Part 4 of 5 of Liz's letter home:
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Swimming into Mariners Cave |
As
I have mentioned, Vava'u has a very different feeling from the
Ha'apai. The first indication that we were in a new environment
(besides the dozens of boats that popped up on AIS as we approached
Neiafu) was the availability of a dedicated cruiser VHF channel
repeated across the entire group, complete with a morning radio net
seven days/week, hosted by local businesses that cater to yachties
and visitors. There are over 40 anchorages (all numbered) all
within about 10nm of each other, and there is always somewhere
protected to anchor. Everywhere we looked we saw boats going
by: an average of 500 boats visit Vava'u each year, and there are
also almost two dozen whale swimming operators, with over three dozen
boats in the water on any given day, so all in all, it seemed much
more crowded to us. On the bright side, this did mean that
there were more kid boats, and there was even Friday night racing.
One
of the advertised highlights of Vava'u is the opportunity to swim
into Mariner's and Swallows Caves. We anchored at Nuku (a very
pretty spot where I was also able to do some yoga on the deserted
beach), packed a picnic lunch, and headed out by dingy to see both
caves. The caves are similar on the inside, with lots of beautiful
rock formations, but totally different in the approach: a dinghy will
fit into the entrance of Swallows, while the access to Mariners is
from under water, so a person must dive down and swim about 12ft to
access the cavern.
Our
first stop of the day was at Mariner's Cave. We sent Max first,
then Johnathan and Max, then Victoria and Max, while I 'volunteered'
to watch Benjamin in the dinghy. Finally, there was no avoiding
the fact that it was my turn. With all the time I have spent on
my yoga mat in the last ten years, I knew I would be able to hold my
breath for the entrance, but I had never quite gotten around to the
practice swims under the keel that Max had suggested. On the
other hand, I had read on various cruising blogs that Mariner's was
not to be missed, so I was not going to let either my fear or lack of
preparation get in the way of seeing it.
All
this made sense to me as we were planning the outing; however, I must
admit that as I floated on the surface, looking at the dark and
shadowy entrance six feet under the water, and considering the anemic
glow from my dive flashlight, while endeavouring to do deep/steady
breathing to prepare myself to dive and hold my breath, I was not
having any success at steadying the hammering of my heart!
Johnathan told me that it would take 15 seconds to arrive in the
cave. When I finally got myself under the water and began
stroking strongly through the dark under the entrance, counting
slowly in my head, it seemed like the longest 15 seconds of my life!
It also seemed like it might be my last 15 seconds! I wondered how
on earth I had gotten myself into this situation, and in fact, had to
remind myself firmly that "we can do hard things" (a
favourite quote from Glennon Doyle), and to keep swimming. As
it turned out, having been told not to come up too early at the risk
of knocking my head on an overhanging rock, I swam pretty much half
way across the cave before surfacing to gasp for breath :) Once
inside, I felt a mix of the elation of accomplishment and the dread
that there was no way out of the cave except underwater. At
least this time I would be swimming towards the light. I am not
sure if I was hyper-ventilating from the swim itself, from the shock
that I had made it and was still alive, or from the actual sense of
accomplishment, but suffice to say that it took a few minutes to get
my breath back!
Inside Mariners Cave. Note the fog that forms as the ocean swell changes the pressure in the cavern. |
While
we were in the cave, the air was constantly fogging and clearing, as
every wave hitting the underwater entrance reduced the air volume and
raised the pressure enough to cause water droplets to form (and our
ears to block); they dissipated and the air cleared instantly as the
waves backed off. We didn't have to go far for our science
lesson on this day!! My return to the surface was kind of
funny: I dove down, swam towards the light, felt a sense of
relief to be outside the cave in the clear, and then noticed that I
still had six feet to swim before I could actually breath because I
was still deep under the water!
Liz and Johnathan on the surface while I dive down for a better picture |
Once
back at the dinghy, I realized that, having survived it, I didn't
really want to go back into the cave. I took this as my cue to
do it again: I wanted to know (to prove?) that my first visit was not
a fluke. This time it was Victoria's turn to do a
mother/daughter cave swim. It took me just about as long to
psych myself to dive for the second time as it did for the first, but
after a couple of aborted attempts (not quite coordinating the dive
down with the entrance to the cave), I managed to swim in and come to
the surface just inside the mouth of the cave, which turned out to be
much easier! I felt kind of proud to have done something that
everyone knew was outside my comfort zone, and it inspired me to
consider free-diving some more (maybe even with a course). I'm
pretty sure that without diving at Mariner's I would not have heard
the whale song when we returned to the Ha'apai, as I would not have
swum down our anchor chain to listen.
Victoria playing with the fish in Swallows Cave. |
After
Mariner's, Swallows Cave was quite uneventful! We dinghied over
and anchored at the mouth of the cave, picnicking while we waited for
a tour group to finish, then we all went inside, including Benjamin
who, having sat out the morning was quite pleased with himself for
swimming into a cave. Swallows is famous for its late-afternoon
colours, so we timed our visit for the end of the day. In
addition to the obvious features of schooling baitfish and beautiful
light, Johnathan and Victoria worked together to hold the dinghy
under one of the vertical outcroppings, then Johnathan channelled his
inner monkey to climb up and leap off. The water was clear and
deep, so he was perfectly safe, but I had to admire his bravery,
using fingers and toes to climb a good 2-3x his height up a narrow
vertical edge (ie not a wall) before jumping.
Walls are of course made to be climbed ... |
We
spent as few days as possible in Neiafu (the capital of Vava'u) as we
preferred to be out at anchor, but we were fortunate to be in town
for one of the weekly Friday night races organized by a waterfront
bar. Racing isn't really my thing, but Max went ashore to see
if he could crew with someone, and the result was an enjoyable
evening for all of us. There were three boats at the pre-race
meeting, one of which was a catamaran with quite a big contingent.
They invited him to join them, but his eye was caught by a quiet
couple in the corner who seemed a little more like his type of
sailors. In his words: "A catamaran with a massive and
loud crew offered me a position but there was a quiet couple who were
not seeking any crew. I asked if I could go with them and what
a good call that was. Not only did we win - which is always
nice - but the boat was really well set up and run extremely well by
the husband and wife team. Later I found out why they were such
great sailors - the husband used to be the professional skipper of
Steinlager II and the wife is the daughter of the late Sir Peter
Blake. Great folks. The rest of the crew were some great
Tongan guys who were good sailors and had great stories from setting
up the whale watching industry in the early days. The race
flowed into a few after race beers to a full blown party ashore."
Fluenta in the middle of the race course. A nice evening of racing with great sailors. |
Victoria
volunteered to be our designated photographer with the 'big' camera,
so she and I stayed on the upper decks of Fluenta, and watched the
race along the harbour with front row seats :) Along with our
friend Paul from Romany Star, who happened to be in Neiafu for a
couple of days, and whom we had previously invited to Fluenta for
dinner, we had a great evening with friends both old and new at the
post-race party. [Aside: When the Romany Star visited Tonga
last year, they decided to return with laptops for the highschool in
Niuatoputapu, the remote group north of Vava'u, and after a year of
fundraising, Paul had flown to deliver the laptops as far as Neiafu,
after damage to Romany Star prevented him making the trip himself.
Another yacht took the laptops the rest of the way the following
month. Hats off to the Romany Star for seeing a need and finding a
way to meet it.]
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Stay tuned for the final installment shortly ...
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