Into the Ha'apai - In Photos - The First Visit

After the capital of Tongatapu we headed north to the Ha'apai group.  It is similar to the Tuamotus yet does not seem to be much visited by cruisers compared to the busy Vavu'a group to the north.

We only had a month immigration visa out of Tongatapu so we were a bit time constrained on this first visit to the group.

Johnathan up the mast guiding us in between the reefs

His view down to Fluenta.

Time for a drink Island-style

Time for a drink Island-style

Time for a drink Island-style with our new friends from Kitenga

Anchored off Don MacIntyre's HQ on Nomuka Iki.  We met Don briefly when we were in Tonga four years ago.  He has either been on an adventure or sponsoring adventures for the last few decades.  Interesting guy.

Unfortunately Don was not home as he is rather busy running the Golden Globe Race.

Canada Day and, as usual, Victoria and her helper have been busy.

Canada Day and, as usual, Victoria and her helper have been busy.

Canada Day and, as usual, Victoria and her helper have been busy.

Tongan cupcake.

Not all beaches and parties though.  Benjamin doing French.

but still time for lego

close reaching between the islands in Ha'apai.

and Trickle is launched in Uoleva.

A great anchorage at Uonukuhifo (Lobster Island).

We actually found a message in a bottle.

Liz's yoga helper.

The great sandspit between Uonukuhifofo and Uonukuhahaki Islands

The north end of Uonukahahaki Island to do some kite surfing

Bonfire time

Marshmallows !

and of course some stick fighting at sunset

Benjamin fell and headbutted one of the big winches.  Lots and lots of blood ("Dad, my blood is leaking out").  Cleaned up here.

Benjamin showing off his steristrips.  It was reassuring that the mum on Kitenga is a nurse so we had some oversight.

Great big anchorage and hardly any boats in the whole group yet this catamaran decided to anchor right beside us.

A rainbow runner for the fridge.  Tasty.

Heading to the Pangai market.  A little sparse compared to Tongatapu.

Victoria and I waiting in Pangai for Liz to get back from shopping. Not very busy in town.

Tongatapu in Pictures - Return to Big Mama's and More.

After our nice passage from NZ to Tonga we spent a few days in Tongatapu catching up on logistics and renewing some acquaintances from our previous visit four years ago.

Liz wrote about it here:  http://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/2018/07/tongatapu-to-haapai-big-mamas-market.html  and now here are some photos:

Tied up at the sea container port to clear customs and immigration.  Much quicker than last time and nicer than the nasty dock in the inner harbour.

The ebbing tide and the big wall made embarking and disembarking a challenge so Johnathan rigged the boom as our swinging bridge.

The new-to-us outboard died so the little 2hp came to the rescue while I had a part machined.  A perfect size motor for Benjamin.

Playing tourist.  The Royal Palace.

The shop in the market that remembered Liz.

And Anna, aka Big Mamma, holding Benjamin.  The photo in the background is of her champion swimmer son.  We spent lots of time at her resort in 2014.

Always maintenance to catch up on.  Benjamin sort of helping.

And drilling holes.  What could go wrong ? Check out his facial expression.

Fixing the fridge.  Again.

A welcome gift to the Haapai.  This fed us for awhile.

and a welcoming rainbow.

NZ to Tonga - Passage Photos

Yes, a bit of gap in updating the blog but we will try to catch up before we leave Tonga.  Here are the photos from our passage from NZ to Tonga.  Liz wrote about the passage starting here: http://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/2018/06/nz-to-tonga-day-1-2-beautiful-start-to.html

Our first time wing-on-wing in several years.  Lots of windward work to and from the Marshall Islands so we were out of practice.  Hard to see but the mainsail is vanged down hard with the preventor rigged from the end of the boom to a padeye near the bow and back to a winch in the cockpit.

Genoa poled out to windward.  The pole has fore and aft guys as well as an uphaul so the pole is independent of the genoa and can stay in place if we furl or gybe the genoa.  We also use a running sheet on the genoa which we sheet off a snatch block on the toerail forward of our normal sheet lead position.

Details of the end of the spinnaker pole: fore and aft guys and uphaul holding the pole in place, the running sheet taking the load and the two lazy genoa sheets not in use.  Ideally the pole tip would be slightly higher to line up with the clew of the genoa.

In the past we have had the spinnaker pole come off its track and plummet to the deck.  Rather unsettling when you are the foredeck.  We have wired the retaining pin shut and then, with likely massive overkill, added a retaining line with a rolling hitch.

Staysail lashed in case we need it in stronger winds.  We also have a very small, tough storm staysail

Victoria plotting our position on the chart

Light air sunrise.

Light air.  Less than 3 kts of wind.  Motor on to get ahead of the ugly weather that is forecast to be following us.

And then faster.  Close reaching in 18 kts of wind doing over 8 kts.

Tired looking watchstander.  Victoria stands 0430 to 0830 on passage.

Benjamin watching too.

Benjamin and I brushing up on our meteorology.

and checking the navigation

Finally, heading through the pass into Minerva Reef.  We have been there three times now but still have someone watching on the bow as we enter.

One of the luxuries onboard is our fishfinder.  We do not really use it for finding fish but rather for determining the bottom contours as we enter reef areas and to help with finding a smooth place to anchor if we cannot see the bottom.  It also shows the depth down to almost 3000' so it also gives us more warning of shoaling water than our depth sounder that only sees to about 300'.  The previous owners of Fluenta installed an expensive Furuno transducer to go with the system.  Unfortunately it died last year so during our Tauranga haulout we asked the local electronics guy what our options would be.  The "full solution" is of course replace the transducer but that would over $1000 in parts and lengthen our yard visit.  The head of Bay Marine Electronics, Rob, came over a visit despite us warning him we are rather budget constrained.  He confirmed that the fancy transducer was indeed dead but he realised he had a similar transducer that had been installed and then removed from another boat we could have for $80 as long as I knew it would not have a warranty as it had no wiring plugs and I would need to splice the system together.  Works really well and Rob only charged 15 min of labour for his visit.  I would totally recommend Bay Marine Electronics if you are in Tauranga.

  

A gift from the Minerva Reef pass: a bluefin tuna.  Here it sits in the "bleeding" bucket with Minerva Reef just visible in the distance

a bit of meat !

The sashimi does not get much fresher ...