Namea Island
A long 1-day sail took us to Namea Island, a small island with a surrounding barrier reef and a small resort. Namea is a protected marine reserve and is one of the top dive sites in Fiji. Only one other boat was anchored off the sheltered west coast of the island when we arrived. We dinghy’d to the wharf and climbed the steps leading to the resort. A fee is collected from all cruisers and goes to the village that owns the island as compensation for not fishing inside the barrier reef. The island is also a bird sanctuary with a huge population of red-footed boobies, who gracefully soared a few feet overhead our dinghy as we went ashore. There was only one couple staying at the resort that day, so they told us we could use the resort beach for a few hours. It was the ideal beach setting, what one dreams about when thinking about the South Pacific—soft-fine sand, warm-clear water, hammocks hung between palm trees, and not a sole in sight! We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there.
Namea Diving has a hut near the wharf, so we booked some dives for the following day. We joined the couple staying on the island who were honeymooning from the states for two reef dives. I went on the first one while Karen stayed with Jacintha on the boat, then we swapped for the second dive. Namea is well known for it’s soft coral and healthy reefs. They have over a dozen dive sites around the barrier reef. The first dive went to Manta Mount off the south end of the island. A Manta Ray cleaning station (where they go to get cleaned by reef fish) is located on the outside of the reef. It was a great dive even though we didn’t spot any Manta Rays. Went down to 80’ along the wall and saw spanish mackerel (Whaloo), white-tipped sharks, and lots of soft coral fans. The dive boat dropped me off at Apropos and picked up Karen for the second dive at Neptune Mount off the west side of the island. She also enjoyed the dive and saw lots of soft coral and reef fish.

Makogai—A Former Leper Colony
The passage to Makogai Island was a 25 mile beat into 20 knot winds.  We motor-sailed the entire way to keep a better heading and made it there in one tack. The bay is well protected from SE winds so the anchorage was nice and calm. In the morning, we did a quick sevusevu ceremony—the spokesman for the tribe accepted our waka, said a few words in Fijian, and it was over in less than 5 minutes. This is a more typical sevusevu in villages where lots of yachts visit.

The sevusevu offering granted us access to the island, which has a very unique history—Makogai is a former leper colony. Lepers throughout the South Pacific were brought here for treatment and to get away from the social stigma they faced at home. A young, educated Indian marine scientist who does research on giant clams gave us a tour of the former colony. The island was divided into wards to segregate people of different nationalities. If you were not too sick, you would live in one of these wards. Otherwise, you were admitted to one of several hospitals for treatment. We saw the remains of an outdoor movie theater, a hospital, a surgery building (where they performed amputations), a jail, and a large cemetery of mostly unmarked graves. Leprocy is a bacteria-infected disease that causes skin lesions and nerve damage. The nerve damage blocked pain so injuries were often not treated and got infected, which would result in amputations. In the 1950’s when leprosy cures were finding their way to Makogai, the survival rate improved. Eventually the lepers were moved to a bigger hospital in Suva on the main island of Fiji, and the colony was disbanded in the 1970’s. There are still a few survivors from the Makogai leper colony who return to visit this small island.

The other thing Makogai Island is known for is the research on giant clams. They have concrete tanks where the small clams grow for a few years before they can be transplanted elsewhere. We snorkeled around some mature giant clams next to the wharf in 10 feet of water. The color of the lips are from different types of algae. They also have a turtle rescue program for injured sea turtles. One of the large ones being treated was shot through the head with a spear gun, and lists to one side as he swims around the concrete tank.

During our stay on Makogai, we also had a great time with the children. They were shy at first but it didn’t take long before we were having fun on their rope swing, throwing frisbee, playing touch-rugby, and volleyball. Jacintha handed out a large bag of colored pencils and when she finished, they traded among each other for their favorite colors. We also left them with a nerf football and a frisbee. We traded some cans of meat, toothpaste, and toothbrushes for coconuts and bananas.

Transiting the Reef
The north coast of Viti Levu is full of dangerous reefs and narrow passes. We covered 90 miles over 2 days to go from Naingani Island to Nananu-I-Ra to Lautoka, the majority of it under sail. This type of sailing is quite opposite from blue-water passages, where you go hours or days without changing course. We used multiple electronic charts (Garmin, OpenCPN, and Navionics), known waypoints, and a good bow watch to get through safely. Having the sun behind you makes it much easier to see the color changes for spotting reefs. Each day we planned to leave a few hours after sunrise and arrive at our destination by 4pm. We also had a backup destination we could anchor at in case we couldn’t make it to our planned stop.  Most of the maneuvering around the reefs was uneventful, but a few places provided more excitement than wanted! Along the way we caught 2 small fish, keeping one for dinner and throwing the other back in. As we moved around the top of Viti Levu, a change in climate and landscape was noticeable. Lautoka, on the west coast of Viti Levu, is warmer, dryer, and sunnier that the windward east side.

Lautoka and Bekana Island
After a long day of motor-sailing through the remaining reefs along the north-west end of Viti Levu, we anchored off Bekana Island near Lautoka. An outdated cruising report said the resort there was friendly to cruisers, so after taking the dinghy into Lautoka for lunch, we pulled up to the resort, only to find it closed. The new owners, Chris and Ashwin, took over the dilapidated resort 6 months ago and are doing a wonderful job restoring it. They invited us in for tea and to share their vision of what they plan to do with this resort and possibly others throughout Fiji. Instead of 5-star resorts that cater to the rich and famous, they want to build comfortable, green resorts that involve the communities they are near. This one, called Haven at Bekana, will be opening in a few months. I look forward to checking it out when I return for Apropos next year. Two of their children (Dave and Sarah) entertained us with singing and the guitar while Jacintha played with their grandchildren outside.

Village of Nasea
After leaving Savusavu, we headed 45 miles east along Vanua Levu and dropped anchor in Dakuniba Bay. We hopped in SV Javelot’s dinghy, and the 8 of us motored around to the next bay with 2 bundles of Waka (dried kava root). We didn’t know it at the time, but we mistakenly bypassed the main village of Dakuniba, and went ashore at the smaller village of Nasea, which didn’t show up on our charts. As we approached the shore at sunset, the villagers saw us and began gathering along the beach to greet us. The Turaga ni Koro (village spokesman) welcomed us to the village and led us into a house, which also served as the village hall with a room big enough to fit the whole tribe plus the 8 of us. There was no furniture or chairs, and no electricity or running water, and we all sat cross-legged on a woven mat on the floor to begin the sevusevu.
Sevusevu is an ancient ritual of offering Waka to seek acceptance into a Fijian village (it’s considered very rude to show up at a village without the offering). We were also prepared with the appropriate dress—men wear Sulus (a long wrap similar to a sarong), and women are expected to dress conservatively and have their shoulders covered. The ceremony began with a chant by the Turaga ni Koro, followed by the handing over of the Waka to the village chief. The chief coboed 3 times, which in Fijian culture means, “I am about to speak, thank you for listening while I do”. He then began reciting the traditional monologue and ended with a chant and 3 more cobos that indicate they have completed their introduction. Then, in English, he welcomed us to the village and told us that while we were there, “our home is your home and you are always welcome to return”.
Next it was time to make kava! The Waka we brought needed crushed and they had an iron pail and a heavy rod for doing so. We took turns outside in the yard beating the kava root to a course powder, then returned to the room where they placed the crushed kava into a fine mesh bag and stirred it around the large wooden bowl full of water. Over the next 2 hours, we sat around the bowl drinking kava, smoking hand-rolled tobacco, and talking. Even the kids (Jacintha, Ivan, Declan, and Finn) tried a sip of kava. When handed a cup of kava, you clap once, then drink it down, hand the cup back to the server, and clap 3 times (the clap must be a loud, manly palm clap, and it’s embarrassing when it sounds soft!). Some of the women were in the back of the house preparing wild boar over a wood fire for us to eat. They hunted and killed the wild boar earlier that day and had already ate, but insisted that the 8 of us eat. By then it was dark and many of the village children had fallen asleep on the floor. During the conversation, we learned that we were only the 2nd yacht to visit the village in about 7 years! Several times they mentioned how excited and happy they were when they saw our dinghy approaching their beach.
It was a great time to be there since all the kids were on school holiday and normally they would be on another island for school. Our plans were to depart the following day to move further east, but it was too hard to decline their invitation to return and spend a whole day with them. So we dinghy’d back in the dark to the anchorage with a promise to return.
We spent the following day back in the village where the kids enjoyed climbing trees, playing with their pet piglet, and just hanging our with their new friends. They fed us smoked wild boar, breadfruit, papayas, mandarins, and coconuts. They showed us around the small village of only 3 or 4 houses, and explained how they hike up in the hills to hunt the boar with dogs. I told them how abundant deer are back in Pennsylvania and how we hunt them with rifles and bow & arrows, but only during a certain time of year. Although they go to the main town from time to time to buy things, they mostly depend on trading. Their culture is so opposite from ours back in the states—where our way of life is to “work hard and save”, theirs is a laid-back “if it doesn’t get done today, it’ll get done tomorrow” and “we have food today, so we eat it all”. A 17-year-old boy showed me around the village and said how happy he was to live there because the beach was so nice and there were lots of fish to catch and wild boar to hunt. He said when he is around 23-25 years old, he will go to another village to “get a girl to marry”, and bring her back to Nasea. He’s never been away from the island where he lives or the neighboring island where he goes to school, but said he wants to go to Los Angeles some day (I told him Seattle is better!). They invited us to go lobster hunting with them out on the reef after dark but we had a long ride back to the anchorage so had to decline. When it was time to go, everyone gathered on the steps for a group picture. Then they loaded our 2 dinghies with a dozen coconuts and walked them out over the reef do a deeper part of the bay since it was low tide. We left them with 6 of Jacintha’s dresses, some canned food, toothpaste and toothbrushes. We also promised to put the word out to other cruisers headed their way to bring some fiberglass resin so they could repair the hole in their only fishing boat. Meeting them was an amazing and memorable experience and I hope some day to return.

Viani Bay and Jack
Viani Bay is a few hours motoring from Dakuniba  Bay. We took the inside route, which winds its way inside the reef in more protected waters, but has a few very narrow passes. The narrowest pass showed us navigating into the green (indicating land) on our chart plotter, but we knew it was passable from other cruising reports and had known good waypoints to guide us. A good bow watch was still necessary to miss the shallow bommies (rocks) along the way. We learned of a Fijian man named Jack (and of his story-telling) from Curly’s cruising seminar that we went to back in Savusavu. Jack has lived along the bay for over 40 years and makes money by guiding cruisers on snorkeling or diving tours. He doesn’t actually get in the water, but stays on the anchored boat or in the case of drift snorkeling, drives the boat. So we arranged for him to take us snorkeling the following day aboard SV Javelot (a catamaran). We went to the 3 sites recommended by Jack and listened to his interesting stories along the way. Jack knows the area well and needs no chart plotter, he just points and says steer that way! The first site we anchored at was called the Cabbage Patch where we enjoyed the “cabbage” coral and many reef fish. The next site was along a maze of shallow reefs and Jack paddled along in a dinghy to show us the way. We saw a reef shark, lots of healthy coral, and plenty of small reef fish. The third site was a drift snorkel where Jack dropped us off at one location and guided the catamaran to the pickup spot as we drifted effortlessly along the reef. We crossed over lots of deep canyons and drifted over some thermal currents that were much warmer than the surrounding water. We saw some interesting schools of small fish swimming along with their mouths wide open, a sea turtle, and lots of healthy coral. Unlike some places in Bora Bora where they feed the fish in certain areas and take tourists to snorkel there, this was completely natural, non-touristy snorkeling.
Returning to the anchorage, we ended the day with a potluck aboard SV Javelot. The kids watched movies while the adults played 500, a very addicting card game!

Snorkeling around the “Cabbage Patch”

Lots of healthy coral

Crown of Thorns–they bleach and kill the coral

Taveuni Island
The following day, we arranged for Jack to come with us to Taveuni Island, about 7 miles away. Called the “garden island”, Taveuni gets more rain than other Fijian islands and has lush vegetation. It’s also home to a flower that grows only in the mountains there.  For this day-long trip, Jack charged a small fee to show us where to anchor, arranged taxi service to the Tavoro waterfalls, and looked after the boat while we visited the village and falls on the north end of the island. We again took Javelot and left Apropos behind anchored in Viani Bay. Another cruising couple who we met in French Polynesia (Steve and Ange from SV Pannikin) joined us. Along the way we caught a tuna while trolling a rapala lure.
The long taxi ride to the north end of the island was over mostly unpaved roads. We stopped along the way to pick up some fresh coconuts, squash, eggplant, and tomatoes. After a 45 minute drive, we reached the visitor center and the trailhead to Tavoro falls. The first falls, only a half mile away, was the largest of the three, both in height and water flow. The hike to the next falls took about an hour and included a  small river-crossing. Since we had to be back at the trailhead by a certain time, we didn’t have enough time for the third falls, so we hiked back down to the large fall for some swimming. Of all the waterfalls we visited in Mexico and French Polynesia, these falls had the highest volume of water flowing. Trying to swim to the base of the falls was exhausting because of the large current generated. We were barely able to get close enough to touch the outer spray before swimming back to shallow water away from the falls.
We took the bumpy taxi ride back to the anchorage, crossed the channel to return to Viani Bay, and once again ended the day with a dinner (fresh tuna) aboard Javelot, followed by another game of 500. We said our goodbyes to Rob and Rachel from Javelot since they planned to cruise further east and our plan was to go west the following day. Jacintha will miss her friend Ivan so mom and dad will have to be her new Uno competitors.

We arrived in Savusavu after a fast 3-1/2 day passage from Tonga. The town is a custom’s check-in point and will be our home for a few days.  Since all the mooring buoys were occupied, customs allowed us to raft up to SV Javelot who was tied to the custom’s dock–perfect! The dock is alongside the Copra Shed Marina so hot showers and a good restaurant were within sight of our boat. After processing immigration and agriculture forms and getting the boat interior fumigated since we sailed from Tonga, we walked to town to get some Fijian currency and groceries. The local market was bustling with activity and we picked up some coconuts, veggies, and the all-important kava, which is needed to present to chiefs when you visit small villages.

Some activities that occupied our time over our 4-day stay in Savusave:

Dinghy Sailing
Jacintha joined a youth sailing club for a few hours of Optimist sailing in the bay. The wind picked up when it was her turn to sail so she was mainly used for ballast while the boat was sailed by a more experienced local boy.

Misc. Boat Things
We had a few repairs to make after our last passage. Ian, our self steering wind vane, chafed through his control line early in the morning on our last day of passage, so that needed replacing. Our Honda generator got drenched with seawater from a wave and stopped working, but fortunately started right up after drying out. Some of the ratlines needed re-tied as they were sliding down the stays. We ran out of propane in our main tank during our stay in Tonga, so switched over to our smaller reserve bottle. We re-filled the main bottle with butane since they don’t use propane here. We were also running low on gas (petrol) used for the dinghy and generator. A good washdown of the boat removed the thick coating of salt from the rough passage.

While back in the village of Neiafu, we checked out with customs and immigration and topped up the tanks with duty-free diesel.  We then headed back to Port Maurelle to wait for a good weather window to depart on the 450 nm passage to Fiji. A strong weather system was still west of Fiji and moving east, creating strong winds and high seas between Fiji and Tonga. A high (counter-clockwise system) north of New Zealand and a low (clockwise system) to the north of Fiji caused what is known as a “squash zone” or “enhanced trades”. Not wanting to sail in 12′ seas with 25-30 knot winds, and since we had a flexible schedule, we decided to wait. We ended up spending 10 days in Port Maurelle as the system moved through slower than expected. Legally, when you clear customs you have to depart within 24 hours. Port Maurelle is an outlying island away from Neiafu, so we (along with 2 other boats who checked out with us) decided to wait there for a better weather window for the passage. While talking on VHF, Apropos became “Green Pirate”, Fanny Fisher became “Fishermen”, and Brahminy became “Blue Moon”–our aliases just in case customs was listening! During those 10 days, we enjoyed potlucks, card and board games, walks to remote villages, and paddling around the bay. Jacintha was happy since Javelot was around for most of that time and she got to hang out with Ivan and have sleepovers. For a change of scenery we up-anchored and sailed to another bay (anchorage 11) for an evening, stopping along the way to snorkel and an unsuccessful search for manta rays. Another day we hopped aboard Javalot and again searched for manta rays but ended up snorkeling around a shallow reef, then sailing back to Mariner’s Cave for another swim into the submerged cave entrance malavoi3.martinique.univ-ag.fr. While motoring back to Port Maurelle, we spotted 3 humpback whales who gave us a nice show. We stopped near Swallow’s Cave to try to catch dinner with a spear-gun but saw only small reef fish. It was the first time I sailed aboard a catamaran and witnessed how fast they sail without healing over! Other fun activities included swinging into the water on a halyard, and Jacintha and the boys from Javelot enjoyed being hoisted up in climbing harnesses and swinging around the mast. One day it rained so hard that our 8-gallon buckets positioned to catch water draining off the bimini filled up withing 30 minutes. During the downpour, we filled up our aft 60-gallon water tank by opening the deck port and using a towel to dam the water and direct it into the tank opening (this was after it rained for a few hours so the water running in the gunwales was clean). After 10 days the weather system moving east finally weakened enough to provide us with a better opportunity to depart to Fiji, and we followed 2 other boats out of Tongan waters just as the sun was dropping below the horizon.

Neiafu
Back in Neiafu, we has custom t-shirts made with a Hans Christian 43′ Ketch drawing on the front and different prints on the back. Jacintha got to learn about silk screening and help apply a logo to the back of one of her shirts.

Ukulele Lesson
Since getting my new 8-string ukulele in the Cook Islands, I’d been trying to figure out how to play it. On my 4-string Hawaiian uke I play a finger-picking style of classical and Hawaiian music. But a Tahitian uke is played quite differently in a fast strumming style. So I talked to one of the guys from The Strings band who I played along with while drinking kava one night, and arranged a 2-hour private lesson. He brought his son to help translate and play guitar to compliment the uke. I learned a lot and went back to the boat with chords and  a few riffs written down to practice.  The price was a bottle of vodka and his taxi fare home!

We also went to another Tongan feast where I helped roast the suckling pig, then joined The Strings band again with my uke.

Blue Marlin caught in Tonga

After a few days back in Neiafu to provision, do laundry and banking, and upload pics for the blog, we set out again to explore more of the outer islands. While in Neiafu, we also helped welcome the king to Vava’u as we joined hundreds of school children lining the road to the airport. We had a 2-second view of him as his motorcade drove by on the way to his palace. He was recently coronated and took over the crown from his brother who passed away over a year ago.

Mariner’s Cave
The saying is that everyone visits Swallow’s Cave, but only the brave go to Mariner’s Cave. We hopped on SV Bob The Cat and motored a short distance from Port Maurelle to the west side of Nuapapu island. At medium tide, the entrance to the top of the cave opening is about 4’ under water. Since David and Malene were there before, they knew exactly where the opening was and “parked” their catamaran nearby. The adults and some of the older kids jumped in the water and prepared to dive down into the cave. The first time through is scary since you cannot see the inside of the cave. To enter, you take a deep breath and swim 4’ under water for about 10’, then come back up to the surface. It’s sort of like diving under our boat on one side and coming up on the other side. The inside of the cave is slightly smaller than Swallow’s Cave, and the only light comes from under water where the opening is. After swimming in and out a few times, we realized it was too difficult for Jacintha and she was happy to stay aboard the catamaran and play with Matthias, Lucas, and Ivan. There’s a second entrance to the cave that some people can free-dive to. It’s about 50’ down, so we didn’t even consider trying! We motored back to the anchorage and had a pizza party dinner aboard Apropos. Karen and Malene baked 6 pizzas for a hungry crew of 4 kids and 4 adults!

Back to Port Maurelle
Port Maurelle is one of our favorite anchorages in the Vava’u group. Since the south-easterly trade winds were up all week, we returned there as it’s sheltered and has good holding. We also reconnected with familiar boats like Bob The Cat, Panthera, Fannie Fisher, and Javelot. It’s great for Jacintha too since she has friends on Javelot and Bob The Cat. She comes and goes via dinghy to other kid boats anchored next to us kodu.ut.ee. With about 10 boats in the anchorage, we had a fun beach bonfire one night complete with jumbo marshmellows we bought at Costco in Mexico. A female humpback whale and her calf swam into the anchorage one morning and gave us a nice show.

Swimming with Whales
There are only a few places in the world that allow swimming with whales, and Tonga is one of them. Since we already swam with the whale sharks in La Paz, the sea lions near Isla La Partida, black-tipped and lemon sharks in Rangiroa, and stingrays in Bora Bora, we figured we may as well try swimming with humpback whales.
First we spent a nice relaxing afternoon on the small uninhabited island of Taunga, anchorage #23. David and Malene kiteboarded on the windy side of the island, the 3 kids gathered sand dollars and built a hut, and Karen and I relaxed on the wind-free, leeward side of the island. We then headed back to Port Maurelle, 3 miles away, where the whale boat would pick us up in the morning.

To legally swim with whales, you must go with a certified guide and there are several in Tonga.
The whale boat came by our anchorage at 8am to pick us up, then sped away to some of their favorite whale sites. We spotted a few whales in the distance, but they disappeared before we reached them. After about 3 hours of searching, we finally got in the water near a pair of humpbacks but didn’t see them underwater before they dove off. This area was not protected from the wind so the waves made it difficult to snorkel without sucking in water. Soon after, we spotted a female with a young calf, and jumped in the water again, but didn’t get close enough before they swam away. I was starting to wonder if this whale swimming tour was going to be worth it ($1000 Tongan or $500US for the 3 of us). Finally, we spotted a juvenile male humpback surfacing about every 4 minutes. This is a sign that they are sleeping and half their brain is turned off, so they surface about every 4 minutes to breathe, then dive back down. We jumped back in the water and swam to where he last surfaced. The water was very clear so you could see him rising from about 50’. As he got closer to the surface, you realized just how big he was. He stayed on the surface for 5-10 seconds before slowing turning around to go back down. With a few strokes of his powerful tail, he got smaller and smaller until he disappeared into the abyss. We stayed around for 4 or 5 cycles during which time we rotated swimmers (a guide can only take 4 swimmers in the water at a time and there were 6 on the boat). It was an amazing experience and we got some good underwater photos and videos.

We sailed the entire way from Niue to the Vava’u group in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was a nice 2-day downwind sail with winds averaging 20 knots and seas a bit rought at 10 feet. We were within visual sight of SV Brahminy and within AIS signal of SV Panthera the entire way, and we kept in contact with both on the VHF radio. During the 2-day sail, we experienced a few squalls accompanied by some amazing rainbows. We also spotted a humpback whale a few boat lengths in front of us prompting us to change course. It next surfaced behind us and performed a beautiful show of several breaches. The seas were still rough as we rounded the Vava’u group from the north. We motored the last few miles to the village of Neiafu, the check-in point for the Vava’u group. It was still gusting to 20 knots making the customs wharf too difficult to use, so we anchored alongside and dinghy’d in to meet customs, health, and agriculture officials for clearing into Tonga.

The Vava’u group is 1 of 3 groups of islands that make up the Kingdom of Tonga. It consists of dozens of islands spread out over an area of 250 square miles. There are 42 anchorages with names that are so hard to pronounce that they simplified it by numbering them 1-42. The main town of Neiafu is the center of activity and where most cruisers initially go. There are restaurants, a nice market, churches, bakeries, grocery stores, banks, etc. The other islands are either uninhabited or have very small villages. We used Neiafu as our home base and made several excursions to other anchorages throughout the group.
One of the best things about cruising is getting together with other boaters. We had a fantastic dinner aboard SV Brahminy with Dan & Sara who caught a nice Yellowfin tuna coming into Tonga. Richard & Geri from SV Panthera also joined us, then we all went to our boat for dessert—a peach crumble that Karen had made. Jacintha finally got to use the maps she had drawn of Apropos months ago, handing them out to everyone while giving them a tour of our boat.

Tonga is an amazing cruising ground. Sort of like the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the Pacific Northwest, but with palm trees and warm water. Here are some highlights of our stay in Tonga:

Kava and Ukulele
One evening we took the dinghy to shore where we knew there was going to be a band called The Strings playing guitars and ukuleles. I brought my ukulele along and soon was sitting around a table playing Tongan music and drinking kava. Kava is a Tongan tradition enjoyed only by men and served by women. At the end of each song, wooden sipping bowls were filled from a huge yellow bowl of kava and passed around to each player. I’ve never drank kava before but heard about its tongue numbing, mellow/happy feeling effects. After about the 4th song, I was happy and numb! They sang and played traditional Tongan songs (mostly with 3 or 4 chords so I was able to strum along on my uke) until the kava was gone. I figured in the course of 2 hours I drank about a gallon of kava! Karen was the designated kava server, getting instructions from the guys to “stir it more” and “two scoops per bowl”. Jacintha fell asleep and the restaurant staff gave her a blanket and let her lie down on a table. After the last ounce of kava was drunk at around 11pm, we dinghy’d back to our boat where I slept great—and felt fine the next morning!

Matamaka
The tiny village of Matamaka (anchorage #15) is a 2 hour sail from Neiafu. We went there after reading about their small elementary school that welcomes cruising kids to join them for a day of school. After tying to a mooring buoy, we walked to the 2-classroom school to meet the teacher and ask if Jacintha could attend the following day. There were 2 classrooms, one for 8-9-10 year olds, and one for 5-6-7 year olds. The principal introduced us to both classes and welcomed Jacintha to join them the following day starting at 8:30am. We then walked around the village of a dozen or so homes, most with gardens and fenced-in areas for pigs. We stopped to talk to 2 men who were chopping up kava root. One of the girls we met earlier in the older classroom gave Jacintha a book and a small plastic toy. She was very sweet and declined our offer to bring her a book the following day. Back at the boat, Jacintha was very excited to be going to school the next day and even went to bed early but couldn’t sleep!

A Day at School
It was Karen’s birthday, so I made her tea and let her have a relaxing morning while I packed a lunch for Jacintha and took her to school. We tied the dinghy to the wharf at 8am and walked a short distance to the school, which sits atop a hill overlooking the bay. Along the way we passed the school principal who was waiting for a boat to take her to town for a meeting. So instead of 2 teachers and 2 classrooms, there would be only 1 teacher with 15 students in a single classroom. Jacintha and the Tongan students lined up outside the building for the morning prayer and announcements, spoken in Tongan. The teacher had her infant baby with her and after we entered the school, asked if I would be ok watching the class until 10am. I gladly accepted and began by asking the kids to introduce themselves and tell me their age. They were very shy at first but soon warmed up. They ranged in age from 6 to 11 years old (the older kids lived and attended school in Neiafu during the week, and returned to Matamaka on weekends). We did some math on the blackboard, with the younger kids doing simple addition and the older kids multiplication. I showed them where Seattle was on the globe and asked them how long they thought it took us to sail to Tonga, getting answers from 2 days to 2 weeks! I also asked them questions about Tonga and found the population of Matamaka was about 40 people. I asked them to sing their favorite song, which went “Good morning, good morning, how are you? I’m fine, I’m fine, and hope that you are too”. Next was reading and Jacintha volunteered to read a book in front of the classroom. Then they translated some English words such as “hello, house, boat, pig” to Tongan. Running out of things to do, I asked what game they wanted to play and they decided on hangman. When the teacher returned at 10am, I went back to the boat and left Jacintha with the class. When we returned at noon, the teacher thanked us for the donations of books and art supplies, and then had 3 of the older girls perform a short dance for us. She then announced the school day to be a half-day and asked the kids to line up outside beneath the bell where she distributed a bag full of toys Jacintha had brought for them. The kids were dismissed and we ate our lunch on a bench overlooking the bay. Afterwards we were joined by one of the boys in a game of stickball on the large lawn in front of the school.

Tongan Feast
We joined 5 other boats at anchorage #16 (Vaka’Eitu) for a Tongan Feast. A wonderful Tongan family provides the entertainment and food along the beach in front of their house. They cooked a suckling pig on a spit, sweet and sour fish, teriyaki chicken, yams, crab salad, taro leaves, fruit, and more. The hosts, who have 11 children,  also provided some entertainment with singing, dancing and guitar playing. Jacintha had fun playing with other boat kids while we ate and talked to other cruisers. It was a beautiful night with a new moon, brilliant stars, and hardly any wind.

Swallows Cave
After dropping anchor in Port Maurelle at anchorage #7, we drove our dinghy a mile away to explore Swallows Cave. We heard the best time to go was after 4pm since the cave opening faces west and in the late afternoon the sun shines right into the cave. Arriving at 5:30pm,we found the opening in the coral limestone and drove the dinghy inside. The inside of the cave was amazing—above the water, the ceiling rose to 50’, and below the crystal clear water, the floor dropped to at least 100’. The inside was the size of a small movie theater. With the sun shining into the mouth of the cave, thousands of small silver fish shined in schools a few feet below the surface as well as 50’ down. We put on our mask and fins and snorkeled around for 30 minutes enjoying the underwater scenery. On the cave ceiling were hundreds of swallow nests from which the cave was named after.

Jacintha’s Friends
After several weeks of hanging out with just mom and dad, Jacintha has been having a field day meeting up with old and new boat kids. While in Tonga, we reconnected with SV Bob The Cat and their 2 boys, and met new kids from SV Javelot and SV Fannie Fisher. Here are some pictures of Jacintha and her friends. Ivan, shown rowing in the picture below, was a great rower and rowed them all the way to shore and back. We later learned his father was an Olympic rower for NZ, and also rowed across the Atlantic, winning the 2-man race!