Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Ha’apai, Tonga. May 2019 Continued...


Part 2 – Arrival

In late afternoon, we finally ended up finding an anchorage at Ha’aFeva Island that offered good holding and protection from the wind. It wasn’t the prettiest island, and there was a hulking old Tongan supply ship anchored out just beyond the cement quay, with small boats picking up cargo directly from the ship.  But we were so happy to stop the boat.  Thankfully the ship left shortly after we anchored and after a nice cooked dinner, we enjoyed a peaceful full night's rest, which felt wonderful.

New Zealand to Ha’apai, Tonga. May 2019

Part 1 – The Passage

Our passage northwest from Opua, New Zealand to Tonga was a challenging kick-off to our second year of cruising.  We were sailing against variable 20-30 knot winds with sea waves and swell 2-3 meters high coming from three different directions. Within 8 hours of sailing, Julie was seasick for the first time. We were in coconut run cruiser's “survival mode” for 8 days.