Tonga Bound

0800 Position 18-33S 172-49W. 67 miles east of Vavau, Tonga

During the night the wind shifted to the north east bringing a wind chop with it which made the anchorage very rolly and uncomfortable. After breakfast yesterday we put out the "flopper stopper", a sea anchor that hangs over the side of the boat from the end of the boom, to help minimize the rolling. The flopper stopper helped a bit, but it still wasn't comfortable. The forecast looked like more of the same for the next twenty four hours so we decided it was time to depart Niue.

Piers was flying home to Australia from Niue yesterday at noon, so we all went ashore to say goodby to him and use the yacht club WIFI one last time.

At 1PM we hoisted the mainsail and slipped our mooring for Tonga, 235 miles to the west. Van Diemen enjoyed two hours of glorious broad reaching before the wind died and we were forced to start the engine. We needed to keep the pace up if we hoped to arrive in Vavau before dark the next day.

We motor sailed all night long in squally weather. At 7AM this morning I was in the galley making fried rice when a front hit us and the wind went from zero to thirty knots in an instant. The boat was knocked over, fried rice fixings ended up on the floor, and the engine died. Rob thinks the fuel level in the tank we were using was getting low and the dip tube sucked air when we laid her down. After we got Van Diemen back on her feet we were able to sail at eight knots under mainsail alone for an hour, and then started unrolling the jib as the wind lightened and the front moved away to the east. By 10AM we were back under power again.

We are still on track for a late afternoon arrival today in Vavau. We crossed the date line last night, so it is Sunday today in Tonga. We won't be able to clear customs on the weekend, so we are planning to anchor for the night in Port Maurelle and head into Neiafu, Vavau's capitol city, tomorrow morning.

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