Get Lost On Purpose

Category: Tonga

Update from the 2009 Regatta Vava’u Cornhole Champs : )

The passport prizes have been rewarded, the free internet available during the regatta is long gone, and the harbor here in Vava’u is slowly beginning to empty. This morning we said farewell and wished safe seas to our dear friends, Geoff & Julie, on s/v Flashback. I knew it was going to be hard to say adios to them but it was especially hard to hug Julie goodbye. For me, having Julie around was like having one of my greatest friends, Courtney, right here by my side. Their advice, their ability to listen, and this incredible sarcasm that they both possess is like one in the same and I have told Julie so many, many times. I will greatly miss talking, laughing, sharing glasses of wine, and just being girly for a bit with her. They’re both just amazing, amazing people and whether it be New Zealand to ring in the New Year or another year further down the road, I know we will see them again and I am already looking forward to that reunion…

For those of you who have not heard the news yet, by the grace of the sea gods watching over us, our dinghy has been found! A local fisherman found our beloved water craft off the coast of Niue, an island we had sailed away from just a few days before. The dinghy was upside down and we assume it flipped over the reef leaving Beveridge, making the entire journey to Niue’s coast with the outboard underwater. For roughly 15 days it traveled approximately 140 miles and luckily for us, right into the hands of a very honest, local fisherman. (added by Drew…here he is! The hero! His name is Ape (pronounced Ah Pay) and he is from the village of Vaiea on Niue.)

Once turned over to the Niue police, our dinghy was impounded and placed in its own jail cell. Literally locked up for misbehavior. The good news reached us via Marc & Jane, s/v Imagine, who heard about the dinghy while they themselves were in Niue. Drew and I have learned in our time here on the water not to ever get your hopes up about anything so until we made contact with the commodore of the Yacht Club in Niue and exchanged serial numbers, we weren’t believing it. Low and behold, turns out it was ours, in good shape, and the local fisherman was even able to get the outboard engine up and running again! A reward was sent via Western Union here in Tonga, obviously to be handed over to the guy who found the dinghy, and a ceremony took place to officially release the dinghy from the Niue Police Department into the care of the Yacht Club. Drew and I have bailed out the dinghy before but we’ve never had to bail it out in this way! Now we sit and wait in hopes that a sailing vessel will come through Niue large enough to throw our dinghy up on board and bring it the 250 miles to us here in Tonga. Jokes were even made that they could throw it off the wharf in Niue and it’d find it’s way back to us here and of course now we can laugh at that. Need be, we’ll return to pick it up but chances are in our favor that someone will be able to bring it with them. Drew and I would like to extend our sincerest thanks and gratitude to the fisherman, the Niue police, the “Imaginary” family, and especially Keith Vial, the commodore of the Yacht Club who spent a lot of time going back and forth with us via email to get this all straightened out. We cannot begin to tell you the relief you have brought us and we are so incredibly appreciative!

So for now Drew and I will sit patiently in Tonga awaiting news that the dinghy is on its way. As I write I sit and watch as Drew slowly picks through cabinets and cubby holes taking pictures of all that will be sold both separately and with the boat. I have to admit his last post about the boat going on the market drew mixed feelings for me. As I read it for the first time, alongside all of you, it brought tears to my eyes. There has never been a single moment in our relationship, even when we weren’t living aboard, that I was unaware of Drew’s love and passion for this particular vessel. I will never be able to comprehend the amount of time and energy that went into making her what she is. I do, however, live in the results of his labor and can physically see the details of the love that went into each inch of Dosia. In even my most frustrated moments aboard, I try so hard to think about the future, when I’m sitting behind a desk or on a couch, and would trade anything for my butt to be on a beach instead, and do all I can to use that as a reminder to live in this moment, relish in it, and take all from it that I possibly can. As the final months of our trip begin to unfold, I am torn on how I feel about the journey coming to an end. I know that Drew and I have an incredible life with great adventures ahead of us and I definitely see another boat, more islands, and more sunsets in our future. Something tells me Drew’s going to make sure of that!

September 13, 2009
Regatta Vava’u 2009

This past Tuesday, September 1st, for the first time my brother became a daddy, my parents became grandparents, my other two brothers became uncles, and my sister and I aunts for the first time! My oldest brother, Rhett, and his wife, Kellie, welcomed a beautiful, healthy little boy named Reo Wesley Kopp. I will have to vicariously relish in my role as Aunt Marge (even though I’m hoping to come up with something a bit cooler than that) via pics for the next two and a half months. I haven’t even met this little person yet and already my heart is flooded with love for him and I can barely look at pics without crying. As I get older and my siblings begin to have children, for the first time in my life I am able to understand what I’ve heard from so many all these years that there is nothing greater than one’s love for their child. If pictures tug at my heart like those I’ve seen of my nephew, I can only imagine, and greatly look forward to, the amazement, admiration, and love that must come from having one of my own. Drew’s looking at me like…hold up there missy. No worries honey I’m not saying it has to be now!

The first annual Vava’u Regatta is in full force and even the rain hasn’t been able to dampen the spirits of all those involved. The committee who heads this event must be incredibly pleased with the turnout as almost every boat in the harbor is partaking in the festivities. Each boat involved received a “passport” and at the end of the regatta prizes will be awarded to those who have the most stamps. To get them you visit all the local businesses and of course, spending money there will get you a stamp worth more points and then there have been tons of events going on as well. There was the pub crawl, a Fun Day for the kids, the Governor’s Cup Race, a Full Moon Party, pot lucks on several of the outer anchorage beaches, and today….dun, dun, dunnnn….the cornhole tourny! I have to be honest with you. I have never attempted to play cornhole at 10 o’clock in the morning as my past experiences were always at UGA tailgates before football games. Seeing how Drew and I are two of the very few who even know what cornhole is here, a short description might be necessary for some of our readers. Cornhole is nothing more than a slanted piece of plywood with a hole in the middle and the goal of the game is to toss a beanbag through the hole from about twenty or so feet away. A dead ringer will score you the most points and anything other than that is judged based off of closeness. In my mind I know that this game has become nothing short of a phenomenon for fans of teams in the SEC because it another ploy to have an excuse to drink. Even on island time ten in the morning is a little early for beers, at least for me, so this will have to played for nothing more than sheer, heart racing, exhilerating fun. We’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out!

The foul weather sidelined Dosia for the Governor’s Cup Race this past Saturday so Cole from s/v Zen hopped on board with us and we motored along next to the race and pulled three dinghies for other racing boats. Ironic that we don’t even OWN a dinghy right now but we had three with us that day. Zen came in third for the catamaran category and it was fun listening to Drew and ten year old Cole’s commentary and play by plays. That night the race was followed up by the Full Moon Party and they really out did themselves. I expected nothing more than a bonfire on a beach and was surprised to find a bbq, dinghy VALET, music videos on a large projection screen run by generators, a DJ, and lots and lots of dancing. The moon finally poked through the clouds a little after ten and the glow lit the dance floor. We heard rumors that the last people standing were there until 4:30 in the morning. More power to ’em! Tomorrow wraps up the regatta and tomorrow night is Aaron from s/v Wayward Wind’s 40th birthday. His girlfriend, Lauren, has arranged a pig roast so yummy eats will be in order for sure. It’s been full steam ahead, birthdays galore, non stop socializing since we arrived a little over two weeks ago. My parents have always told me that I need to learn to just say no sometimes but out here, the time you have with a lot of these people is all you’ve got. Chances of seeing most of them again are going to be slim to none. So while we can we’ll enjoy, partake, and continue to make memories with our cruising “family,” and then come Wednesday we’ll be able to get back to the outer anchorages, have some down time, and really do some exploring in the waters of this great island nation.

September 6, 2009
Pick a number | Cruising Vava’u

We finally made it out of town! With a borrowed dinghy and some good friends we cruised out of Neiafu and now sit somewhat safely anchored in the bay of Hunga (#13). I say somewhat safely since around 1AM I felt a change in the swinging of the boat and started to hear the chain stretching itself around a large rock somewhere 60-70 feet below us. This morning I get the sense we’re swinging around and around and around that rock tightening the noose. I’ll have to figure something out since my scuba tank is completely empty and 60-70′ is on the deep end of free diving for me.

I’d love to say we kicked Zen’s tail on the way down here but come on…there is little Dosia can do against a 48′ catamaran! I’m still shocked by the speed I can manage to pull out of her though. We were right at 7 knots downwind the whole way and I never put the main up. That was actually the first bay-like sailing I’ve ever done on Dosia. I never sailed around Charleston harbor before I left. I cruised right out the jetties and never looked back! So this type of smooth water sailing is new to me. I even did my first ever race Friday night on board Flashback (a Choate 40) with Geoff, Tom, and Allen. We came in third after knocking the socks off some Kiwis who seemed none to happy about it.

You may have noticed I included a number after I wrote where we are anchored. All the major anchorages in the Vava’u group have been assigned numbers by the charter boat fleet over the years. So now instead of jumping on the radio and trying to pronounce something like Lua ui Vaha, you can call up your buddies and tell ’em “yeah man, I’m at 35.” It’s actually a great system for a place like this.

Night before last we attended the hospital benefit function at Aquarium Cafe. It was a big event for this place. I’d say 400 people or more were in attendance. It was a traditional Tongan feast with dancers and a huge buffet. All proceeds went to the hospital in hopes of getting the anesthesia department back up and running. The company was wonderful, the dancing was decent if not hilarious (once the town drunks joined the festivities), but the food left something to be desired. Especially when it’s dark and you can’t tell what’s on the end of your fork as your hand reluctantly guides it toward your mouth.

We’ll be out for a few days before heading back to town for the start of Regatta Vava’u in which Dosia will be entered. We ordered our official Dosia regatta tees and Margie is challenging everyone in town to beat her at the CORNHOLE tournament on Monday! Yes, CORNHOLE! One of the official tailgating games of the southern US has somehow transplanted itself into the middle of the South Pacific. We’ve not met one person who has a clue what it is so we’re shocked to see it appear as part of the regatta. Maybe this could work to her advantage.

August 29, 2009
Tonga ‘tastic!

I’ve been doing my best to behave since the debauchery that was last Friday night and obeying the finger wagging via email of my mom who didn’t like it to much when she read that her daughter didn’t remember what she had for dinner. I’m sure she wasn’t surprised as I’ve always been a bit of a party girl but even from thousands of miles away, my mom can still get onto me and put me in my place. That’s some pretty powerful parenting, huh?! Okay, okay…we over indulged one night. Shame, shame but it sure did make for some awesome sudo memories for me. All I’ve been able to say in emails to folks back home about this place is that it is Tonga ‘tastic and I’ll tell ya, it’s making it hard to act right! Let’s see…for the first time in months we’ve got more than enough restaurants and bars to entertain us about 30 yards from the boat and getting two for every dollar in the exchange rate has allowed us to partake in those. Getting there was a bit of a challenge seeing how we still have no dinghy and we had pretty much resorted to sticking our thumbs out and hitching rides to and from shore. But our good friends Christa and Richard from s/v Karma had a spare dinghy and 4 hp engine on board and have been gracious enough to let us borrow it for the time being. So as far as the dinghy search goes, here’s a quick, hopefully brief, update—-

We thought this place would be a gold mine for a new dinghy with the moorings fleet here. Oh it is…just none of them are for sale. For days Drew and I were teased by a stack of about 15 dinghys, one on top of the other on shore, but they all belong to the private yachts in the harbor and are spoken for. Well crap…there goes that idea. We have worked daily to find something to replace our poor dinghy but let’s face it, we aren’t settling for anything less than we wanted and don’t feel like we should have to, even if it means leaving here without one and moving onto Fiji and searching there. That being said, a restaurant owner here heard Drew was looking and he may or may not be interested in selling. So we’ve resorted to going to his restaurant for the past two days and we’re hoping to eventually wear him down and that we might be able to persuade him. If not, we’ll enjoy Karma’s spare for as long as they’ll allow us and we’ll move on and search in Fiji—-

To top off the bars and restaurants there are birthday parties everywhere! Today we celebrate Allan’s 50th from s/v Lovesong and last Saturday Seth & Elizabeth of Honeymoon threw a joint birthday bash, which I made a cake for that turned out super yummy. Check out their website to read all about that as it was definitely a b-day extravaganza ! Yesterday Drew and I wandered over to Tonga Bob’s to work on the fellow with the dinghy only to find out that night the restaurant hosts a drag queen show for the Faka ladies of the island. Well we weren’t missing out on that and our bartender at the moment was going to be in the show. Drew went to the restroom and he proceeded to tell me that the two young gentlemen, roundabout 13 years old, in school uniforms who had been playing pool when we arrived told him to put something in Drew’s drink to make him woozy so that they could take me with them. I told Drew as soon as he came back and he brought to my attention that their name tags on their uniforms said prefects, meaning they were school leaders. Rather scary….goes to show that the strict religious foundation here in Tonga might be wavering a bit. We did in fact gather a group of other cruisers and ventured off to check out the show last night and our shy little bartender who’d served us up a couple of beers that afternoon was long gone and in his place was THE entertainer of the evening swinging from the rafters and lip synching to Celine Dion in panty hose, angel wings, and a diaper. HILARIOUS! We were all in tears from laughing so hard and it was a great night. There is little room for close minded people in the cruising world, trust me.

We’re off to cruise the island with Lovesong, Karma, Zen, & Flashback today in 4 wheel drive buggies for Allan’s birthday. Tonight a birthday dinner of fresh mahi auctioned off on the local VHF net this morning to raise money for the hospital. I cannot tell you how awesome it is to finally be reunited with folks we hadn’t seen in several months. It’s like seeing family again, in a sense, as you can develop such close relationships with other cruisers. No doubt, there will be plenty of memories taken away from this place and mom, I’ll do better so that I can remember them all : )

August 26, 2009