After nine days at sea we are finally sitting still again. It feels very, very nice. I have officially completed my first 1000+ mile passage. We arrived at the customs dock around 7:30 this morning. I cooked up the last pound of bacon we had on board, as well as the rest of our eggs, as they would have just been confiscated by quarantine otherwise. Confiscated bacon!? There is no room for that phrase anywhere in Drew’s vocabulary. He took much pleasure in being able to devour almost the entire pound without me being able to scold him or tell him he had had enough. The quarantine official was very nice, yet very thorough. She got a few goods off of us…some mayo, wild rice, fresh cucumbers & onions. Nothing that can’t be replaced very inexpensively. Then it was time for the customs officials as well as the drug and bomb dogs. With a cup of bacon grease sitting on the counter, neither pup seemed too interested in their job at hand! By 9 we were done and by 9:30 we were safely in a slip. Ahh, fresh hot showers…

A quick lunch with our buds Alan & Rina and we’re back on board so Drew can get some sleep. He’s seen very little in the past 48 hours. Naturally, the last two days of the passage had to give us a little run for our money but we made it. We’ll start making some decisions on our route to Whangarei, which is where Dosia will stay while we head home for the holidays! That’s all in due time though. Right now…that other couch is looking pretty good…

Had a pretty rough night last night which entailed absolutely no sleep for Drew. Throughout a twelve hour time frame which started about 8 p.m., we only went about 12 miles. Can you say frustrating? The winds shifted, Drew adjusted. As soon as he was adjusted, they’d switch again. He was none too happy when I finally came to about 5:30 this morning. After about seven more hours of the same battle things finally started getting back on track a little after noon today. Although I can’t technically see it, I can envision the finish line not far away. We found the angle against these southerly winds we’d been fighting for the past 30 hours and although it’s still bumpy, we’re glad to be making progress again. 68 more miles to go. One more night, obviously assuming all goes well this evening. I’m gonna go ahead and take the high road on this assumption and say that between the hours of four and six in the morning we will be arriving at the entrance to the Bay of Islands. When our parents break from their daily routines and schedules tomorrow for lunch they will be able to breathe a little easier knowing that we are safe. So will I. New Zealand. Neither of us can even begin to believe it…

Well we finally found those winds we had been looking and longing for. Strong gusts of about 15 to 20 knots have filled the sails from the Southeast and the ol’ Perkins is finally getting a break after about 60 hours of nonstop motoring. I had every intention of cooking up a nice pot of spaghetti tonight and figured I’d have no problems doing so seeing how it’s been calm as a cucumber out here up until this point. But we’re back to the sailing I’m accustomed to and instead Drew got a can of instant soup. Ha! In many previous blogs I’ve stressed my discomfort for boiling pots of water that appear to be flying at my head. Watching me boil pasta underway hands Drew one of the biggest laughs of his adult life as I reach to stir from as far away as my extended handle spoon allows me before high tailing it around to the safe side of the galley. I’ll cook all day, everyday at anchor. Just please, please don’t make me do much cooking when the stove looks like it’s about to do a somersault.

Glad to be making some good headway, scooting along at well over six knots average. Drew says the winds are going to wrap around and be on the nose for the last day of the trip and we’ll have to beat our way into Opua. We’re thankful for the fuel conservation we’re getting out of these winds right now. We thought we might be lucky enough to get there on Monday but now Drew’s saying probably Tuesday. Tack on that extra night of worrying for my mom.

Let’s see today we slept, read books, ate canned soup, and were visited by a rather large pod of dolphins. First time I’ve seen any in my entire time being on this trip! It was the largest pod Drew’s ever seen and while we’d hoped they come and play around and chase alongside the boat, it was pretty obvious they were feeding and they were gone just as quickly as they appeared. A little excitement, nonetheless! You take whatever entertainment you can get out here. If we come across a talking sea gull we’ll be sure to let you know. For right now we’ll just have to consider not much of any news as good news.

For about 15 minutes earlier today I actually thought we would be able to turn off the motor and sail. Nope, my hopes were dashed when the wind picked up to 15, shifted right on the nose, and then promptly died to less than 5. So we’re still motoring. I know the wind was blowing here at some point today. The wavelets are still here flowing from west to east. We missed it. Damn.

This is the longest I’ve ever run the motor on Dosia. We’re coming up on 48 hours straight. We have calm seas, lots of battery power, and plenty of hot water but honestly, I wish the wind would blow and we could get some sailing in. And, of course, when I say blow, I mean blow at 15 knots from the northwest. NOT 15-20 on the nose like it appears we’ll see our last day or two into New Zealand. Why is it that the last few hours or days of a long passage is always a beat???

I wish I could tell you something exciting that happened today. Let’s see, I spent my night watches staring at my now 60,000+ collection of songs wondering if I’ll ever get around to organizing it. We had B.L.T.’s for lunch and then spent about thirty minutes transferring all the jerry cans of fuel into the main tank. We sent and received a bunch of emails. Then we watched two movies, drank a bottle of wine (to celebrate our crossing of 30 South), and ate some friend chicken. The rest of the time we were sleeping or reading or staring off at the horizon. That’s passages for you. I have found some relief on my night watches. I sit and listen to Radio Australia on the SSB radio. It’s basically the BBC of the South Pacific and it’s the most interesting thing I’ve found. Scanning the channels for hours on end in the Pacific I’ve found some oddball stuff. Many religious fanatics, Rush Limbaugh (ugh), a Chinese language lesson, and what sounded like two Truckers in Arizona having a semi-erotic conversation about fruit. If I spoke Japanese or Chinese or what sounds like Arabic, the options would be much greater but as it is, I need some English. Luckily our brothers in Oz are happy to oblige and broadcast 24 hours a day on about 12 different channels.

Less than 350 miles to go. Come on wind!

I gotta tell you, nothing beats the feeling of freedom you gain from checking out of a country via sailboat. It doesn’t matter if you have a clearance for a port you may not check into within the next month…or year…OR you have no actual plans on leaving the so-called “cleared port” within the next several days…or month. It doesn’t matter at all. You still feel like a wildman when you get that paper. In reality, I could pull up anchor and sail direct to Thailand if I wanted and nobody but Marge would question me. That is awesome. That is freedom.

Few people out here actually follow the rules. Yes, I said it. Finally. Someone actually said aloud what everyone knows. You can check out today and not leave for weeks and no one would really care or know. It happens with cruisers all over the world. Sometimes the rules are just plain stupid. There are those FEW odd circumstances or random security checks but they are super rare and I only know of a few boats that REALLY care. Most people don’t and who blames them. People who never broke a law in their life are bending the rules in this area. I checked out today (Friday here in Tonga) but I may not leave till Monday….or Friday. Who knows. I am done with the paperwork and I paid. In my eyes, it’s done. There are people anchored within a few yards of me who checked out 2 weeks ago in Vava’u and here they sit. Others checked out for NZ when they left Apia, Western Samoa back in September. They use radio channel 16 code names like “Sweet Caroline”, “Bambi”, “Barbie”, “Salt Peter”, “Heavy Breathing”, and “Adios Pantalones.” We came up with “Marge Barge” as our code name for Dosia. Sounds good to me though I see no reason to use it.

So we’re checked out. We could possibly leave tomorrow. We are prepared. The weather looks decent for a short 270 mile jump to Minerva reef. It’s another “pause moment” in the 1200 or so mile trip from Vava’u to NZ and it cuts the final leg of the trip down to about 700 miles. Previously, Margie and I decided we’d only stop there if the weather forecast for the remainder of the trip called for a stop. It looks like it may do just that. We are provisioned for a little over two weeks. We have fuel for 800 miles of motoring. No one can lie here. This is potentially the worst passage of an entire circumnavigation. In the last month on this passage, our friends have battled lost rudders, fuel shortages, autopilot failures, rig failures, and more. The Tasman Sea is notoriously nasty like Cape Hatteras near where I grew up. Sometimes I wonder if Hatteras realizes it world-wide fame as “trouble spot” but I don’t question the Tasman. It’s fickle. If it was appropiate, I’d use another “f” word to describe it but I think you get the point. When a low forms in the Tasman, you get out of the way. You don’t mess around in this area of the world. The tanks are full, the oil and filters are changed, the rig is tuned, and the heart is ready. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us pull out of here tomorrow afternoon. We’re part of the All Points to Opua Rally…and race or not, I’m thinking first place sounds nice. Let’s get this one over with. Dosia is ready and it’s time to put our game faces on.

Here’s a few of our favorites from Tonga so far. Of course there’s plenty more on our Flickr Photostream.  Also, keep an eye out for a shot of Margie at Dosia’s Nav station in the January issue of Blue Water Sailing Magazine!

We are currently about ten miles outside of Tonga’s capital, Nuku’Alofa, and should be safely anchored by the time this blog posts. We said farewell to the Vava’u group about three days ago. Usually when we leave a place I don’t look back with any sense of sadness because I’m already excited about the next place. Leaving Neiafu, however, I sat up on the bow and watched it become smaller and smaller behind us and got a little sad. It honestly felt weird to leave the harbor knowing we wouldn’t be coming back in a few days. Cruisers have talked before about spending several months in a place and I always think in my mind, “how?” I never could quite understand how someone could spend two or three months in a particular place when there was so much more out there to see. Now I understand. Neiafu and the rest of the islands that make up the Vava’u group are no more spectacular than the harbors or anchorages I’ve seen in the past six months. Don’t get me wrong…it’s waters were the brightest of blues, there were quiet anchorages a plenty where you could nestle in for the evening and not feel so much as a ripple in the water, whale sightings were as common as a drunk Georgia fan on a fall Saturday, and if you ran out of something while at anchor then town was no more than a two hour sail away or a boat coming your way who could bring you what you needed. Vava’u definitely had its perks. I think, though, that what kept us there for two months was that it was just…comfortable.

We sailed into the harbor back in August and into the open arms of some whom we’d seen just the week or night before and others whom we’d not seen for several months. Literally almost every boat we’d come in contact with in the past six months came together in one place. It was the biggest “family” reunion I’ve ever been to! Man there were birthday parties, sometimes two or three a week. There were dinner parties, there were beach bonfires, there was snorkeling, there was diving, there was swimming with whales (at least for Drew), and there were beautiful sunsets. We spent the better part of our last morning in town walking to all the local businesses who had supplied us with fresh bread, good meals, cold beer, and good times to bid farewell and hug out our goodbyes. Dosia headed west out of the harbor and even though I was sad to go, more memories were on the horizon.

We’ve spent the last three days hopping our way south through the Ha’apai group on our way to Nuku. Two different anchorages became our homes for the evening and though a bit rolly, I was rocked to sleep quite quickly both nights. Night before last we had Richard & Betsy of s/v Qayak and Ian & Ally of s/v Loon III over for a birthday dinner. Yes, more birthdays. Drew and I are beginning to think that lots of parents were getting more friendly with each other during the holidays and through those cold winter months. Ally and I share the same birthday and Betsy’s is just around the corner on the 30th so I whipped up some homemade sausage gumbo, black eyed peas, and brownie cake for dessert. True southern style and it appealed to the taste buds of our west coast and Canadian guests quite nicely. Drew made me homemade pizza last night for my actual b-day dinner and we used the last of our Boar’s Head pepperoni we’d brought from the states. His family will be shocked to know it’s lasted that long on board as Drew’s love for pepperoni ranks right up there next to his love for bacon. A 4 a.m. early wake up call got us out of bed this morning and we lifted anchor to sail the last 50 miles or so into Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga and home of the royal king and queen. Despite being short in length, the trip today has been quite eventful as the fish have finally taken to our lines. Drew hand reeled in a mackerel and as I was typing moments ago his second 20-25 lb. mahi mahi of the day.

As we pulled into the channel that led us to our “parking spot” directly in front of Big Mama’s, a mother whale and her calf waved hellos to us as they splashed around, enjoying the last of their days here in the warm south pacific waters before heading south to Antarctica. Truly…I don’t believe it gets much better than this. We’ll share the love and divvy out our new fish friends but the rest is for keeps and it looks like Drew and I will be the ones eating like royalty tonight!

Vava’u is a mixed bag of two places I’ve been before. Physically, it has the close interisland sailing and anchorages of the Virgin Islands. The area also has large bays, unimposing green hills, sudden reefs that pop out of nowhere reminiscent of the Bocas del Toro area of Panama (minus the cattle herd of Americans thinking it’s the new Costa Rica and buying up all the property). It is third world with an “up and coming” feeling. There’s restaurants and bars, small villas, and “psuedo resorts” but no big, brand name hotels. The Kings owns all and land is leased from him. Local Tongans work cheap. $3/4 US dollars an hour is a good wage. They are friendly people but they are shy and won’t approach you first. The younger Tongans seem to be moving away from their Christian heritage. Rap music bellows out of cars and cell phones. Few teens sport traditional dress and on Saturdays the pants ride low and hats turn backwards.

Neiafu and Vava’u as a whole is deserving of its own blog post if not for the plethora of beautiful, somewhat simple anchorages, then for the interesting social dynamics that allow a place like this to exist. Palangi. What is a palangi you ask? A palangi in its simplest definition is a  foreigner and Vava’u is full of them. We, as visiting cruisers, were palangis but it’s the other palangis; the retirees, expatriots, and business owners who moved to Tonga that I’ll write about here. They are the ones who’ve adopted Tonga as their new home and are trying their hardest to bring this third world country into the 21st century but not always in the best manner or with the best intentions. The relationships between the “settled Palangis” and the locals is tenuous at best. There is obvious tension and the palangis face an uphill battle against royalty, nobles, and the everyday Tongan in their quest for policy change and modernization.

Most all of the restaurants and bars in Neiafu are owned by foreigners. Seeing as how Marge and I enjoy eating out and consider it just as much a part of the cruising experience as snorkeling the reef, we met and spent time with most all of them. Some became friends while those we didn’t know personally always offered a wave or hello in passing on the street. True to restaurant form, there is drama and plenty of it. In the grand scheme, Neiafu is quite small and competition is fierce. When the cruising fleet of any given year rounds that corner into the harbor, the gloves come out. The natives of the island either can’t afford to dine out or spend their time trying to make a living off of the cruisers so the last thing they want to do it spend more time around them. Therefore, the business owners rely on these few short months for the vast majority of their income for the year. Different nights of the week offer different themes at different places. There is Movie Night, Kava Night, Tongan Band Night, Faka Lady Night, Rugby Game Night, Buffet Night, Tongan Feast Night, and several cruiser birthday parties, all held at any of the given restaurants which for the most part are within about a half mile of each other. The biggest question posed in opening and operating a business is whether it’s better to be profitable or popular? The ones making the most money are quick to cater to cruiser needs while many of the others sit on the side and talk trash about them. In our experience, there was only one restauarnt owner who, while he was probably thinking it, did not vocalize a single negative thought about any of his peers. Mike, owner and operator of the Aquarium Cafe, was professional, helpful, and quiet in his “domination” of the competition. Food on the island in pretty much every restauarnt was great and there were dishes we absolutely loved and raved about to other crusiers. The worst thing a business owner anywhere could assume is that cruisers don’t talk to one another. A fleet in a harbor is as bad as a middle school girl’s locker room. Personally, we hate to see great people with great product with bad attitudes; ruining the dining experience because the entire meal was filled by rants about what other businesses in the area were doing to hurt them. Best advice we could give to any future business owners in Neiafu…stay out of the drama. Let your product speak for itself. Neiafu has a good thing going and we’d love to see the same people still there, doing well, when we return in years to come.

We’re wrapping up our time here in Vava’u.  Planning to leave Neiafu today and start heading south to the capital city of Nuku’alofa.  Margie’s out shopping somewhere and I’m working on the computer and rockin out to PIG fm, the local radio station run by a Canadian ex-pat.  For most of the day, it’s one of those massive collections of music shuffling on a Mac in the studio but in the morning and sometimes in the evenings Greg rolls in and DJ’s.  We’ve heard everything from the Footloose soundtrack to Fergie to Louis Armstrong to Tom Petty.  It’s quite an interesting mix.

If you haven’t seen the Sale page for the boat, you gotta check it out.  As you may have noticed, our blog post dropped off the past couple of weeks.  It seemed everytime I sat down with the computer I was editing photos or writing stuff for the page or listing Dosia on a bunch of “selling sites.”   Now that’s all done and we can get back to cruising!

The plan is to island hop our way south to Tongatapu, the southern island group in Tonga.  That means a few illegal stops in the Ha’apai group since I checked out with Customs here and said we were going the whole way down.  Oh well.  We’ll be in the Nuku’alofa area for a week or so and then we’ll be off for the big sail to New Zealand.  It’s potentially a nasty little passage and requires close monitoring of the weather systems moving off Australia and the Tasman Sea.  We’re not sure when we’ll leave on the passage since we may get stuck waiting several more weeks for a good window.  If all goes well, we’ll join a rally of boats departing on Halloween, the day after the party at Big Mama’s Yacht Club.  Not sure why they planned a rally departure the day after a party.

We’ve said goodbye to our many friends here in Vava’u.  It’s a very interesting place and I want to sit down and write a nice long blog post about it.  But for now, the engine is running…Marge is back…and we’re off!