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GPS: 19 51.002S 174 24.953W

Run: 5.4nm (9.8km)

Yes we are still alive! Sorry for not blogging earlier. We were all amazed to see we haven’t updated our blog since 21st May!

We spent a few days in Pangai on Lifuka Island exploring the island and meeting locals and other travellers. Then we headed over to Uoleva Island which has 4 resorts on it not that you can tell that immediately. It is not quite their high season yet. Whale watching season which is a big drawcard for tourism here starts June/July. Enjoyed snorkelling around the reef seeing different sorts of colourful fish. Saw some large royal blue starfish which were just an amazing colour. We are back to practising fishing. Two rods however did manage to catch the same bommie which was quite a feat in itself!

Stella is currently amusing us immensely with her colourful language as she tries to sort her photos but seems to have somehow transferred some of them to a mysterious file on the computer that no one can seem to find!

Have had some real tropical weather including beautiful sunshine, high winds and really heavy downpours. We are heading back to Pangai tomorrow. We’d like to look at Foa which is joined to Lifuka by a causeway and we hear has a fantastic reef area for snorkelling etc, plus we have to ‘checkout’ from Pangai before heading off to the Vava’u group of islands which we are looking at doing about Thursday.

Bye for now from all of us

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GPS: 19 47.861S 174 21.285W

Run: 44.1nm (79.8km)

We spent two nights at Ha’afeva, swimming, snorkelling and took a walk around part of the island. Stella captured some singing from one of the churches on her phone.

Weather has been changing. Yesterday we decided to come to Pangai as there has been some weather indications that we may get some higher winds. We are semi sheltered from the SE winds here. When we arrived yesterday there were 5 boats anchored. Later in the day they all left heading up to Vava’u, but according to the weather reports we’ve seen it indicates that winds are likely to be stronger up there. A couple of other yachts arrived today, one was Essence (Stu, Pamela and Steve from Tauranga) which we’ve caught up with a couple of times. The other was Julo who we met in Nuku’alofa a German couple who have sailed down from Europe through the Panama Canal and spent some time touring around NZ before leaving for Tonga. We are all heading up to Vava’u when we can. We are just keeping an eye on the weather.

Hannah and Tony went for a swim this morning and went under the boat to clean the forward facing sonar transducer from the barnacles and other sea life attached to it so hopefully we will now be able to see bommies in front of us although good sets of lookout eyes are a must.

Stella still struggles with some of our expressions – the one yesterday was “just like a bought one”. She also still doesn’t know why we are looking for the “pigs” to hang the washing out! A quiet day, some chores this morning then a walk around Pangai this afternoon. Just relaxing before dinner then watching Game of Thrones. Good night from us all 

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GPS: 20 16.567S 174 48.268W

Friday 17th May Greetings from Nomuka and Nomuka Ika We are anchored at Nomuka Ika which is directly across from Nomuka , is about the size of Motuhuie and has the population of one – a friendly man called James.

This morning we went ashore at Nomuka Ika had a walk along the beach and went for a swim. Hannah had a snorkel and saw some beautiful coloured fish. We came back to the boat for lunch and had a few reef sharks swimming around seeing if there were any leftovers. This afternoon Tony, Hannah and Stella went ashore to Nomuka and had a walk along the two main roads (mud tracks). One went to the lake and the other followed the waterfront. They met friendly locals especially the children. The villagers were excited …. not due to the arrival of the intrepid explorers but because the supply ship had just arrived! They had a friendly group of dogs follow them around for the duration of their travels and there was lots of pigs, horses and cows running around. A lot of reefs which we had to negotiate our way around. Stella used the outboard motor on the dinghy for the first time today and was going pretty straight as they got closer in.

We have another yacht “Essence” anchor just along from us tonight. Stella is in the kitchen making another meal out of the lovely tuna Tony caught yesterday, then we’ve got another episode of Game of Thrones which hopefully Tony doesn’t fall asleep during tonight! Made us all laugh when Stella kept asking him had he fallen asleep again! Night all 

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GPS: 20 16.565S 174 48.267W

Run: 64.3nm (116.4km)

At daybreak this morning we said goodbye to Nuku’alofa and 9 hours later arrived in Nomuka Ika in the Ha’apai group.

On the way Hannah decided to stop practising and caught a smallish tuna which she decided to set free. Upon which Tony brought out his new rod and said “game’s on”. Within half an hour he had landed a yellow fin tuna large enough to feed us for a couple of days. Hannah helped Tony by strapping on his codpiece “tuna piece” (gimble belt) for his rod. This evening Tony and Hannah prepared a tuna delicacy with an amazing dipping sauce Stella threw together.

It’s interesting how different our languages are not only between countries but also between generations. We found out today when hearing the story that on Hannah’s instructions when Tony asked where the hole in the wall was that Hannah sent him to the toilet (thinking that the hole in the wall was the urinal not the ATM!!) Stella would have thought the same thing and has declared she will never call an ATM a hole in the wall nor some of the other kiwi lingo we’ve been throwing her way. Looking forward to exploring the island tomorrow. Night from all of us. 

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GPS: 21 08.130S 175 11.115W

Run: 1.6nm (2.9km)

Wednesday 15th May Sorry we haven’t blogged last few days.

We cleared customs Monday which took half a day. Monday evening was our first day ashore. We went out for dinner at Waterfront Lodge and restaurant which we can highly recommend. The scallops were fantastic. The tuna steak cooked perfectly and we tried our first mahimahi (fish) which was delicious. Now we just have to try catching some ourselves! Have had a wander around the metropolis, visited some markets, sorted out data issues etc. We had pile of laundry due to the sea invasions. You have to remember getting laundry done is not like popping out to a laundromat in NZ! A big thank you to Liz (Tony’s rellie) for helping arrange this and heaps of other things for us.

Tony went out for dinner last night with his family which was a real Tongan feast. Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Stella had homemade pizza and watched episode 2 in the last season of Game of Thrones (no spoilers please!) and The Expendables.

Feels like we’ve done lots but doesn’t sound much when you put it down in writing. Things also take longer due to the heat. Walking is definitely done at a slower pace than in the cooler climates. Catch you all later. 

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GPS: 21 07.554S 175 09.761W

We were in bed at 9pm last night and we had the unusual chance of having 8 hours uninterrupted sleep.

It was an amazing experience this morning being able to have breakfast all together and not throwing the cereal all over each other and the boat! Sunday is a religious day in Tonga and their custom is no work on Sundays.

We left the above deck chores as matter of respect. We did do a big clean up below and Andrew also fixed the auto pilot (from the the temporary fix he’d done whilst we were still enroute). Once we’ve cleared customs tomorrow we hope to have the chance to have a walk around town and find some internet connection so we can be in touch. I won’t mention the pile of laundry we have to do!

Good night from us all.

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GPS: 21 07.554S 175 09.761W

Run: 51.8nm (93.8km)
Avg: 6.1knts
24hr: 145.4nm

We made it! We are anchored waiting customs clearance in Tonga which will be Monday. Please note we will not have full internet access until at least then.

We had another night / morning with high winds and big swells. El Capitan navigated well down the channel towards Nukualofa with help from Stella the bird, oh sorry marker, spotter. Everyone’s struggling to make sense right now. Not sure if it’s that we’re bone tired or that it has something to do with the well earned welcome to Tonga drinks we are now enjoying! El Capitan in galley cooking up lobster surprise – the surprise – no lobster! So enough from us tonight – hopefully we will be more with it tomorrow. Good night all!