The Good Die Young

0800 Position 18-39S 173-59W. On a mooring off Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga

After a lazy morning in Port Maurelle we powered the six miles into Neiafu to clear in with the authorities. Government is big business here in Tonga, and they take the clearance formalities seriously. First there is the Health Department, who I think just comes down to extract a few dollars. Next was Quarantine who was only interested in taking our garbage from us, thank you very much. Last came the Customs/Immigration man, who looked familiar to me.

Rob's hand was cramped after filling in the multiple forms in triplicate, and by noon we were cleared into Tonga. After talking to the Customs/Immigration man for a while, I realized that he was the local guy that we always saw smiling in the corner of the Bounty Bar during our extended cruise here in 2014.

The Bounty Bar is a Captain Cook themed watering hole that sits on the hill above Neiafu's small boat harbor. The bar's main attraction was its management team of English owner, Lawrence, and his golden retriever, Bentley. We figured that Lawrence, like many of the palangis (foreigners) here at the end of the earth, settled in Tonga because they were running away from something. We never figured out what that something was. It was difficult to walk by the Bounty Bar without stopping in to say hello to Lawrence, give Bentley a scritch, and have one of the bar's signature rum punches.

Yesterday the Customs guy told me that Lawrence had died a couple of years ago after a short illness. I was really looking forward to seeing him again. There have been other changes in Neiafu as well. Mike and Lori, the owners of the Aquarium Café, have sold the place and moved back to the USA. They were a bundle of energy in this sleepy island community. Lori ran early morning yoga classes and evening hula lessons. Mike had organized a morning radio net on the VHF that was always entertaining. There was always something going on at the Aquarium, a movie, kava night, or evening lecture. We became pretty good friends with Mike and Lori, and took them sailing when they passed through Hawaii in 2015. The Bounty Bar and the Aquarium are still operating businesses, but I can't bring myself to go into either yet.

We walked around town, had a sandwich in a local café, and went back to move the boat from the customs dock out to the mooring field. We picked a ball up off the Aquarium and had a pleasant evening dining aboard on grilled lamb and salad.

This morning I turned on the VHF to listen to the morning net only to find that it also is kaput. I guess it didn't have the momentum to keep going without Mike's leadership.

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