We arrived safely to Tonga after two very challenging passages. We have broken and lost a few things due to the crappy weather and huge seas, but nothing that can’t be fixed. It’s just time and money.
Our blogs will pick up where we left off on 25 July so please stay tuned!
This is a photo at Minerva Reef South.
Please remember that our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.
Yup, not a great passage, and not excited about the weather that’s coming. Little too busy and frustrated to send an update yesterday.
We have arrived Tonga, cleared customs and are extremely happy to be here and and explore new places. A couple of hurdles before continuing on the life of an explorer.
Rough passage it was, winds were good and just the waves didn’t really want to play nice.
So you are driving along and your steering wheel comes off in your hands. Either you slow down or just hope for the best. We were sailing along and then our chauffeur couldn’t keep a course to save his butt. Otto, our chauffeur and auto pilot, kept forgetting which way to go. We tried to coax him along and point the right way, but no dice. Turns outs try as he might, it’s impossible to steer without the steering wheel. So we gave him a break and put on the training wheels and motored through out the night.
It wasn’t till we found sheltered water of Tonga that we saw what Otto was complaining about. The rudder had gone awol, and made controlling the vehicle quite the challenge. good thing we have 2 of them rudders.
Next hurdle is the weather, an nasty system that is supposed to bring 50+ knot winds from all directions is arriving for the weekend, just like those surprise uninvited in-laws that kept threatening to show up and now really are showing up.
It’s all good, it’s part of living on the edge of a flat earth. Sooner or later you’ll fall off, or go around the corner and continue on.
Very nice first sunset in the Kingdom and out for a long sleep. Safe and sound.
No not those over exposed royals from across the pond, we are off to visit one of the few kingdoms left. The Kingdom of Tonga.
A week or so in the middle of no where was fun, the lobsters eluded me, the water was so so clear and still a little chilly. The weather gods have spoken and it’s time to move on or hunker down.
Not much protection in the middle of no where, so shelter we shall seek and hopefully the king will have us.
Fiji is seeing the winds now, Tonga and Minerva are next so we are off to Tonga to hide behind a palm tree. It’s a short trip of 250ish miles, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride with 2 meter seas and increasing winds. If all goes to plan, we’ll arrive and still have a day or two to get acquainted with the area before seeking out a palm tree, and who knows the weather will probably change by then.
All good, 188 miles to go, great luminescence in the dark waters this evening. So bright, Just like being at a rave without all the people.