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!