for yachtees.  While anchored at Tapana, we hoped to have a Tongan feast however there was no feast that night as the chef was too busy watching rugby games.  Close by was the La Paella restaurant run by a Spanish couple who also escaped to the South Pacific many years ago.

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga Pictures

Tonga

Niuatoputapu, Tonga (September 23 to September 27)

As hard as it was to leave Savaii, we decided to make tracks to Tonga so that we would be there well before our neighbors Mari and Gary Campbell arrived from Alameda.  Both Mari and Gary had sailed with us before along the California coast line. So we were delighted to have them sail with us through Tonga and to have Gary remain on board for the voyage to New Zealand.

The nice part of sailing to (and in) Tonga is that the distances are shorter with many nice stops along the way.  Tonga is filled with many beautiful island groups, including the Niuas, Vavau and Haapai groups.  Our first destination in Tonga, was Niuatoputapu, approximately 175 miles from Savaii (approximately 33 hours). 

We had some decent wind at the start and then again the next morning; however, the remainder of the trip was pretty light winds, so we needed to motor sail for most of the journey.  A Japanese sailboat, Kagetora, also followed along and motored sail most of this trip too.  As we crossed over the Curacoa reef/shoal area just before Niatoputapu, Dennis had four hook-ups at the same time – he caught a dog tuna, barricuda and two other fish that we had to let go due to a pod of whale activity extremely close to the boat.  These whales put on quite a show for us with their tales sticking out of the water – they were either mating or feeding but they were not paying attention to us, so we needed to let the fish go and speed up the boat to get out of harm’s way.

We crossed over the international dateline and lost a day on the way.  Fortunately, we made it to Niuatoputapu in time to check in with immigration and customs; we were glad that we were not quarantined on the boat for the weekend.  Niuatoputapu was a delightful island off the beat and track for most cruisers – besides us, there were only two other boats – one from Holland (Night Fly) and one from Japan (Kagetora).

We had an easy pass into the island with a protected harbor where we anchored Lardo.  It was well worth the stop to visit with the island people who see so few visitors.  Sia and her husband Niko hosted the cruisers for a lovely traditional Tongan luncheon – watermelon/coconut juice, papaya cooked in coconut milk, stuffed taro leaves filled either fish or chicken marinated in coconut milk, and smoked taro plant.  Later that day we attended mass at the Catholic Church – everyone wore traditional Tongan clothing – women wore the kiekie (a nicely decorated waistband) and the men wore taovala’s (a woven mat at the waist with woven sennit cord).  This is a sign of being “dressed up” and connotes respect for the church, their elders and the royal family.  The acapella singing at the service was far better than any performance at Carnegie Hall!

Western Samoa

Matuatu Bay, Savaii, Western Samoa (September 18 to September21)

Before we headed to Savaii, we obtained our cruising permit in Apia.  We motored from Apia to Matuatua Bay, approximately 45 miles.  Winds were light in the morning but picked up to about 10 to 12 knots in the afternoon.  Because Dennis was fishing and his first mate was a bit under the weather from some sort of stomach bug caught from fellow cruisers in the marina, Dennis opted to motor the distance (approximately 8 hours) instead of raising the sail. 

We found Matuatu Bay to be a beautiful anchorage that was protected by the reefs and with lovely white sand beaches and a few turtles.  There were mostly villagers, Kiwi, Aussie and Japanese vacationers and a few local pigs on the shore.  The bay also had excellent swimming and snorkeling off the reefs as well as a few nice (but spendy) restaurants at the resorts.    By this time, Dennis had caught the “cruiser” cold and we found this peaceful little bay an excellent place to get some rest and relaxation so that we could knock our bugs before our next leg to Niuatoputapu, Tonga.

Upolu Island, Western Samoa (September 9 to September 18)

Our passage from Pago Pago to Apia, Upolu was an easy over night, approximately 90 miles, with gentle trade winds averaging about 10 to 12 knots and a full moon to boot!  Lardo’s boat speed averaged between 5 to 6 knots……can’t ask for any better sailing.  During most of the passage we were either cruising along the American Samoan or the Upolu coast line, we could see land for most of the passage.  The only vessel that we saw was a supply ship that got pretty close to us – we contacted the ship to make sure that they were aware of us and they had indicated that they had us on their radar.

We stayed in the Apia marina – our first marina since we left Mexico six months ago.  It was a luxury to have marina facilities which included cold showers, toilets, water and power.  This made touring this wonderful island very easy as we did not have to dinghy ashore; we simply stepped off the boat to a real dock.

On the first day that we arrived, all of the government officials (port authority, immigration and customs) came to us.  We waited onboard most of the day while waiting for the officials to show up.  Because we arrived on a Friday, the officials were quite eager to finish up quickly and to start their weekend.  For most of the questions that we thought deserved a “YES” answer, they requested that we say “NO”.  This for sure made our check in a breeze at the end of a Friday!  Note that when we checked out, we had to go to all of the government agencies instead of them coming to us.

New Zealand was this country’s protectorate from 1914 to 1962; before that it was the German’s.  The Samoan’s still have a strong tie to New Zealand in business; food (such as yummy rich ice cream and other dairy products); language - Kiwi English is spoken; and they drive on the left-hand side of the road but oh it is still culturally Samoan just as we experienced in American Samoa.   In December this year, Samoa will switch their time zone to be on the other side of the International Date Line.

Fa’a Samoa is alive and well on both the American and Samoan islands.  Here’s a few of the traditions that are observed in both Samoan countries:

·         Sunday is a day of rest – most shops are closed so that the residents can attend church

·         Evening prayers are daily around sunset

·         Approximately 18,000 Matai Chiefs still have a strong presence in the villages

·         Swim suits are frowned upon; most Samoans swim fully dressed

·         Shoulders and knees must be covered for women when attending church – a lavalava is encouraged for women

While visiting Apia, we saw the fabulous farmers’s market where we loaded up on banana’s, mango’s, papaya’s, pineapple’s and other tropical produce grown on the island.  We also visited Robert Louis Stevenson’s beautiful island plantation home.  RLS settled on the island in the 1890’s with his family.  The Samoan’s gave RLS the name Tusitala, meaning “teller of tales”.

We were brave enough to rent a car and drive on the left side of the road.  We spent two days touring this lovely island – very lush tropical vegetation and a few interesting birds that we had not seen before such as the cardinal finch.  We found that because Samoa is a large island, that more agriculture is grown here.  We also suspected that because Samoa was no longer under an international protectorate (i.e., no welfare) that more people had to work for their survival.  The work day on most of these Samoan plantations started early at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 p.m.  We were quite impressed how these Samoan’s could walk with heavy loads of produce in banana leave baskets under the hot tropical sun.

During our stay we got to watch Samoan Rugby and found that this town went berserk over the sport – total Rugby Mania!  We couldn’t even get the men’s US Open tennis championship due to the Rugby World Cup going on at the same time.  Apia went crazy during the World Cup – every government office, business, restaurant, home, etc, all had the game on TV – every time Samoa scored we could hear a lot of hooting and hollering all over town.  We watch Samoa trounce Namibia and stayed an extra day to watch Samoa vs. Wales.  The second game was a well fought match with Samoa (10) losing to Wales (17) – after the game the city went dead quiet with lots of sad faces – you would have thought that an important leader was assinated.  Fortunately, Samoa gets one more chance to play against Fiji.

We had a delightful week here and were refueled for our next island in Western Samoa – Savaii.