Another big system was on the forecast and we needed to make a move.  Well, technically we loved the anchorage at Uoleva as it was so incredibly calm and peaceful.  However, we don’t have much time in Tonga and we had to continue moving North.  So, we decided to make a short stop in Lifuka before heading to Foa where we planned to hide from the storm.

Uoleva, where we were anchored, is only 4nm to Lifuka.  It was a super short motor to the “main” island of the Ha’apai group.  This is where we are supposed to clear in and clear out of the Ha’apai group.  So, we came to Lifuka and anchored in front of the main village called Pangai.  It is a super small town with 8 Chinese markets, a small fresh produce area, a hardware store, auto parts store, and a western union.  All of these businesses are within a 5 minute walk of eachother on the main road in the center of “town.”

We stopped by customs first to do our formalities, then checked out the rest of the town. We were able to dispose of our rubbish and we picked up some apples, mandarin oranges, and fresh bread.  I will call this a successful trip!

Here is a great shot of Sugar Shack at the Pangai anchorage in front of the Koa volcano!

Onward to Foa

Going from Lifuka to Foa is only 9nm so it will be another short motor.  The good thing is we can charge the house batteries!  We make our way around the shallow shoals and bommies and sneak into a little anchroage close to shore in 4m of sand.

As you can see, these three islands are pretty close together.

Matt caught a bug of some sort which actually put him down for 3 days.  Usually he can power through his colds but not this one.  Good thing we were at a pretty safe anchorage.  

Passage from Ha’apai to Vava’u

Believe it or not another large system was coming and we needed to move on.  The sail from Foa in Ha’apai to Vava’u is about 55-65nm.  We needed a fairly decent weather window that would not put too much strain on our one poor hard working rudder.  But, we also needed to leave.

The passage was about 67nm and we wanted to arrive during daylight.  We left our little spot on Foa around 0730 and had moderate winds at 10-15kts out of the SE and sucky 2.5-3m waves.  At least the waves were coming in long intervals so it was not a bash or a washer machine ride.  The boat was a little unsteady and had a hard time holding course.  However, considering she only had one rudder we both thought she did pretty darn good!

Here is a photo of the Vava’u group which looks remarkably like the Marquesas in French Polynesia or a blown up Bay of Islands in the Lao group of Fiji.

And a real life photo

We drop the hook at Port Maurelle around 1600 with 3 other boats.  But before night fall another 5 boats showed up making it 9 boats in this anchroage.  We are no longer in the serenity islands of Ha’apai.

Matt and I enjoying a cold frosty drink celebrating our arrival.

This blog post occured the first of August.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We explore the Island of walks in our last blog post.