The Cruising Life

After our obligatory couple of hectic days in Neiafu we did get out and sailed down to Tapana Island. We sailed off the mooring in Neiafu with spectators so that was fun and then managed to sail the whole way with about 30 minutes of power tacking to clear between a couple of small islands as we pounded head to wind. Our friends Barry and Ann were here off Cats paw IV who we hadn't seen since Bora-Bora so it was great to catch up with them again. We got together with a few boats that night onboard "Linda" and 1957 Rhodes cutter, beautiful boat! Friday was a slow day with a lazy morning and a bit of snorkelling. The weather was not too bad but there has been a distinct lack of sunny days. We were told that the locals were hosting a feast on shore on Saturday and we decided to go. Well there were over 60 of us all in all and it was great. The whole village gets into the act with local artisans selling their wares before the dinner. They started the night with a display of Tongan dancing. They were great and of course at the end of the dance they came and grabbed people to go up and dance with them. Once again, I got grabbed and Cathy did as well. We had a riot. The dancers ranged from early to late teens and all of us had a lot of fun. Dinner was laid out on long tables covered in leaves with the food presented either wrapped in tarrow leaves, laid out in large local celery, in half green mango's, or in half coconut shells. The cooked food was all prepared in a big umu (earth oven) and they spent most of the day preparing for the feast. The charge TOG 40.00 per person and it was well worth it. No plates, no utensils, you eat with your fingers. The food was prepared and portioned per person. There was LOTS of food. After dinner, there was a mad exodus but a few of us stayed and sat around with the family and the musicians. There was a banjo player and 2-3 guitar players as well a couple of wooden drums. The drums got passed around to a few of us and we banged away quite happily. They sang traditional songs, drank kava, and talked. The kava was very weak but it was shared around. Sunday was clean up day and Cats Paw IV hosted a pot-luck on Sunday night. By the time Sunday night came around the weather had turned for the worse. By late afternoon it had started to rain steadily. While we sat below on Cats Paw IV, the rain lashed down, the lightning flashed, the wind howled. We played dice. Monday was the sunny day we were hoping for and it was calm so Cathy and I walked into the village in the morning. Later in the afternoon Cathy and I along with Ann from Cats Paw took the dinghy and went over to Fafini Island and snorkelled the reef; lots of fish and coral. I saw one lobster hiding in the reef and Ann found an octopus. I towed the dinghy along with us so when we got tired we stopped, hopped in and went over to explore another reef. No matter where we go, we always see something interesting. We had quiet night on Monday and Tuesday, after I got a haircut courtesy of Sheri in the Ark Gallery, we took the dinghy and went out exploring. Sheri and Larry are great. They first came here in the mid 80's and have been more of less here since then. About 8 years ago they built a small floating home/gallery in the bay by Tapana Island and out in 10 moorings. Everything is well maintained and the mooring charge is reasonable. As I was getting my hair cut, Sheri chattered on about this and that and mentioned that Larry had been out Sunday night during the wind, rain and lightning checking the moorings and making sure all the boats were all right. He couldn't understand why no one on their boats. I told her we were all on Cats Paw IV and had no worries about the state of the moorings so, no problem. Wednesday we decided to take off for the day and then come back to the mooring. The weather is forecast to turn ugly again and this is a nice protected place with good moorings. We let go the mooring and sailed slowly out to Euakafa Island. The cruising guide said that the snorkelling was very good as there was good water flow through a break in the reef. We anchored just at lunch and went for a walk on shore before swimming. The beach was hard packed and sand was very fine, almost powder like in places. We met another couple from NZ on shore, Bruce and Ricky off Seagoing, a steel cutter from Tutukaka. They mentioned that they are looking for someone to housesit next year and who knows it might work out. The snorkelling was the probably the best we have seen so far on the trip. As soon as we got in the water, we saw a large stingray slowly swimming along the reef below us. It got better! The coral was large, colourful and healthy. By the time we got into the pass to swim to the other side of the reef we started to see fish by the thousands. I remember clearly, watching National Geographic specials with Jacques Cousteau and seeing massive schools of fish where they were diving. This was pretty close. As we swam along the other side I decided to dive down and take a closer look. Once underwater, I started to hear whales. It was eerie and beautiful at the same time. We both listened but never saw the whales. Hearing them was, in its own way, just as special. We got back to the mooring at the Ark Gallery late afternoon after another very pleasant day of the Cruising Life.

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