Aug-Dec 2010
Samoa to New Zealand at Last!
Suwarrow- American Samoa Aug/2010
Great sail used our spinnaker for hours making a nice smooth sail. 1st hr. out we catch a nice yellow fin tuna, nothing
like sashimi on a passage. Neil is reeling them in, a 56 inch Mahi this time. While on a passage there are radio (single
side band) nets you can check into so people can keep track of ea. other and stay safe, but by now the topic was “Neil
what are you using for lures!!!” Just before entering Pago Pago we hooked a beautiful 200 lb. black Marlin, which of
course we let go, but wow did she fight and just an awesome fish.
American Samoa
Pago Pago
Time for the check in process, ea. country is different so it’s always fun to see what hoops need to be jumped. This time
we wanted to clear in and out so we had no clue how it would go. It was not hard but really crazy we ended up going to
7 different offices, almost all in same building. The funniest part was sometimes it was the same guys. We give
paperwork; they look at it or sometimes stamp it, give you something back and send you to the next office where you
will see the same guy running in from a back door to the window to greet you AGAIN! Ok that done we did a bus ride
to an Ace hardware and a package store! Big shopping, new blender & toaster oven since this is American Samoa all
appliances are 110 NOT the 220 like the rest of the pacific. Well really Ace Hardware is a big deal when you’re out
cruising; who would have thought that would be exciting!!
Samoa
Apia
Just an overnight short hop into the Apia marina. Everyone is really nice here & all authorities come to your boat so no
running around. While the immigration guys are on board Neil tells them he wants to hook up with Petelo Suluape, the
only guy who still does the traditional method of tattooing. Well they happen to know him that is who did their tattoos,
and they offered to take Neil to see Petelo. In Samoa it is tradition to have a Pe’a, full legs up to hips tattoo, even the
women have them but they are more delicate with flowers. So Neil says while you’re gone I’m going to get a tattoo from
this guy. Now traditional tattoos are done with boars teeth on a stick and that is hammered into your skin after dipped
in ink! Sound fun??? Not to me.. but those of you who know Neil, well let’s just say he now has a beautiful reminder of
Samoa covering his entire right calf.. hum only 6 hrs. Of pain from 9pm til 3am!!!
Tonga, Sept 2010
Niua Topu Tapu
I had a great few weeks with kids and now back to Attitude so time to go. Fantastic sail all the way 20-25 knots of
wind we flew 8 plus knots. We ended up reefing in to slow us down so we didn’t get there in the middle of the night.
Crossed the International Date Line so we lost an entire day! Now I have to figure 1 day later but 7 hrs. earlier than the
family, crap that’s a math problem!. So NiuaToputapu has 790 people on it and most are related, our cute single girls
who came onboard to check us in told us. We mentioned a single hander coming in the next day, which was not old,
boy were they excited! Beautiful ridge in middle of island we decide to hike it with Marie and Simon (Stella Maris).
Everyone says just ask anyone they can show you the trail and guide you up and over. Cool we met a young girl Kato
and she says yea I’ll take you. As usual our nice walk was a 6 hr. hike leading us to cliffs with 50 ft drops and no other
way down, Neil “oh just jump out to this tree and swing down to this rock” YEA RIGHT! Obviously Kato was lost too.
Not a great feeling when she stops looks down and then backtracks a bit all going hummmm . It all turned out ok, only
one big gouge in my leg and that was because I was doing the happy dance once we made it down the 1st cliff and a
rock rolled down and got me! Once down we headed for a glorious fresh water grotto boy did that feel great, until we
got out and saw we were sharing it with the pig around the corner HA. 7 boats here now so Cia, who seems to run the
“tourism” deal here, set up a dinner for all of us. It was to make money for the women weaving mats. Mats are a big
deal here, they are worn over your clothes from chest or waist down and are worn to show respect for the king, weird
and HOT.
Some of the little ones were dressed up and danced for us the traditional dance even all greased up.
All the people of NiuaTopuTapu were so nice but is was sad to walk the island; they were hit with a lg. tsunami one yr.
ago. The evidence was still so clear as some Tongans were still in tents.
VaVa’u Tonga Sept&Oct.2010
VaVa ‘u is the northern group of islands after the Niuas .
The mooring charter boats list 42 anchorages well we didn’t
do all but hit a few going back and forth to town every few days or so.
Port Maurelle,
Sailed to VaVa’u in mixed choppy sea, making it a beat into
the nasty stuff. So once we anchor we find salt water in lots
of places we don’t want it! Plus at night a lg. wave came over
and somehow water went down our companionway, meaning
the computer got wet! After we got everything cleaned up we
were able to enjoy what an awesome spot this was, Clear beautiful water and rocky cliffs! I loved kayaking around the
bay exploring sm. beaches and shell hunting like always. Dream Time (Claudia & Jorg) were already there and had done
some diving so we went on a nice dive with them the next day to Ava island.
Also did the Swallow cave (pic left) from P Maurelle. The idea is to go in good light but we were leaving the next day so
went on over while a bit over cast. Very cool place, once you dinghy in you can tie your dinghy and climb to an inside
cave also. We lucked out the sun shown just for a bit before it poured rain for hrs. The dinghy ride back to Attitude was
not fun, cold and rain can actually hurt!
Neiafu
Off to town we go. Here you have to grab a mooring ball and then try to find out who owns it! Nice little town, cafes,
Internet, bars, shops, a few restaurants and a great market. Crow’s Nest has great muffins, while Tropicana had
fabulous bread, just an fyi. We even broke down and did a “cruiser” thing, had tropical tees make us some Attitude t-
shirts. While in town we went to hear Nigel a producer for BBC who provided a film, Fantastic Invasion of Whites in
Polynesian society, pretty interesting also had a film the next week when we were back in town, this one Cowboys in the
Pacific. One morning on the net someone said wow that was a good one, Ill check on any tsunami reports! We just
experienced a sm quake ha like it was no biggy! We stayed a few days got our “town “fix and headed out to
Taunga nice snorkeling lg. manta shrimp, guinea fowl puffers and some sort of anemone that looked like a red shag rug
with clown fish buzzing in and out of.
Kalau & Hunga Oct 2010
These islands are huge into humpback
whale watching this time of yr. and we
hear on the radio all the time oh saw a
mom and calf, oh breaching out here.
FINALLY we saw some, Talk about
being in awe, such beauty and grace amazing! Found some good snorkeling in an area called blue lagoon, lots of little
fish, Neil still looking for some big guys to hunt. Walked into “town” never really found it but had a nice walk for a few
hrs. to s.w. side of island and a beach. Nice young boy walking with a basket full of papayas and a machete so we ask if
we can buy some.
Lautala really pretty spot only boat there so we took a long walk around the island nice beach low tide so good shelling.
Very sm octopus (maybe blue ringed) in the shallows about 2 inches of water, was not happy to see us and started
throwing his ink! Lots of the blue/purple starfish, really they look like they are made of play dough colors. Neil found a
great Marble cone.
Kenutu This place a bit tricky to get into but wow worth it. You need really good light because you have to work your
way around a few reefs. We finally got in but it was I’m sure amusing watching us from the anchorage, we would go “oh
that looks like a good path, opps NO back up!, head another directions and try again. Once in it was like Oh yea no
problem! Nice path to other side of island beautiful cliffs and blow holes with the tropic birds flying around, really pretty.
Neil and I snorkeled out to cut in the reef, tons of cool things a Rock mover wrasse ,Fiji fang blennies and some great
shells.
We like reefs:
We always anchor close to reefs and check the tide to see how much we have under the keel. This time we goofed,
after snorkeling N & I were below for hrs. working on projects, when we came up we looked and said wow this is
shallow… DUH low tide N goes to jump in to check the keel and its only chest high, and N is not exactly an amazon
Now we need no less than 8 feet, YEP we are sitting on coral! Not great for the rudder. Scuba tank on Neil goes
under and tries to chisel a bit of the coral (its dead or we would NOT be doing that) to free the keel. HUMMMM an hr.
of that we just sit and wait 3hrs until the tide goes up then pull in some chain. Ok that all done and over only a little
chunk out of the keel N goes to put the dinghy up on our davits. Kathy….. Come here look what I found, inside the
dinghy is a nice sea snake!! Neil was just in the dinghy and we just heard on the radio a guy got bit by one and it was
not good!
Kulo stopped for few hrs. on our way back to Neiafu to snorkel the coral gardens we heard about. Well we talked to
another boat and got some directions to a nicer stop BUT never found it. Ended up in the coral gardens which N says
was …ok.
Reloaded in Neiafu,bread, muffins, market found a great pizza place OVAVA ,and did internet. Kase James Michael
Martin was born oct 11th so thanks to skype I got to see my newest and 5th grand!
Avalau last stop in VaVa’u. I kayak over to explore the beach and found a few donkey eyes which I have not seen in
the pacific so I’m a happy camper
Ha’apai Group Tonga Oct&Nov 2010
Underway Neil caught a 22 lb skip jack tuna. But the big one got away! The big guy took off and the line went zinging
away finally just broke free but did manage to break the clicker on the reel. Yea I know another fish story! Ha’apai is
another beautiful group of islands south of the VaVa’u group time to explore some more yippee.
Ofolanga Ha’apai
Our 1st stop in Ha’apai boy did we pick a good one. Just at dusk Boree calls on the radio to Artimo (the other 2 boats
in the anchorage) “hey look behind your boat WHALES!!” 2 of them just cruising the anchorage. Nice way to start our
Ha’apai experience. Next a.m. we had a wind change and the other 2 boats left. Attitude’s anchor was holding well so
we stayed went to the beach and had a nice 3 hr walk. Turned out to be best shell day in 7 years! We found some
awesome lg., shiny Map& Tiger cowries and some great geography cones. Plus we had 10 dolphin all around our
dinghy as we came back to Attitude from shore
Ha’ano 46 in Mahi on the way to Ha’ano, fish head soup for dinner yum! The anchorage is really pretty with a lg
mushroom rock in the middle .Good snorkeling here too. Really cute sm red and white starfish, 5ft Napoleon wrasse,
and a sea snake swimming out around the coral heads.
Luahoko , Nukunamo & Foa
quick stop at Luahoko island just to check it out. Well nothing there but stinky dead birds! No shells and Neil said no
fish to hunt. Moving on to anchor for the night we head over to Nukunamo & Foa. We anchored in front of the cut
between the 2 islands. 2 more gorgeous beachs. Ingi on Boree called a resort we heard about but don’t see and we
make a plan to go in for dinner. Nice little place called Mofounamo lodge, on the point of Foa, fantastic view of the
ocean, beach and Nukunamo. We met Sally and Dave the nice owners and a New Zealand couple Glen & Janie . Well
of course we picked Glens brain as to weather and sail to NZ.
Lifuka
We needed to check in and out of Ha’apai so we went to the customs guys 1st. He looks at our papers looks at our
passports and says “well you guys look alright have a nice time in our town” Now that was easy! Off to the bank and
Mariners café, a cool little place owned by a young polish girl. Aleene and Bruce on Migration came in as Bert, Ingi ,
Neil and I were enjoying one of our MANY sangrias ,great way to pass an afternoon. Checked out the “store”, a sm.
room with metal shelves, where N did find some cereal, back to Mariners café to get an hr of internet and off we go!
Uoleva
My kind of island, wonderful sandy beach that just went on and on. Neil & I did a 4 hr walk and didn’t even get around
it but I did find lots of cool cone shells! Also a really interesting resort, Serenity, hidden in the trees a few thatched roof
huts and a nice lg space for dining and hanging out, the owner Patti does healing touch. We did another few 4/5 hr walks
the other way around the island just to make sure we didn’t miss anything . Finally decided to cut through so we
worked our way thought the “jungle” Neil didn’t even have his machete ha… my only concern were the wild pigs so I
had my eyes and ears on alert. But no pig Adventure. Neil did have another sea snake adventure as he was taking a
shower on the transom one kept coming back on board slithering onto the step! Neil kept throwing him off but the
sucker kept coming back.. Lets just say he isn’t swimming back again. After I saw how tenacious he was I handed N a
knife, NO WAY was I going to shower in the dark with that guy slithering around!
Uanukuhahaki This might be the best island name yet. Sailed with 20-25 knots again Neil racing Boree, although I’m not
sure Boree knows he is racing. Just about into the anchorage and almost in front of Boree and our Jib started to fly from
the top! Not good, we did manage to furl it in which was good. Anchored and Neil went up the mast to check it out.
Seems we lost a shackle on the head of the jib(the thing that holds the top of the jib on). Humm.. we have a consistant
20-25 knots not a good time to try to take the sail down to fix the rip in it, so we will wait it out maybe sail the next
island with main sail only! Hit the beach shell hunting had a great walk but nothing special in shells. We did see a lg bull,
strange it’s a sm beach island and this huge bull was just hanging out. Neil did his cow impression and the bull actually
looked over at him, Bert on Boree told N be prepared,, he has been alone a while HA!
Not in the tropics anymore Dorothy!!!
Nomuka-iki
sailed over to Nomuka-iki in coats and long pants, YIKES what happened? The good news; dolphins at the bow for
about an hr. Always makes the trip worth it. Finally had a calmer day, took jib down and poor Neil had stitched through
4 layers of sail material ALL day long. Cooks, sews & gathers coconuts, I have to keep him!
Kelefisia
Ok this one wins in my book. Fabulous clear WARM water, awesome island with cliff of limestone and beautiful rocky
formations on ea. end of the island, with pristine sandy beaches in between! Our shock was seeing footprints and then a
man (Orion) walking out of the trees! He lived there and wanted us to follow him, So We did . He had a sm cement
room with a mattress (not smelling good even from the outside) and hundreds of fish hung out to dry. Plus he had an
octopus trees, really he had tons of octopi hung up stretched on sticks so it looked like a bunch of kites in a tree, very
Halloweenish. I guess, since he spoke no English, Spanish or French and we don’t speak Tongan,that fishermen bring
their catch and he dries it .
Ok let’s go explore we walk around one side coming closer to the end which is like I said all cliff and rocks. Well you
know N, hey no problem I think we can just climb a bit til we reach other side with beach, ok cool. We climb up and
down and up and on a ledge and down where all that is left is a ridge VERY narrow ridge that is an undercut, N “yea
just climb up here and we can make it” he went 1st and he did not tell me it was a long crawl on a ledge FULL of
guano!!!!(Bird poop)! Well yes that was a new adventure and it was fun to see the entire island it only took us 4 hrs!
But I can do without the crawling through POOP..
TONGA TAPU Nov.-6-10
Nuku’Alofa :
An 8 hr sail and one 4ft Wahoo,
which we had decided we didn’t like and would
not keep anymore BUT N changed his mine!
Guess what we ended up pitching it AFTER
N fileted & bagged it! Big mama is a woman who
owns a really cool restaurant/bar on the water, called
Big Mamas! One eve the few boats in the anchorage
hung out eating and drinking and had a nice treat,
Sharon on Larabek played her fiddle for us and Burt
on Boree barrowed a guitar to join it. A great eve
especially with Big Mamas fried coconut chips YUM!!
A buz in the air for sure and NOT just the alcohol, we all were planning our trip to New Zealand. Ea . a.m. the men
would meet at big mamas for the weather /route meetings, yea right it was no doubt a man’s coffee clutch!! But that’s ok
we let them get away with it and the collection of weather info was really good. Tonga had been one of the friendliest
places we have found. We took a water taxi to the big island where town was to check things out. It was a holiday,
which no one could tell us what it was, so nothing was open but a taxi guy asked where we wanted to go. Well N was
still having some infections from his Tat, so we wanted a pharmacy . The guy took us to the hospital gave us a phone
and said call when you’re done. So in we go, can’t get the drug we want w/o a script so we go to the waiting room,
packed FULL, and ask the nurse for the script. She is so nice says well you have to see a doc but I’ll get you in so you
don’t have to wait. Ok so I “think” I hear N name called and we walk back up but no one in the office part hum. A local
guy sees us walking around a bit and asks if we need help, nah I say I just thought we heard our name the nurse will be
back and we will ask. So he asked what the name was, goes in the back and says, yes they called you go on back..
wow huh! Here is the strange part, we go back BUT it is a hospital room with someone IN the bed! People are lined up
next to it and on the chairs by the bed, you have to wait there, pass the poor lady in bed and go to a sm room behind
that!!!!
Getting ready for the passage off to check out of country, immigration, and customs and topping off fuel. Neil cooking
like a fool while I’m securing things on Attitude and enclosing the cockpit with our plastic panels ready for “weather”.
Like I said not in the tropics anymore! Worried about the things we have heard re:New Zealand and the things they take
I sent an e off to ask about shells.. You all know I have a ton on board still some really nice big spider conch, trident
trumpets and cones. My great relief a replay came back saying no problem! Hurray now I don’t have to try to hide them!
Passage to New Zealand Nov. 11-10
Ok I think we are all ready to go , this is said to be the toughest passage in the Pacific ,Neil told me this would be the
best passage ever, well we will see! 16 boats left Nuku’alofa for New Zealand with a plan to have a roll call ea. morning
on the single side band, to make sure everyone is safe. Our anchor was up at 10:15 nice 15-20 knots to begin with but
once and awhile the wind would just die. Guess who was at the helm, and I guess I was not fast enough to compensate
and before I got the engine on Attitude seemed to do a nice graceful pirouette .Ok so 2 pirouettes in my 7 1/2 yrs not
bad I don’t think! So we are dressed in coats and long pants AGAIN but a nice 154 mi day reefed in at night.
Day 2&3: seas are getting bigger (NOT FUN) 35 knots of wind so we are rock”in and a roll”in. My heal-o-meter, that’
s what I call our inclinometer, since it shows me how much we are healing, reached 35 degrees that is A LOT of healing.
So we are rocking Attitude is flying, and WATER salt water is pouring in attitude in all kinds of new places. This is our
best passage??? I mean it was so rough I was thinking about getting our ditch kit out and ready. (a bag with lots of the
stuff you need to survive if you need to lv the boat). Seriously the waves were 15ft high.
Finally nice SUNNY day 20 25 knots and waves are down,,ahhhh now this is sailing(at least my kind ). Bringing in the
jib the Starboard line was flapping and hit the already rotten plastic on the dodger.. BIG hole, ok I got some packing
tape and a nice zip lock to patch it up, well it isnt look pretty but didn’t get wet, at least through that hole!
Day 5: The usual cruiser day: The good news was it was nice and sunny 1st time we had gone out of the cockpit. Bildge
pump not working we haul it out (it’s in the sole/floor to keep the boat from filling up it pumps any water out) Neil takes
it apart, cleans the mess around it up and replaces it with a new one , while I’m on my knees dipping a cup into the
greasy slim water using a grabber(those things they show on tv for old people to reach stuff) for a hr or so.. ok all fixed
. Sailing alone nice day wow Chart plotter decides it needs a rest and just turns off a few times hum? Well we just
crossed our fingers and it stayed on, just showing us who the boss is. Now Neil goes below and yells crap we are not
charging so he starts to mess with the alternator. SPARKS…ok not a good idea now it not going to wk for sure. Poor
Neil than had to take that alternator off, we do have a backup sm one so all is not lost. The worst part is now we did not
have enough juice to make micro wave popcorn! I know sounds silly but hey when you have 1-7am watch popcorn is a
big deal and we heard they take your popcorn away in New Zealand. The day was not all that bad we did have a really
nice green flash at sunset.
Winds calmed too far down and we ended up motoring the last day and ½, but Neil
was finally able to fish and caught 6 tuna! Entering the bay to Whangerei looks like
you are in Scotland with all the cliffs and fields really pretty even with all the clouds
we had that morning. The 4 miles to Marsden Cove Marina (for check in) was
splattered with Small fishing boats everywhere. One guy was reeling one in as we
passed not 50 ft from him, looked up as Neil asked if he did this for all the tourist,
and said Welcome to New Zealand! Nice way to start our NZ journey! Easy entry
into the country, Bruce the friendly customs guy came onboard and even gave us a gift!
Really we have NEVER had customs officers bearing gifts before, maybe the other
way around when a bribe was needed HA! Plus it was a nice bottle of Sav Blanc with
wine glasses that had a strap to go around your neck,, how cool is that you can snack
and drink! Helen our friendly quarantine officer only took our fresh stuff, let us keep
cheese and didn’t even bother with my shells and wood objects..
Yep we like New Zealand.
11-20-10 The work begins YIKES
Found a nice spot in Riverside Drive Marina were Attitude will be transformed in the next few months.
She will get the full spa treatment!
Painting the Hull/painting her bottom/pull mast sandblast and paint both that and the boom/repair the boom
gooseneck/New canvas Bimini and dodger/shelves added to a few lockers/new horseshoe/ almost all new lines/sail
refurbishing /new Vhf radio/some new lighting AND many many other projects!
We will do our U.S tour,(Fl.,NY, Ga.,and Cincinnati) then head for our ski month in Whistler B.C . Canada.
Back in Feb to do all the work we lined up for, hoping for a “now the work is done” to be on the next web story along
with all the exploring we are planning on AFTER we work!
Samoa to New Zealand at Last!
Suwarrow- American Samoa Aug/2010
Great sail used our spinnaker for hours making a nice smooth sail. 1st hr. out we catch a nice yellow fin tuna, nothing
like sashimi on a passage. Neil is reeling them in, a 56 inch Mahi this time. While on a passage there are radio (single
side band) nets you can check into so people can keep track of ea. other and stay safe, but by now the topic was “Neil
what are you using for lures!!!” Just before entering Pago Pago we hooked a beautiful 200 lb. black Marlin, which of
course we let go, but wow did she fight and just an awesome fish.
American Samoa
Pago Pago
Time for the check in process, ea. country is different so it’s always fun to see what hoops need to be jumped. This time
we wanted to clear in and out so we had no clue how it would go. It was not hard but really crazy we ended up going to
7 different offices, almost all in same building. The funniest part was sometimes it was the same guys. We give
paperwork; they look at it or sometimes stamp it, give you something back and send you to the next office where you
will see the same guy running in from a back door to the window to greet you AGAIN! Ok that done we did a bus ride
to an Ace hardware and a package store! Big shopping, new blender & toaster oven since this is American Samoa all
appliances are 110 NOT the 220 like the rest of the pacific. Well really Ace Hardware is a big deal when you’re out
cruising; who would have thought that would be exciting!!
Samoa
Apia
Just an overnight short hop into the Apia marina. Everyone is really nice here & all authorities come to your boat so no
running around. While the immigration guys are on board Neil tells them he wants to hook up with Petelo Suluape, the
only guy who still does the traditional method of tattooing. Well they happen to know him that is who did their tattoos,
and they offered to take Neil to see Petelo. In Samoa it is tradition to have a Pe’a, full legs up to hips tattoo, even the
women have them but they are more delicate with flowers. So Neil says while you’re gone I’m going to get a tattoo from
this guy. Now traditional tattoos are done with boars teeth on a stick and that is hammered into your skin after dipped
in ink! Sound fun??? Not to me.. but those of you who know Neil, well let’s just say he now has a beautiful reminder of
Samoa covering his entire right calf.. hum only 6 hrs. Of pain from 9pm til 3am!!!
Tonga, Sept 2010
Niua Topu Tapu
I had a great few weeks with kids and now back to Attitude so time to go. Fantastic sail all the way 20-25 knots of
wind we flew 8 plus knots. We ended up reefing in to slow us down so we didn’t get there in the middle of the night.
Crossed the International Date Line so we lost an entire day! Now I have to figure 1 day later but 7 hrs. earlier than the
family, crap that’s a math problem!. So NiuaToputapu has 790 people on it and most are related, our cute single girls
who came onboard to check us in told us. We mentioned a single hander coming in the next day, which was not old,
boy were they excited! Beautiful ridge in middle of island we decide to hike it with Marie and Simon (Stella Maris).
Everyone says just ask anyone they can show you the trail and guide you up and over. Cool we met a young girl Kato
and she says yea I’ll take you. As usual our nice walk was a 6 hr. hike leading us to cliffs with 50 ft drops and no other
way down, Neil “oh just jump out to this tree and swing down to this rock” YEA RIGHT! Obviously Kato was lost too.
Not a great feeling when she stops looks down and then backtracks a bit all going hummmm . It all turned out ok, only
one big gouge in my leg and that was because I was doing the happy dance once we made it down the 1st cliff and a
rock rolled down and got me! Once down we headed for a glorious fresh water grotto boy did that feel great, until we
got out and saw we were sharing it with the pig around the corner HA. 7 boats here now so Cia, who seems to run the
“tourism” deal here, set up a dinner for all of us. It was to make money for the women weaving mats. Mats are a big
deal here, they are worn over your clothes from chest or waist down and are worn to show respect for the king, weird
and HOT.
Some of the little ones were dressed up and danced for us the traditional dance even all greased up.
All the people of NiuaTopuTapu were so nice but is was sad to walk the island; they were hit with a lg. tsunami one yr.
ago. The evidence was still so clear as some Tongans were still in tents.
VaVa’u Tonga Sept&Oct.2010
VaVa ‘u is the northern group of islands after the Niuas .
The mooring charter boats list 42 anchorages well we didn’t
do all but hit a few going back and forth to town every few days or so.
Port Maurelle,
Sailed to VaVa’u in mixed choppy sea, making it a beat into
the nasty stuff. So once we anchor we find salt water in lots
of places we don’t want it! Plus at night a lg. wave came over
and somehow water went down our companionway, meaning
the computer got wet! After we got everything cleaned up we
were able to enjoy what an awesome spot this was, Clear beautiful water and rocky cliffs! I loved kayaking around the
bay exploring sm. beaches and shell hunting like always. Dream Time (Claudia & Jorg) were already there and had done
some diving so we went on a nice dive with them the next day to Ava island.
Also did the Swallow cave (pic left) from P Maurelle. The idea is to go in good light but we were leaving the next day so
went on over while a bit over cast. Very cool place, once you dinghy in you can tie your dinghy and climb to an inside
cave also. We lucked out the sun shown just for a bit before it poured rain for hrs. The dinghy ride back to Attitude was
not fun, cold and rain can actually hurt!
Neiafu
Off to town we go. Here you have to grab a mooring ball and then try to find out who owns it! Nice little town, cafes,
Internet, bars, shops, a few restaurants and a great market. Crow’s Nest has great muffins, while Tropicana had
fabulous bread, just an fyi. We even broke down and did a “cruiser” thing, had tropical tees make us some Attitude t-
shirts. While in town we went to hear Nigel a producer for BBC who provided a film, Fantastic Invasion of Whites in
Polynesian society, pretty interesting also had a film the next week when we were back in town, this one Cowboys in the
Pacific. One morning on the net someone said wow that was a good one, Ill check on any tsunami reports! We just
experienced a sm quake ha like it was no biggy! We stayed a few days got our “town “fix and headed out to
Taunga nice snorkeling lg. manta shrimp, guinea fowl puffers and some sort of anemone that looked like a red shag rug
with clown fish buzzing in and out of.
Kalau & Hunga Oct 2010
These islands are huge into humpback
whale watching this time of yr. and we
hear on the radio all the time oh saw a
mom and calf, oh breaching out here.
FINALLY we saw some, Talk about
being in awe, such beauty and grace amazing! Found some good snorkeling in an area called blue lagoon, lots of little
fish, Neil still looking for some big guys to hunt. Walked into “town” never really found it but had a nice walk for a few
hrs. to s.w. side of island and a beach. Nice young boy walking with a basket full of papayas and a machete so we ask if
we can buy some.
Lautala really pretty spot only boat there so we took a long walk around the island nice beach low tide so good shelling.
Very sm octopus (maybe blue ringed) in the shallows about 2 inches of water, was not happy to see us and started
throwing his ink! Lots of the blue/purple starfish, really they look like they are made of play dough colors. Neil found a
great Marble cone.
Kenutu This place a bit tricky to get into but wow worth it. You need really good light because you have to work your
way around a few reefs. We finally got in but it was I’m sure amusing watching us from the anchorage, we would go “oh
that looks like a good path, opps NO back up!, head another directions and try again. Once in it was like Oh yea no
problem! Nice path to other side of island beautiful cliffs and blow holes with the tropic birds flying around, really pretty.
Neil and I snorkeled out to cut in the reef, tons of cool things a Rock mover wrasse ,Fiji fang blennies and some great
shells.
We like reefs:
We always anchor close to reefs and check the tide to see how much we have under the keel. This time we goofed,
after snorkeling N & I were below for hrs. working on projects, when we came up we looked and said wow this is
shallow… DUH low tide N goes to jump in to check the keel and its only chest high, and N is not exactly an amazon
Now we need no less than 8 feet, YEP we are sitting on coral! Not great for the rudder. Scuba tank on Neil goes
under and tries to chisel a bit of the coral (its dead or we would NOT be doing that) to free the keel. HUMMMM an hr.
of that we just sit and wait 3hrs until the tide goes up then pull in some chain. Ok that all done and over only a little
chunk out of the keel N goes to put the dinghy up on our davits. Kathy….. Come here look what I found, inside the
dinghy is a nice sea snake!! Neil was just in the dinghy and we just heard on the radio a guy got bit by one and it was
not good!
Kulo stopped for few hrs. on our way back to Neiafu to snorkel the coral gardens we heard about. Well we talked to
another boat and got some directions to a nicer stop BUT never found it. Ended up in the coral gardens which N says
was …ok.
Reloaded in Neiafu,bread, muffins, market found a great pizza place OVAVA ,and did internet. Kase James Michael
Martin was born oct 11th so thanks to skype I got to see my newest and 5th grand!
Avalau last stop in VaVa’u. I kayak over to explore the beach and found a few donkey eyes which I have not seen in
the pacific so I’m a happy camper
Ha’apai Group Tonga Oct&Nov 2010
Underway Neil caught a 22 lb skip jack tuna. But the big one got away! The big guy took off and the line went zinging
away finally just broke free but did manage to break the clicker on the reel. Yea I know another fish story! Ha’apai is
another beautiful group of islands south of the VaVa’u group time to explore some more yippee.
Ofolanga Ha’apai
Our 1st stop in Ha’apai boy did we pick a good one. Just at dusk Boree calls on the radio to Artimo (the other 2 boats
in the anchorage) “hey look behind your boat WHALES!!” 2 of them just cruising the anchorage. Nice way to start our
Ha’apai experience. Next a.m. we had a wind change and the other 2 boats left. Attitude’s anchor was holding well so
we stayed went to the beach and had a nice 3 hr walk. Turned out to be best shell day in 7 years! We found some
awesome lg., shiny Map& Tiger cowries and some great geography cones. Plus we had 10 dolphin all around our
dinghy as we came back to Attitude from shore
Ha’ano 46 in Mahi on the way to Ha’ano, fish head soup for dinner yum! The anchorage is really pretty with a lg
mushroom rock in the middle .Good snorkeling here too. Really cute sm red and white starfish, 5ft Napoleon wrasse,
and a sea snake swimming out around the coral heads.
Luahoko , Nukunamo & Foa
quick stop at Luahoko island just to check it out. Well nothing there but stinky dead birds! No shells and Neil said no
fish to hunt. Moving on to anchor for the night we head over to Nukunamo & Foa. We anchored in front of the cut
between the 2 islands. 2 more gorgeous beachs. Ingi on Boree called a resort we heard about but don’t see and we
make a plan to go in for dinner. Nice little place called Mofounamo lodge, on the point of Foa, fantastic view of the
ocean, beach and Nukunamo. We met Sally and Dave the nice owners and a New Zealand couple Glen & Janie . Well
of course we picked Glens brain as to weather and sail to NZ.
Lifuka
We needed to check in and out of Ha’apai so we went to the customs guys 1st. He looks at our papers looks at our
passports and says “well you guys look alright have a nice time in our town” Now that was easy! Off to the bank and
Mariners café, a cool little place owned by a young polish girl. Aleene and Bruce on Migration came in as Bert, Ingi ,
Neil and I were enjoying one of our MANY sangrias ,great way to pass an afternoon. Checked out the “store”, a sm.
room with metal shelves, where N did find some cereal, back to Mariners café to get an hr of internet and off we go!
Uoleva
My kind of island, wonderful sandy beach that just went on and on. Neil & I did a 4 hr walk and didn’t even get around
it but I did find lots of cool cone shells! Also a really interesting resort, Serenity, hidden in the trees a few thatched roof
huts and a nice lg space for dining and hanging out, the owner Patti does healing touch. We did another few 4/5 hr walks
the other way around the island just to make sure we didn’t miss anything . Finally decided to cut through so we
worked our way thought the “jungle” Neil didn’t even have his machete ha… my only concern were the wild pigs so I
had my eyes and ears on alert. But no pig Adventure. Neil did have another sea snake adventure as he was taking a
shower on the transom one kept coming back on board slithering onto the step! Neil kept throwing him off but the
sucker kept coming back.. Lets just say he isn’t swimming back again. After I saw how tenacious he was I handed N a
knife, NO WAY was I going to shower in the dark with that guy slithering around!
Uanukuhahaki This might be the best island name yet. Sailed with 20-25 knots again Neil racing Boree, although I’m not
sure Boree knows he is racing. Just about into the anchorage and almost in front of Boree and our Jib started to fly from
the top! Not good, we did manage to furl it in which was good. Anchored and Neil went up the mast to check it out.
Seems we lost a shackle on the head of the jib(the thing that holds the top of the jib on). Humm.. we have a consistant
20-25 knots not a good time to try to take the sail down to fix the rip in it, so we will wait it out maybe sail the next
island with main sail only! Hit the beach shell hunting had a great walk but nothing special in shells. We did see a lg bull,
strange it’s a sm beach island and this huge bull was just hanging out. Neil did his cow impression and the bull actually
looked over at him, Bert on Boree told N be prepared,, he has been alone a while HA!
Not in the tropics anymore Dorothy!!!
Nomuka-iki
sailed over to Nomuka-iki in coats and long pants, YIKES what happened? The good news; dolphins at the bow for
about an hr. Always makes the trip worth it. Finally had a calmer day, took jib down and poor Neil had stitched through
4 layers of sail material ALL day long. Cooks, sews & gathers coconuts, I have to keep him!
Kelefisia
Ok this one wins in my book. Fabulous clear WARM water, awesome island with cliff of limestone and beautiful rocky
formations on ea. end of the island, with pristine sandy beaches in between! Our shock was seeing footprints and then a
man (Orion) walking out of the trees! He lived there and wanted us to follow him, So We did . He had a sm cement
room with a mattress (not smelling good even from the outside) and hundreds of fish hung out to dry. Plus he had an
octopus trees, really he had tons of octopi hung up stretched on sticks so it looked like a bunch of kites in a tree, very
Halloweenish. I guess, since he spoke no English, Spanish or French and we don’t speak Tongan,that fishermen bring
their catch and he dries it .
Ok let’s go explore we walk around one side coming closer to the end which is like I said all cliff and rocks. Well you
know N, hey no problem I think we can just climb a bit til we reach other side with beach, ok cool. We climb up and
down and up and on a ledge and down where all that is left is a ridge VERY narrow ridge that is an undercut, N “yea
just climb up here and we can make it” he went 1st and he did not tell me it was a long crawl on a ledge FULL of
guano!!!!(Bird poop)! Well yes that was a new adventure and it was fun to see the entire island it only took us 4 hrs!
But I can do without the crawling through POOP..
TONGA TAPU Nov.-6-10
Nuku’Alofa :
An 8 hr sail and one 4ft Wahoo,
which we had decided we didn’t like and would
not keep anymore BUT N changed his mine!
Guess what we ended up pitching it AFTER
N fileted & bagged it! Big mama is a woman who
owns a really cool restaurant/bar on the water, called
Big Mamas! One eve the few boats in the anchorage
hung out eating and drinking and had a nice treat,
Sharon on Larabek played her fiddle for us and Burt
on Boree barrowed a guitar to join it. A great eve
especially with Big Mamas fried coconut chips YUM!!
A buz in the air for sure and NOT just the alcohol, we all were planning our trip to New Zealand. Ea . a.m. the men
would meet at big mamas for the weather /route meetings, yea right it was no doubt a man’s coffee clutch!! But that’s ok
we let them get away with it and the collection of weather info was really good. Tonga had been one of the friendliest
places we have found. We took a water taxi to the big island where town was to check things out. It was a holiday,
which no one could tell us what it was, so nothing was open but a taxi guy asked where we wanted to go. Well N was
still having some infections from his Tat, so we wanted a pharmacy . The guy took us to the hospital gave us a phone
and said call when you’re done. So in we go, can’t get the drug we want w/o a script so we go to the waiting room,
packed FULL, and ask the nurse for the script. She is so nice says well you have to see a doc but I’ll get you in so you
don’t have to wait. Ok so I “think” I hear N name called and we walk back up but no one in the office part hum. A local
guy sees us walking around a bit and asks if we need help, nah I say I just thought we heard our name the nurse will be
back and we will ask. So he asked what the name was, goes in the back and says, yes they called you go on back..
wow huh! Here is the strange part, we go back BUT it is a hospital room with someone IN the bed! People are lined up
next to it and on the chairs by the bed, you have to wait there, pass the poor lady in bed and go to a sm room behind
that!!!!
Getting ready for the passage off to check out of country, immigration, and customs and topping off fuel. Neil cooking
like a fool while I’m securing things on Attitude and enclosing the cockpit with our plastic panels ready for “weather”.
Like I said not in the tropics anymore! Worried about the things we have heard re:New Zealand and the things they take
I sent an e off to ask about shells.. You all know I have a ton on board still some really nice big spider conch, trident
trumpets and cones. My great relief a replay came back saying no problem! Hurray now I don’t have to try to hide them!
Passage to New Zealand Nov. 11-10
Ok I think we are all ready to go , this is said to be the toughest passage in the Pacific ,Neil told me this would be the
best passage ever, well we will see! 16 boats left Nuku’alofa for New Zealand with a plan to have a roll call ea. morning
on the single side band, to make sure everyone is safe. Our anchor was up at 10:15 nice 15-20 knots to begin with but
once and awhile the wind would just die. Guess who was at the helm, and I guess I was not fast enough to compensate
and before I got the engine on Attitude seemed to do a nice graceful pirouette .Ok so 2 pirouettes in my 7 1/2 yrs not
bad I don’t think! So we are dressed in coats and long pants AGAIN but a nice 154 mi day reefed in at night.
Day 2&3: seas are getting bigger (NOT FUN) 35 knots of wind so we are rock”in and a roll”in. My heal-o-meter, that’
s what I call our inclinometer, since it shows me how much we are healing, reached 35 degrees that is A LOT of healing.
So we are rocking Attitude is flying, and WATER salt water is pouring in attitude in all kinds of new places. This is our
best passage??? I mean it was so rough I was thinking about getting our ditch kit out and ready. (a bag with lots of the
stuff you need to survive if you need to lv the boat). Seriously the waves were 15ft high.
Finally nice SUNNY day 20 25 knots and waves are down,,ahhhh now this is sailing(at least my kind ). Bringing in the
jib the Starboard line was flapping and hit the already rotten plastic on the dodger.. BIG hole, ok I got some packing
tape and a nice zip lock to patch it up, well it isnt look pretty but didn’t get wet, at least through that hole!
Day 5: The usual cruiser day: The good news was it was nice and sunny 1st time we had gone out of the cockpit. Bildge
pump not working we haul it out (it’s in the sole/floor to keep the boat from filling up it pumps any water out) Neil takes
it apart, cleans the mess around it up and replaces it with a new one , while I’m on my knees dipping a cup into the
greasy slim water using a grabber(those things they show on tv for old people to reach stuff) for a hr or so.. ok all fixed
. Sailing alone nice day wow Chart plotter decides it needs a rest and just turns off a few times hum? Well we just
crossed our fingers and it stayed on, just showing us who the boss is. Now Neil goes below and yells crap we are not
charging so he starts to mess with the alternator. SPARKS…ok not a good idea now it not going to wk for sure. Poor
Neil than had to take that alternator off, we do have a backup sm one so all is not lost. The worst part is now we did not
have enough juice to make micro wave popcorn! I know sounds silly but hey when you have 1-7am watch popcorn is a
big deal and we heard they take your popcorn away in New Zealand. The day was not all that bad we did have a really
nice green flash at sunset.
Winds calmed too far down and we ended up motoring the last day and ½, but Neil
was finally able to fish and caught 6 tuna! Entering the bay to Whangerei looks like
you are in Scotland with all the cliffs and fields really pretty even with all the clouds
we had that morning. The 4 miles to Marsden Cove Marina (for check in) was
splattered with Small fishing boats everywhere. One guy was reeling one in as we
passed not 50 ft from him, looked up as Neil asked if he did this for all the tourist,
and said Welcome to New Zealand! Nice way to start our NZ journey! Easy entry
into the country, Bruce the friendly customs guy came onboard and even gave us a gift!
Really we have NEVER had customs officers bearing gifts before, maybe the other
way around when a bribe was needed HA! Plus it was a nice bottle of Sav Blanc with
wine glasses that had a strap to go around your neck,, how cool is that you can snack
and drink! Helen our friendly quarantine officer only took our fresh stuff, let us keep
cheese and didn’t even bother with my shells and wood objects..
Yep we like New Zealand.
11-20-10 The work begins YIKES
Found a nice spot in Riverside Drive Marina were Attitude will be transformed in the next few months.
She will get the full spa treatment!
Painting the Hull/painting her bottom/pull mast sandblast and paint both that and the boom/repair the boom
gooseneck/New canvas Bimini and dodger/shelves added to a few lockers/new horseshoe/ almost all new lines/sail
refurbishing /new Vhf radio/some new lighting AND many many other projects!
We will do our U.S tour,(Fl.,NY, Ga.,and Cincinnati) then head for our ski month in Whistler B.C . Canada.
Back in Feb to do all the work we lined up for, hoping for a “now the work is done” to be on the next web story along
with all the exploring we are planning on AFTER we work!
| WELCOME TO ATTITUDE Neil & Kathy's Sailing Adventures |
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