3 June - Fish at Last!

1600 position 18-42S 174-08W. At anchor in 35 feet, Fofoa Island, Hunga
Lagoon, Vava'u, Tonga

After Rocky got his Coral Gardens snorkel in first thing this morning we
powered up to Lape Island which was just a half a mile away and anchored
off of a white sand beach on the leeward side of the island. We had read
in one of our cruising guides that the locals on Lape were very friendly,
and wanted to check it out. We dinghied ashore to the beach to look for a
trail to the village which was on the opposite side of the half mile
diameter island. We found what looked like a trail and followed it up
into the jungle on the top of the island, but once there got a bit
disoriented (lost) and ended up wandering around for the better part of an
hour before we finally discovered the village. There we met Ko'lio, who
took us on a tour of the village and encouraged us to come back for one of
their every other Saturday Tongan Feasts. There were a couple of children
(2-5.years old) who wanted to hold our hands as we wandered around the
village. Very cute kids. After visiting with them we wandered back into
the jungle and, not quite as lost as our first trek, found our way back to
the dinghy.

Our final destination for the day was Hunga Island, so we weighed anchor,
hoisted the mainsail, and set off. Hunga is one of the barrier islands
for the Vava'u group, and while hove to the night of our arrival, we
tacked five or six times to avoid coming too close to it. Hunga is unique
in Vava'u in that it has a half mile diameter lagoon completely encircled
by high (100' -300') islands. The entrance into the lagoon is a twenty
yard wide gap in the barrier islands on the exposed western side of the
islands. If you don't know that the entrance is there, you would sail
right by it.

On our way to the Hunga lagoon we entered the open ocean again and found
ourselves rocking and rolling for the first time in over a week. But the
upside is ocean fish, and we hooked a nice five pound tuna for dinner. I
have no idea of the species. Not Ahi, not aku, not kawakawa…. Nice
looking meat though, and we are looking forward to grilling it.

Entering the lagoon was an experience. The tide was falling, and all the
water in the lagoon has to go out that sixty foot wide entrance. We had
perhaps three knots of current, which was enough to get my attention in
trying to keep from crabbing over into the shallows. Once inside it was
calm though, and we anchored off of a beautiful beach with an abandoned
home above it. We swam ashore and checked out the house, which we decided
was nice enough to live in with just a little work. Rocky discovered an
new kind of pink starfish on the way back to the boat.

The cribbage tournament is now 11 - 9 in Rocky's favor. I am pleased that
it is this close.