Money, Money, Money

Well Neiafu certainly takes its toll on the cruising kitty. We came in here on Thursday to re-provision and clear out for the Ha'apai group, 60 miles south of here. By the time we got through food, laundry, 20 litres of gas and 20 litres of diesel, the money seemed like it disappeared, The gas and diesel cost TOG 150.00 (about 100.00 CAD). We're both pretty glad we can sail most everywhere here as running the diesel is getting expensive. Checking out of Vava'u was strange. Although we are not leaving the Kingdom of Tonga, we had to clear out with immigration and customs. We also had to pay our port fees, based on gross tonnage, ours came to TOG 7.40. When we get to Ha'apai, we have to go through the process again, check in with immigration, customs and the port authority and when we leave, check out. It keeps people employed. All the records are kept in beautiful ledgers, painstakingly written out longhand, very Dickensian. We went to the yacht club last night for the weekly race and prize-giving. It was packed! There has been 15-20 knots of consistent wind so the race was pretty close. The winner took the line by half a boat length. They don't bother with handicaps here and every boat that participates wins a prize of some description. The idea for today is off to the market for more fresh food, pick up a loaf of whole wheat bread that we ordered yesterday, pay our mooring fee and then sail south to Ovalau Island for the night before leaving at 04:00 Sunday for Ha'apai.

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