This is the first of 8 videos from last year. My crew, Aaron, did a lot of the filming and all of the editing. They are awesome!
This episode covers the mainland of Ecuador and the hassle I went through with the government there to get Dosia cleared out.
Sorry, but you gotta watch the 30 second commercial first!
A story fresh off the AP covers the latest news on the tsunami that hit American and Western Samoa and Tonga on Sept 30, two days ago, while this brief article from Latitude 38 covers several cruiser’s experiences around the Pacific. Sitting here in Neiafu, Tonga we didn’t experience much; only a small rise and fall of a few feet in water depth. There was a lot of misinformation going on in the harbor. One boat would come on the radio and announce that they just witnessed a 30 foot drop in water while seconds later, a boat no more than 500 yards away would say they just dropped 2 ft. Meanwhile I’m sitting on one of the moorings closest to shore watching the water rise and fall maybe 1.5 ft, covering and uncovering a tire on the beach a few times. Several boats only a few miles from here did see some crazy tidal shifts and standing waves. A couple of boats dragged across the reefs, while others dropped their entire anchor chain to quickly escape to deeper water.
We managed to escape the bad parts although the epicenter was only 250 miles north of here. As peaceful as it seemed here in the harbor, the chatter on the VHF and SSB kept reminding us how different it was for others out here. Thanks to everyone who checked up on us through email or on facebook.
The past several days have been nothing but work for me. The cockpit lockers are getting a complete makeover and now they’re so organized I’ve convinced myself they need a paintjob. Yesterday, I did a complete engine fluids changeout, changed the belt, reorganized all the wiring, adjusted the transmission, and decided that if I’m painting the lockers, may as well paint in there too. Today, I took apart the entire top end of the outboard for a thorough cleaning and inspection. The carb needed some work and I replaced the spark plugs, but other than that the engine is in great shape. I can’t explain how nice it is to have the Short Bus back!
Meanwhile, Margie found the benefits of third world dentistry. Two days ago, she tagged along Neiafu’s dentist and spent the afternoon teaching the importance of proper dental care to Tongan children. The next day, she visited that same American trained dentist and had a filling replaced and a complete cleaning for $30US. Now she has a lead on free crownwork from the Mormon dentists down in Nuku’alofa on our way to New Zealand!
Speaking of New Zealand, our second family on Zen left this morning. We sure will miss those guys. They had to leave early since Zen is coming out of the water for a huge refit including a new paintjob. They are moving ashore in Whangarei while the work is completed. Everyone else around here is starting to think about the weather too. As for us, Marge and I begin looking at windows in 10 days! Chances are, we’ll still wait around till the end of the month, but if a really good opportunity pops up, we seriously have to consider taking it.
For all those who have emailed me about the sale of Dosia, I’m working as hard as legally allowed here in Tonga to get the page finished. I decided on pricing and the equipment list is building as I clean and organize the entire boat. There’s a ton more photos coming in the next few days. I promise to get back to each and every one of you! Thanks for your interest!
—–Ahhh…Beveridge Reef, what an unkind animal you can be. We sit here on your sandy shelf and wait and wait for good weather to explore your outer reefs, inner lagoon, and your mysterious windward shipwreck. When finally a day comes, we join our neighbors for a day of spear fishing and collect your bounty as though it were our own. Grouper, Jack, Parrotfish…all relinquish themselves to the spear tip. Though we look carefully, you hide your lobsters and leave us with only molted shells. “Tis the Season” I guess, but the fishing is good. Blood gathers in the dinghy and the surrounding waters and you send your sharks to fend us off. Whitetips, no problem, but when your rally your Grey Reef sharks, we retreat and head home, taking with us pounds of fish for untold meals to come. We plan our first feast that evening aboard the good-ship Brick House, a Valiant 40 from Rhode Island. We gather and socialize while the wind outside rises, the anchor lines stretch. A shot of fine Italian Amaretto begins the meal. We sit. And then you knock us down.
——
It was two hours before Patrick climbed up into the cockpit to check on things. Our dinghy was gone. A miscommunication, a mistied cleat, it’s not really important. Patrick took off in their dinghy for the mile and a half trip across the lagoon to search the other side. Even with a full moon, a good light, a night vision scope, and two hours of searching…no luck. My Caribe dinghy and Nissan outboard, together one of the most expensive pieces of equipment on the boat, were gone. Either it hit the reef, flipped, and got smashed to bits or it cruised right out the pass and is halfway to southern Tonga. We thought about leaving immediately, in the darkness, to try and catch up to it, but what if it really was on the reef and this isn’t exactly a friendly place to come and go in the night. What if we passed it in the night? We looked at the situation again the next morning. A small windshift, a twelve hour headstart, a dead downwind sail, an approaching low pressure system…what were the actual chances of finding it? Patrick reexamined the reef taking into account the angle of the wind and current and surmised it most likely hit some breakers and flipped. An APB went out on all the nets for boats in the vicinity to keep an eye out. The government of Niue and the entire anchorage Alofi was notified since it could float in that direction if it did make it out of the lagoon. After a brief period of mourning, Marge and I could do nothing but pick our heads up and start searching for a replacement. Patrick and Rebecca have agreed to alter their plans as needed to help us find another one. They feel awful about it and though it’s frustrating as hell, it was an honest mistake and could happen to anyone. Right now, it sounds as though the Moorings base in Vava’u Tonga may be our best bet. I’m hoping Zen and Flashback who are only a week or two away from there can send out some feelers and make some connections. The last thing we want to do is spend weeks waiting anywhere for a shipment from the states. Thankfully a few boats have offered up loaners as well.
Other than that, we’re still here in Beveridge. There a small system passing over us today and tomorrow and we’re heading to Niue on Monday. We went spearfishing on the outside of the reef again yesterday. My feet are so blistered and raw from hours in my fins I duct-taped the balls of my feet and put on some socks. The sharks got a lot more curious. They’d swim right up to me near the surface, even if I was hanging on the side of the dinghy. A quick glancing blow with the spear gun sent them running. We finally gave in and let them have the reef. We weren’t doing so well anyways with only two groupers (one large and one small) for the day. Not that we didn’t try. Patrick and I spent hours in the water chasing groupers and parrots through the ravines and caverns of the reef. We dropped the carcass of a huge grouper to the bottom. The Grey Reef Sharks and huge snapper fought it out for the remains while we hid off to the side and watched. I wish one of those snapper would let me get close enough to shoot it. Another boat, Peter and Nikki on Bagheera arrived this morning and we all moved to the northwestern side of the lagoon in anticipation of a windshift. So far it’s the prettiest day we’ve had since arriving. In a half hour or so I’m putting my wetsuit on Margie and we’re heading out to snorkel the inside of the reef. It’s nice to be outside enjoying this place finally. Even though there’s a black cloud hanging over us from the loss of the dinghy, we’re doing our best to soak up the rays and go to sleep happy. I’m hopeful it’ll all work out in the end.
