0800 position 18-42S 174-02W. At anchor in 28 feet, sand bottom, Port
Maurelle, Vava'u, Tonga
We spent a total of three nights in Port Maurelle, the last two in the
company of Steve and Pauline from Rum Doodle. On Saturday night they
invited us over for dinner, cocktails, and stories aboard their boat and
we reciprocated Sunday night. A great time was had by all. At dawn on
both Sunday and Monday we could hear the whales singing for about an hour.
At first I thought they were cows braying, but you couldn't hear it on
deck, only when down below. Then they started making very strange sounds
and it was obvious that it was humpback speak. On Monday after coffee Rum
Doodle departed for the Coral Garden and we headed back into Neiafu to
prepare to depart Tonga.
Monday afternoon we filled the boat with diesel fuel and water at the
Moorings dock and did most of our shopping. Monday night we had a
cocktail at the Aquarium and dinner and drinks at the Bounty Bar. It was
tough to say goodbye to our new friends, but it was time to move on.
Tuesday we checked out with the officials, Port Captain, Immigration, and
Customs, did our fresh food shopping, and departed again for Port
Maurelle. After anchoring it was time to prep the boat for sea by
deflating and stowing the dinghy, installing the self steering windvane,
jacklines, and man overboard gear. A last swim in one of the loveliest
spots on the planet, a cribbage game, barbecued steak dinner, and a movie
before bed.
Today we begin the real "adventure" part of the trip. Until now our
voyage has followed well established routes. Nobody does the trip from
Tonga to Tahiti though. The only other people I know that have done it
are Larry and Sherry from the Ark Gallery. Two of his fifty five
deliveries were from Tonga to Tahiti, one of which took forty days. But
their trips were back before sailors had access to excellent weather
forecast models. We are hoping that these models will help us to find and
sail in favorable winds for our passage to the east against the normal
trade wind flow. Our goal is to make it to the Society Islands in less
than two weeks, but our hope is that we will be able to make it to
Raivavae in the Australs, a seldom visited paradise about 400 miles south
of Tahiti.
We timed our departure for today because the weather models are showing a
low pressure area approaching from the west and passing to the south.
Down here in the Southern Hemisphere the wind circulates around low
pressure areas in a clockwise direction. That means that if we can
position ourselves to the north of the passing low we will have winds from
the westerly quadrant which will allow us to sail downwind to the east.
The only problem with this strategy is that the lows usually move faster
than we can, and after a few days they will leave us behind and we have to
deal with the weather that follows. We are not sure what that weather
might be at this point because the models aren't too accurate more than a
week out.
Please wish us luck.
Your weather window looks as good as it gets, Noodle. Pound to weather for a day and a half, then 3 days of beam reach in southerlies. Big swell from the south during that time, though. Then looks like easterlies again but not so strong. Good luck, safe voyage!
ReplyDelete