| We are sailing
to Tonga! We've bid adieu to the peaceful beauty of French Polynesia. Now
the question has become: "Will we go direct or stop off at an island or
2 along the way"? The voyage from Bora Bora to the northern chain of islands
that is the Kingdom of Tonga is 1250 miles as the crow flies. In reality
it's more like 1400 for my wandering vessel. I can sail in a straight line,
but it isn't always the most comfortable and I decided long ago that I'll
take comfort and safety over speed. Along our path there are the options
of a few atolls in the Southern Cook islands (named after Captain Cook),
or Niue (which Cook originally named "Savage Island").
I'm pointing Barraveigh toward Niue
but will decide whether or not we stop based on conditions. Tonga is only
another 200 miles and I'm excited to get to the only kingdom in the South
Pacific. Originally I was going to take the northern route and stop in
Suvarrow which is in the Northern Cook's but the conditions ahead didn't
look favorable so we altered course. It's important to stay flexible and
with all these island adventures to choose from, it's easy to change one's
mind.
When you last read this column we
were headed to Moorea. It was a real treat but it was almost the end of
the trip. While anchored in the less crowded and more private western anchorage
in Opunohu Bay, we got caught in a nasty night of 25+ knot winds. It was
a tiny anchorage with razor sharp coral closely surrounding Barraveigh.
The wind clocked around and fortunately the anchor chain wrapped around
a large coral head and stuck fast. We didn't drag and it was the wrap around
the coral that saved us, because the wind shift had dislodged the anchor.
I could see it laying upright on the bottom and the reef only 1 boat length
away just gnashing its teeth.
That was close and nothing but pure
luck. Its amazing Barraveigh isn't flotsam right now.
On the plus side of our Moorea excursion,
we were amazed to find the resorts taking tourists (my friend calls them
"weekers") to a shallow spot of perfectly clear water where they were hand
feeding the sting rays. They literally slither all over your body while
investigating for fish. Please take note - when they want the piece of
fish, just let it go. It's not cute to tease them and I'm missing a bit
of finger to prove it. Their skin is soft without scales and not raspy,
like a shark. The tail, on the hand, is rather abrasive, not to mention
the stinger itself.
These creatures were so tame though,
that you could grab hold and take the magic carpet for a ride. After a
while the ray would stop and reverse just like a hover craft and would
instantly be rid of the freeloader on its back. Shy black tip reef sharks
patrolled in the deeper water hoping for scraps to come their way. At another
spot nearby, Suzi was kayaking in 2 meters of water and there, on the bottom,
in white sand lie 5 or 6 tikis. No one knows the reason for their presence
in this spot. Some think that they were replaced with more powerful gods
and dumped in the bay. It was rather amazing to glide over them and view
the workmanship in such clear water. A couple of them were as large as
my dinghy.
Huahine was one of my favorite islands.
It's a surfer's paradise and all our friends were there. We spent the evenings
going from dinner party to cocktail party and the days snorkeling, surfing,
and diving. There was of course the odd job that had to be completed. I
had my rematch with the dinghy - she won again. She still leaks both air
and water and I hate her more than anyone can hate an inanimate object.
Then I cleared the obstruction from
my bilge hose by using my dive tank as a pressure blaster. I was quite
pleased with that magic trick. We took an archeological tour of Huahine.
Apparently it rivals Easter Island for archeological significance and ruins
in Polynesia. With our transplanted American guide Paul, we saw many examples
of the Marea, which are the stone foundations that the ancients built their
sacred structures on. Paul was extremely knowledgeable in multiple disciplines,
and gave us a wonderfully comprehensive narration of the culture, history
and structures we visited.
Huahine, like Moorea, gave me a good
scare. I made a judgment error while surfing the pass near Fare. I looked
down the lip of the big roller as it dumped on the shallow water beneath
it, pulled back and let it roll under me. "I'll catch the next one." I
should have, but I didn't, and the next thing I knew I was too far inside
and the waves were now breaking behind me. I was between the reef and the
wall of crashing water.
"This is bad. This is not going to
end well. Stay calm." 1 minute later I was standing on the reef waiting
for the next roller to break in front of me. I focused on not being thrown
over or getting rolled, and when I did I protected my head at all costs.
I smashed my knee into some coral. That brought searing pain that made
my mind focus more than ever. "Ok, get back on the board and paddle paddle
paddle. I need to make some distance before the next one comes." I was
talking myself through it, but in the back of my mind I didn't think I
had a chance. |
