Tonga (pt 2) Septemeber 27 2006

Hi everyone.Time to finish on Tonga. I'm writing this on the dog watch 18 hours out ofNeiafu. We left you on our way back into Neiafu to get our FedExes and letJoe meet up with his island chick, Huli. Well, of course the windlass broke downagain just after our last report, so Joe and I had to haul the thing up byhand which was definitely not fun. The upshot of it all was it wasn't thewiring we thought. So the powers that be took a look and were sure,positive, unquestionably, it was a main cable that had been poorly splicedby Richard, the Raiatea electrician. After quite a do, that wasn't it, sowe got a real electrician to look, and it's the little 12V power wire forthe solenoids. Of course, again, we can't see where it could be broken orcorroded, nor can we easily pull a new wire, so the guy showed us how to jump it from the main power withalligator clips. I'm happy to report that this is working just fine, butwe've added the problem to our growing list of NZ fixes.So we finally got back to Neiafu, picked up the mail, and discovered thelong awaited new kayak paddles (the ones that initially went to Road Town),were 2 left halves with no joining piece. I have to say West Marine hasbeen great and they shipped out 2 more which we've since received. Wealmost didn't leave today because DHL, the only courier delivering to Vava'u(I had to yell at FedEx and pay extra to get the mail from Nukalofa toVava'u), screwed around with our last shipment. The stuff was sent 8/29,but then the King of Tonga for the last 50 years died. Well, everythingcame to a halt including, on the day of the funeral, the flight from NZ withour stuff. No problem except there are only 2 flights a week, so that meantit got to Nukalofa on Sat. Supposed to be on the first flight to Neiafu onMonday, so we checked out and got our duty free fuel. No package. "Oh, itwill be on the first flight on Tuesday". Okay, party on. Called on Tuesdayabout 9--flight is supposed to get in at 7, and they tell us they sent it byship. After the captain went nuts, they called back and said it was amistake and the package was there. We got it about 10 and left immediately,but DHL has just been awful every time we've used them. No choice again inFiji so we'll keep our fingers crossed.Anyway back to Neiafu--a few days after we were there, the local wateringhole threw a benefit for a youth organization. No tux, but I wore aconservative Hawaiian shirt. They had a goofy auction which we decided tosupport by bidding on a bunch of booze, a massage and some artsy stuff forRose. Now this was supposed to be a silent auction that closed at 9 or 10,the older crews' new bedtime!!?? Finally, at 11 or so, they announced thatthey were now going to have a live auction of the stuff. So we didn't waitand, even though we were ahead on our items, didn't get anything. I guesswe did our job getting the prices up, though.While waiting to get the windlass repaired, we decided to take a "cartsafari" around the island. These are one and two seater dune buggies andyou get to drive with a guide vehicle in front, and go off road to all thesecool places a car can't go. Rose and me in one, Joe in another. We hadbefriended the owner and while we didn't get a deal, we went out quite a bitlonger than scheduled. Unfortunately, that cut into happy hour. One guyflipped his, and the dummy put out his arm to stop himself instead ofstaying inside the roll bars. We don't think he broke anything, but he washurtin' for certain, and we didn't see him again.We've run into all sorts of people. Just last night a couple that charteredfor Moorings and who I met 7 years ago rolled in after a similar experience to ourssailing down from New Potatoes. Earlier that week a guy named Peter from SAcame in on a boat named Shoestring, and he knows Tom and Deirdre Lubbe fromVoyage, and Matthew and Michelle from the BVI, who are now working onHomeMag for Sean and Debbie, etc., etc., etc. You get the idea. Everyoneis very friendly and we've made a lot of plans to meet up with people in NZwhen we all get there. Whew, and I thought this would be a short one.Believe it or not, I'm leaving a lot out.After a week or so in Neiafu, we decided, windlass permitting, to go out andabout again, especially as there was another full moon party that Saturday.Joe, in the meantime had annoyed Huli to the point they weren't speaking anddidn't mind leaving for a while. The guys at the bar even stopped teasinghim about setting a date for the wedding! First stop was a little islandand small resort called Muonu, where we had a really good dinner and met afew English photographers. Their leader wasn't there as he had a heartattack or something--not what you want to do in Tonga!! Rose enjoyedtalking to her countrymen. They sure talk funny. As we were waking up thenext morning, you could actually hear the whales "talking" through the hullfor about an hour. Yes, folks, this is like National Geographic! Then itwas off to the full moon party, but in typical bureaucratic fashion, thegovernment wouldn't let them sell alcohol, so it was BYO. Personally, Ithink they had a bigger turnout as a result--about 200 people--even thoughdrinks at the last one were only 5 pa'anga (about $2.50). We stayed thereanother night. Oh, almost forgot, Joe got tanked and took a swim with theexpensive cell phone his Tahitian chick had bought him--cooked it. Rose, ofcourse, was spilling her wine, and finally she just gave up and threw thelast glass all over her front. The captain, as always, was a picture ofdecorum this time. ( However, I have been forced by the crew to admit that I was overserved at Mermaids and irritated a few people. I have no recollection of the event.) Then we took off for a totally enclosed lagoon at Hunga Island.This was where we had to leave when the windlass went down the first time.A bit dicey getting in the narrow entrance, but beautiful with a coolfishing lodge. We actually went back there again later. So the weather gota bit dodgy, and we decided to go back to Neiafu for a few days inpreparation for our departure and to get our last parts. I take that back.We stopped at Port Meurelle again for another beach BBQ, then went back. Of course, Joe, trying to chop wood for the fire, managed to slice his leg open with the machete. I threatened to use the surgical stapler, but we settled on butterfly bandages. Should be a nice scar.Joe had befriended the guys who own one of the whale sightseeing boats andgot a freebie and then actually got a deck hand job and went out threetimes. Rose's Lymes has been acting up and it as rough, so we didn't go. Then there weremultiple going away parties, etc. Joe never did patch it up with Huli andthen decided to go after her visiting cousins. Have not gotten the reporton that yet. Last minute addition--Joe says he did patch it up with Huli, but still no cousin reportOn our way our, after we raised the main, we took a run past the waterfront and everyone waved as Joe blew the conch shell. Davy, from Sailing Safaris, even rang the bell at Mermaid's for us. Really nice, but we're always sad to leave our new friends. Being a gypsy has its advantages, but not at moments like this.We're anxious to get to Fiji as we're meeting up with a Kiwi couple we metin Tonga, and Hein and Vic are supposed to finally leave NZ with a firststop there so we can hang out with them too. When we finally did departthis morning, it was blowing 30 knots with 10-15 seas, so, for the firsttime since leaving the BVI we put a reef in the main. The riggers told meit wasn't necessary until 37 knots, but why risk it? Anyway, it is all deaddownwind so the wind and seas are not bothersome, and we are making recordtime. I reckon we've averaged 10 knots so far, and have regularly beensurfing in the teens with a high of 18.8Kn.Well, I think that's it for now. Even though nobody calls, we'll give youour Fiji phone number when we arrive.Tim, Rose & Joe