One Year Cruising Anniversary in Tonga

Back to Port Maurelle, where we dinghied to a cliff of trees covered with flying foxes (fruit bats); close up photos revealed adorable teddy-bear like faces peeking out from their upside down black wing cloaks. 

Chris and I went for a walk to the nearby village – huge solar arrays and a new electrical cord getting buried along the street, water catchment basins, one room homes with outdoor bathrooms, pigs with their piglets, and beautiful gardens.

Off to a new location, Tapana (Anchorage 11), which was an excellent place to practice our wing-foiling, Calder making huge strides foiling on his non-dominant leg. 

Dinghying over toward shore, we tied to concrete pier with friendly locals directing us between their fishing lines.  For this Wisconsin girl, our walk to town through cows and horses amongst palm trees was hilarious and unexpected. 

Sadly, also along the way were piles of garbage (lack of infrastructure as well as increased disposable products).  Into the town, we were happy to find a small Chinese store to buy a few necessities and ice cream, a large rat scurrying from one aisle to the next.  Most of the many small grocery stores here are owned by the Chinese. 

We passed a one-room police station, the size of an outhouse, and were greeted by the many Tongan-speaking children who were all smiles and loud English “hello’s” and “good byes!” 

That evening, a local artisan boat family selling crafts came to the boat; I could not resist the beautiful woven pandanus leaves baskets. 

Food here is challenging, as we continue to pick out weevils from our rice and toss mite-infested oats, killing ants that cross our kitchen (from where?!), despite my recent deep clean of all my kitchen cabinets.  We signed up for a Sunday beach lunch/dinner of Basque Tapas (authentic tapas including Pulpo a la Gallega – octopus, chorizo and camembert on bread, mahi-mahi with caramelized onion, Bistecca bites, paella, and sangria). 

How does Basque food end up on a remote beach in Tonga?  The Basque owner explained to us how he had sailed to Tonga as a teen with his father, enrolled in school, married a local woman, and became a school teacher and restaurant owner.  One of his teenage children explained how he started homeschooling recently to get into New Zealand college. 

It is our one year “cruising anniversary,” as we moved on board Terikah in San Diego one year ago, and we spent the evening reflecting as a family.  Great to contemplate memories from all the locations we’ve covered (San Diego, Mexico, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands, Niue, and Tonga), as well as our ocean passages.  We talked about our biggest challenges (“hair everywhere” was Chris’ answer), our biggest rewards (the feeling of accomplishment), and posed the question we will ask every 6 months – do we keep sailing for another 6 months?  The resounding answer for all 4 Terikah crew members is YES; so we are committed to sail until April 2025, then we will revisit again. 

In Alaska, we experience earthquakes while on land; we experienced our first earthquake on the water!  We were all sitting quietly doing schoolwork when the boat started to tremor…such an odd feeling.  Yes, confirmed – a 6.8 earthquake deep in the Tongan Trench (the second deepest trench in the world to Mariana Trench).

Back again to Anchorage 31 where we worked and made some adjustments in the school year, finding curriculum that fit each child a bit better, adjusting to different needs and learning styles.  The strong tradewinds here limit anchoring options.  There are over 40 listed, but really only a handful that are good in strong trades.  Calder had a stellar day when he wing-foiled from our boat to a nearby tiny sand island; where we all enjoyed an island excursion with fun games. 

The snorkeling here has not always been breathtaking (dead coral), but I can always delight in little treasures, from clown fish tucked in anemones to sea fans that quickly tuck into the sand when you wave your hand near them.   We had a sea snake slither up our port swim step before returning to the ocean; he must have been lost!  

Stunning to walk across the island from our protected calm anchorage to see the huge waves crashing on the shoreline.

The older kids had a campout in a cliffside location that felt like the pines of Idaho meets the South Pacific, soon dubbed “Rat Camp.” 

Cora and Megan’s camp consisted of two hammocks strung between trees, the boys had a ground shelter built near a stump.  Calder woke to a giant rat on his foot; the stump belched out rats into the night, running around and over them, stealing Oreo cookies, and generally causing mayhem and disgust!  After two hours of this, the boys abandoned their shelter and moved over by the girls’ lovely rat-free abode. 

Before we left, we had a progressive dinner party between a handful of boats, starting with hors d’oeuvres on SV Starry Knight, wahoo and salads on SV Terikah, and desserts on SV Ella; so fun to move our group of 16 people around and feast! 

We spent the next day scurryfunging the boat, which hadn’t been done to this level since leaving Mexico; our boat needed a little love after all this ocean crossing!

Back to the town of Neifu for 3 nights on a mooring ball to take care of logistics and pick up Alaskan family (Gpa Terry, Gma Erin, and Uncle Trav)!  We decided to rent a car for 24 hours to get stuff done. 

We loaded up on groceries from a combination of stores around town, mostly owned by Chinese people with an occasional Tongan-owned store.  The famous ‘Utukalongalu Market sourced us with piles of fresh fruit and veg, the best find being a full banana stalk. 

Other stops included the bank for cash (it’s a cash market here with very few stores taking cards), the deli for meat order/pickup, a custom t-shirt shop (boat shirts!), and the Immigration Office to extend our stay for a month.  Town means a break for Chef Jen and we went out every night and for one breakfast.  Great location to pick up family. 

We unpacked their bags of goodies for our friends (an alternator) and ourselves (windlass motor, fishing lures, school computers for the kids, among more).  The next morning, we checked out at Customs from the northern island group of Tonga and paid our fees; we need to check-in/out of each of the three major island groups we are visiting.

We took the family back to Port Maurelle to experience swimming in the other-worldly underwater turquoise light show inside Swallow’s Cave, pure magic.  Fruit bats in trees were plentiful, many with their babies clutching their mamas.

Stopped at Anchorage 16 briefly to drop off dinghy parts to David, parts that were ordered to Alaska then brought here in suitcases, then sailed to this remote Tongan family.  We were thanked with coconuts, papaya and pumpkins that I picked with one of the daughters.  Our 3-hour sail to our next anchorage had many of us a bit green, as we had lost our sea legs in the calm anchorages.

Our new anchorage Maninita Island, was an absolute treasure, as we wound through a very tight reef-lined pass,  Ella’s dinghy guiding us in. 

Only a couple boats can fit comfortably in the small anchorage where we delighted in the fish while snorkeling and the plentiful birds on shore as we walked. 

We topped off the night with a sunset beach cookout with family and friends.

Up early to get underway the 55 nm to the middle Tongan island group of Ha’apai which is comprised of 62 islands including barrier reefs, shallow lagoon, and low-lying coral atolls. We sailed under our asymmetrical almost the entire passage, all of us a bit “off” as we regained our sea legs. 

The total land mass of the Ha’apai group is less than 43 square miles, and those islands are spread over no less than 4,000 square miles of ocean.  Of the 62 islands in the Ha’apai group, only 17 are inhabited. On those 17 islands, there are approximately 8,000 people settled in 30 villages. As throughout Tonga, all but a few of the population are of Polynesian descent. Income for these islanders is from agriculture and/or fishing. However, as in much of Tonga, the largest source of income is remittances from family members living abroad. The remarkable maritime history of the Ha’apai includes the well-known explorers Captains Tasman, Cook, and Bligh.   The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred here in 1789.

Arrival to Ofolanga Island in the Ha’apai group just before dark, set the anchor in wonderful sand with good holding.  Greeted by an after-passage sunset.