The Kingdom of Tonga, and, Return to New Zealand

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Niuatoputapu

Turtle in the lagoon

It is just an overnight sail of 190nm to reach the most northern islands of Tonga, the Niua Group. The group is made up of three small volcanic islands. This definitely has not been one of our better legs. We lost the wind yesterday afternoon and have to motor sail. I had my fishing line out, but no luck on that front. Again I am convinced these waters have been over-fished. Also there was an incredible amount of weed about. Alec needed to clear the props on more than one occasion. The following afternoon we motor into a very well protected lagoon on the north-western side of Niuatoputapu. Like most lagoon passes one would not attempt this in bad light or rough weather. The channel is winding with some of its markers broken off at the high-water mark, but with care we make it safely to the excellent anchorage.

History:  Like Samoa, Tonga was also first settled by the Lapita people some two to three thousand years ago.  Carbon dating of their pottery has shown this.

SHAMAL in Niua Lagoon

Fuel Station

Tonga had its first king sometime in the middle of the 10^th century AD. Since then around 40 men have held this title. The four main island groups, from north to south, Niua, Vava’u, Ha’apai, and Tongata’u, were discovered by Europeans at different dates between 1616 and 1781. The Kingdom is made up of about 170 islands, some being high volcanic and others low coral islands.

The population is around 106,000 people. It is thought that just as many Tongans are living abroad, mostly in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. They are a very religious nation, and Sunday sees the whole country nearly coming to a standstill. The kingdom became an independent state in the mid-1970 after being under British protection since 1900.

Western Samoa

 

Hello Again

Alec cutting up Pomelos
 

We leave Palmerston Atoll with east south east winds. It is a sunny morning, but lots of cloud about. We are running under a reef in the main and no jib, and are able to maintain a speed between 5.5-6.5kts. The seas are between 2-3mts with breaking tops. It is a little rolly, but not too uncomfortable. I am able to make muffins to go with our morning coffee, and make a batch of yogurt. Dinner is crumbed parrot fish fillets which we were given. It really is a yummy fish.

An evening of light winds
 

It takes us five days to cover the 595nm to Western Samoa. The last couple of days the winds dropped making for a slower trip. But we are now anchored in Apia harbour on Western Samoa’s north coast. We passed American Samoa to our starboard during the night.

We did have squalls on this leg, but the winds were never above 17-19kts. We are also notice how much warmer and more humid it is here. The nights in Rarotonga had been quite cool.

The Cook Islands

Bora Bora

Sunday 21^st. September.  An email arrives on the “Puddle Jumpers” web page for which we have joined for our Pacific crossing, from Bob McDavitt, the New Zealand weather guru, saying a Tuesday departure from Tahiti to Tonga is recommended due to a front passing over the Cook Islands and then Tahiti. We are heading for the Cook Islands, so we will wait a little longer here in Bora Bora.

Bora Bora Yacht Club

Monday afternoon arrives and Alec is ready to leave. By 1500 we have raised the anchor and are motoring out through the reef. Destination, Rarotonga, the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands.

Leaving Bora Bora

Once through the reef we raise the sails and are on our way. Winds are east north east at 15-20kts. Seas 1-1.5mts. All is good. Just on dawn the following morning, we run into the tail of Bob’s frontal system. The wind has now gone around to the south east at 25kts with breaking seas. There are some squalls about. We reef down and spend the next 24 hours with things a little more uncomfortable than we had hoped for. The following morning the system has passed and the seas have dropped, so we are able to raise the full ‘main again.

French Polynesia

Hello to you all once more.

Bastille Day, Nuku Hiva

French Polynesia – A French overseas territory consisting of about 130 tropical islands strewn over some four million square kilometres in the South Eastern Pacific Ocean. It is made up of five main groups.

The Marquesas Islands are the most northerly sitting between 8deg.-11deg. south of the equator. They are high volcanically formed islands of which there are twelve.

The Tuamotu Archipelago is made up of approximately 78 islands, all but two being coral atolls. The atolls are made up of coral reefs and motu (small coral islands on which many have been planted with coconut palms) surrounding beautiful lagoons. Many have one or two navigable passes into these lagoons. They lie around 550 miles south east of the Marquesas and extend almost 1,000 miles in a NW-SE direction.

Tuamotus

The Gambier Islands are located at the south eastern end of the Tuamotu Archipelago, and situated 1,700km east of Tahiti. This group of 5 high islands and 18 motu lie in a lagoon surrounded by a single coral reef. As they are close to the Tropic of Capricorn-25deg. south of the equator, lush vegetation and fruit trees thrive here.

The Society Islands lie approximately 250 miles west of the Tuamotu Archipelago. This group is made up of twelve major islands and divided into the Windward and Leeward Islands. The main islands of the Windwards are Tahiti and Moorea. The main islands of the Leewards are Raiatea and Tahaa, Bora-Bora, and Huahine. The Society group are a mixture of high volcanic islands, and atolls. They extend over 400 miles.

Tuamotus

Lastly, the Austral Islands. This group are spread along the Tropic of Capricorn for over 800miles. There are 5 islands, some surrounded with a reef and lagoon. Again their situation makes for fertile lands where coffee, oranges and tropical fruits are grown.

As for our visit, we are given a three month visa on arrival into French Polynesia. There is no way we can explore this vast area, so time will tell just how much we can see.

Panama and into the Pacific

Panama, then out to the Marquesas-French Polynesia

Hello To You All Again

Our resident croc in the marina

Reluctantly we settle into life in Shelter Bay Marina (Shelter “Pay” Marina as it is known, and yes it is so expensive in here) as we await the arrival of our two replacement rudders. Alec spends hours on the internet sorting out other replacement parts, and spares, for the long crossing across the Pacific. There will be no suppliers till we reach Tahiti, so one needs to be well prepared. He orders a new wind transducer for the top of the mast, plus the wind instrument at the helm. After sitting in the marina without being connected to mains power we also discover it is time for new house batteries. This set has only lasted four years, whereas the first set we had lasted eight years. We replace some of our sheets and halyards keeping the old ones for spares.

When we have done as much as we can with SHAMAL in the water, we make our list of everything to be done when she is lifted. Now with time while we wait for the rudders to arrive, we get out our folding bikes and explore some of the local area. We also go on jungle walks to see the monkeys and whatever else pops out from among the foliage. The bird life here is also amazing, and quite noisy.

Colombia to Panama

Santa Marta
 

 

 

Hello Again

Santa Marta, Colombia. What a delightful stop this was. Once again it was such a pity we could not have stayed longer and really explored the area. For starters the marina there is great. Very clean with a wonderful team of staff to look after you. They took care of all our check in and out paperwork which is really helpful as our Spanish is very limited at best. Anyway one has to have an agent here by law to do your paperwork.

Santa Marta
 

We had arrived into one of the oldest cities in South America. It was founded in 1525 by the Spanish.  Of course there are the more ancient city ruins scattered throughout South America which were built by its indigenous inhabitants. Santa Marta sits along a sandy bay surrounded by the highest coastal mountain range in the world – the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.  Its two highest peaks are 5,775mts. National Parks and lovely beaches are also in close vicinity. We were told that for some days each month a katabatic wind blows off the mountains at up to 50kts at times, creating spray filled waves in the marina. Fortunately for us these winds did not occur during our stay. In fact it was hot and sunny. The temperature was not below 30deg. C. During the day, but in the evenings it dropped somewhat to make going out for dinner and sitting at the outside tables at the restaurants really pleasant.

Santa Marta
 



Santa Marta
 



The city really comes to life in the evenings with people coming out to enjoy the beach front promenade where street vendors set up stalls selling everything imaginable. We found the supermarket had a wonderful selection of foods at very reasonable prices on meats and local produce. We also found fruits which we have in New Zealand and not seen for ages, like feijoas, tree tomatoes, and banana passionfruit, along with another three varieties of passion fruit. Also there are the lovely purple skinned sweet potatoes everywhere.

Grenada To Santa Marta, Colombia

Hello To You All Once Again

Shamal in Grenada
 

 


Grenada
 

Well the time finally came where we were as ready as one could be ( so we thought ) to head on out for the next leg of our Adventures.  We had dived to check the hulls and give the props a good clean. The new water maker pump had been installed, and we had even delayed our departure by a day as we had an engineer on board looking at the electro magnetic clutch, which was causing a problem. Alec got the water maker sort of working, but he decided we needed to start moving and he would check it out along the way!! Then one morning just before departure my Nespresso coffee machine would not work properly. We had just had the new inverter installed, so put it down to the cloudy days, but really our 1,000 watt solar panels are pretty good plus we have the wind generator. We started an engine to boost the batteries and I got my morning coffee fix. There were the usual dinners and drinks to farewell new and old friends, then on Saturday 2^nd February we moved SHAMAL off her mooring and over to the marina to take on water, just in case the water maker didn’t behave. We check out of Grenada, then spent the last of our local money on a few more supplies.

 

Fishing on way to Bonaire
 

It wasn’t till after 1300 that we finally motored out of the bay, put the sails up, and set on a heading to the first of the A B C Islands – Bonaire. We set a course north of our rhumb line to keep off the coast of Venezuela due to the political problems they are having at the moment. Also it gave us the advantage of a lovely broad reach to down wind run. From the sailing point of view it was a great run, BUT, other issues arose which were not so great. After dark we were obviously in an area where the Grenadian Fisherman were working, but that proved no problems. It was just a case of keeping well away from their boats and set nets, which were well lit with the usual flashing lights in an array of different colours.  In the early hours of that first morning, the radar decided not to work. There was some shipping about which we could pick up on the AIS, and we were far enough off the coast not to be around small craft. We just ran an engine for a while and the radar was up and running again. So why had the batteries dropped so low? Second afternoon we did a tack and the wind direction instrument stopped working. Then about an hour later it was working fine! That night we only turned the radar on from time to time to check shipping. Later I tried to make coffee with my machine, trouble doing that again. Then to top it all off, again at night, the chart plotter dies on us. We do have a back up on the iPad with Blue Charts which are very good, but with no A I S or radar overlay. Again on another tack the wind instrument stopped working. Help the gremlins are having a field day with us at the moment. The chart plotter would come and go being quite spasmodic in working.

Grenada - USA for Christmas - Grenada

Rainbow off St George

Shamal dressed in world flags

A Very Very Happy New Year To You All.  We hope your festive season was a happy one. How time flies, here we are nearly at the end of the first month of 2019!! Yes I am  a little late with another posting to the blog, but we have not yet set sail for more adventures this season.

 

We sat out the latter part of the hurricane season in Prickly Bay, Grenada. Made new friends, and when not doing boat maintenance, or visiting the local area, we enjoyed the peace of the bay and lots of swimming. It is so nice to stop and reflect on all the great adventures we have each season. We do a trip into St George each week to the fruit and vegetable market. See photo for an example of an imported New Zealand Honeycrisp apple from the supermarket,, and yes I am talking about the price per apple.  Local money $8.22 – converts to NZ $ 4.47, so we left that behind!!  The local mango and pawpaw are much better priced, and yummy. Passionfruit are in season, so this all makes for a lovely fruit salad. The fishing is good if one knows where to drop your line, so we enjoyed lovely fish meals as well.  As our water maker pump died, I collect rain water, and we have not needed to buy water which has been great.

New Zealand Apple
 

 

Local Mango and Pawpaw

Then in early December we flew up to New Jersey to spend Christmas and New Year with our daughter and her family. After only being their three days our daughter had a work trip to London for five days. Her husband flew to the UK to meet her as he had not been to London before, and they were able to see the Grand Old City all dressed up for Christmas, and have a few days together which is difficult for them with their busy schedules. So Nana and Poppa were left with the twins, who are now six, to get off to school, and the baby who is 14 months old. It all worked very smoothly, and we were so grateful for that quality time with our grandsons.

Martinique and Grenada

The Battle of The Saintes
 

Hello Again
 

It is grey and overcast as we raise the anchor from Terra D’en Haut, The Saints. We had rain before dawn, and it looks like there are more squalls about. We are about to enter the Dominica Channel. It is only an 18nm run to the north end of Dominica, but these waters saw one of the great sea battles between the English and the French. There must be many a wreck sitting on the sea floor in these waters.

Local sail boats, Marin
 

It was called “The Battle of the Saints”. The year before – October 1781, Count de Grasse, commander of the French fleet, plays an important role in the war of Independence of the U.S.A. His victory at Chesapeake, shared with George Washington and others, leads to the surrender of Yorktown by the British. England has now lost its American colonies.

Forward to April 1782 and once again Count de Grasse and the English come face to face in yet another sea battle. The English had 36 vessels and a total of 2,640 canons, the French 31 vessels and 2,558 canons. The battle begins at around 0700, and is all over by about 1300. It takes until 1830 for the French to officially surrender. 7,000 men died in the battle. 22 English ships suffered a lot of damage, and France lost 7 of its ships. There is a magnificent painting in Fort Napoleon on the Saints of the battle.

Antigua, Guadeloupe and The Saintes

 

Sargasso weed off Antigua
 

Back again and still weather watching.

Friday 17^th August we leave Montserrat and sail the 32nm to Antigua. Well that was another interesting one. Not only were we contending with ESE winds, but also tons more of the dreaded Sargasso Weed. Again it was clogging the rudders and props slowing us right down at times. It has been interesting reading in the local yachting papers and the different Islands newspapers, how it is impacting the Caribbean this season. The wild life such as turtles are having trouble reaching the beaches to nest, and the baby hatchlings can’t make it back to the sea. The fishermen are also finding it affecting their catches. No wonder, as we can’t troll a lure without it becoming entangled every few minutes.

Nelson's Dockyard

Nelson's Dockyard
 

We arrive into English Harbour at 1400 and drop anchor in Ordinance Bay. Wow we have arrived in one of the most famous and historical harbours in the Caribbean. English Harbour, the historic home of Nelson’s Dockyard, to modern day and the famous Antigua Sailing Week which draws yachts and crew from all around the world. Well, where is everyone. The place is positively dead!! Nearly all the facilities are closed. Yes it is summer – the low season, but this is ridiculously low. We go ashore to check in with customs. They obviously want a short day as it is half an hour before closing, but we are told to come back tomorrow. We may wander around ashore, but not too far – really, thanks. Well there are plenty of opportunities to take photos with no one in them. Also we find the bank to top up the kitty with EC$ - that is the Eastern Caribbean dollar which is used on a few of the Islands we will be visiting.

Montserrat

Little Bay
 

 

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New Town above Little Bay
 

This was an Island which had not been on our itinerary. We wanted to go out to Antigua, and after reading the cruising guide were advised to sail down to Montserrat to get a better angle on the wind to head out to Antigua. Also it would make the trip shorter. Oh are we so glad we did this. Leaving Nevis we sailed out down the Islands eastern coast taking advantage of the winds, and not on the western side in the lee of the Island.

The 34nm leg was a good one and we dropped anchor just after lunch in Little Bay on the north western side of the Island. Plymouth, the old capital, and the waters around it and to the south of it – in fact over half the Island and its waters - are now in the exclusion zone due to volcanic activity. Little Bay in the north has now become Montserrat’s main port. The anchorage gave us excellent protection, but I understand it can be uncomfortable if winds are from the northeast.  Clearing in was nice and easy here.

St. Bart's (St. Barthelemy) St Kitts (St. Christopher) and Nevis

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SHAMAL at anchor, St. Bart's
 

 

Hello Again



Fort Oscar
 

This delightful little French Island lies just 15nm slightly to the south east of St Maarten. For us – 30nm tacking on a close reach in winds of 25kts and 3mt seas, but a lovely warm sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. Just us, the frigate birds and the sapphire blue ocean with sparkling breaking tops of waves. Oh there are a couple more sails off on the horizon.

Gustavia Harbour
 

Gustavia
 

But once there it is well worth the visit. It is claimed to be the party Island for the very rich and famous who bring their super yachts into the picturesque harbour of Gustavia to spend Christmas and New Year here. High-end boutiques and upmarket restaurants line the quaint little streets, but for us as it is now the down season, much was closed while their owners take their summer breaks. We found a lovely restaurant for coffee and Wi-Fi. We must keep a very close eye on the weather. Our coffee was 8 euros each! My Nespresso machine on board makes a nicer latté. The whole place is lovely and clean with sidewalks, so one is not run over while browsing the shop windows. After walking right around the harbour, we climbed to the lighthouse at Fort Gustav which has lovely panorama views over the red-roofed buildings tucked around the harbour. Fort Oscar stands on the opposite side of the harbour, and one can see back to St Maarten and out to the Island of Saab to the South West.

Sint Maarten/St Martin

 

Leaving Leverick

 Bay
 

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Thursday 21^st June. 0600  We up anchor from Leverick Bay, Virgin Gouda in the BVI’s, and motor on out passing between Prickly Pear Island and Necker Island, the Island  owned by Sir Richard Branson. We are heading out across the Anegada Passage to St. Maarten, a leg of about 80nm, but with our familiar E. and E.S.E. winds we know the trip will be longer.

Sunset Anegada Passage. Virgin Gouda behind
 

Bridge opens into Simpson Lagoon
 

 It is not until after 1100 the next day with 156nm passing under the keels, that we drop anchor in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. The following morning we enter the lagoon at the 11.30 bridge opening and drop anchor in the rather murky waters. There are not too many boats in here now as we are in the low season (hurricane season) and most have moved on to destinations further south.  There will be no swimming in here. As it is now the weekend we will have to wait until Monday to see about getting our boat jobs started.

Puerto Rico and The Virgin Islands

Not sure this beats flying?

 

 

Thursday 24^th May

We go ashore again to download yet another weather forecast – which again gives us winds out of the E. or E.S.E. somewhere between 10 – 20kts. Nothing new.  We collect our clearance papers from the Navy, have another coffee, then, return to SHAMAL.  Our plan is for a mid-afternoon departure.  According to our cruising information this should be a 36 hour run following the Dominican Republic coastline, crossing the Mona Passage, then running down the west coast of Puerto Rico. It is overcast and humid as we raise the anchor from Samana Harbour in the D.R.  A huge thunderstorm is passing just to the south of us.  As we head out of the bay, and start the run following the coastline, the seas are short and sharp, and on the nose.  By the next morning we start our tack out to sea to round the Hourglass Shoals. We can tell already this is going to be a long slow trip. By evening we are sailing with a reef in the main and full jib. I have been trying to fish, but there is just too much Sargasso Weed about. It gets very frustrating having to wind my line in every few minutes to clear it.  The clumps of it seem to be getting bigger and thicker.

A Small patch of Sargasso Weed!

Evening – I have just come on watch.  We are still under sail with the good old auto pilot on. Then just before midnight we have yet another squall line passing through. The winds are all over the place.  Then they drop completely.  Unbeknown to me we have also sailed into a humongous patch of Sargasso Weed. The current is now pushing us backwards, and the weed is starting to pile up on the back steps. I wake Alec who can smell the weed.  He says we will just motor out of this, then be on our way again.  He starts both engines but the weed is so thick the Port engine stops pumping water. We turn that off so not to do any damage, and ever so slowly edge our way out using the STBD engine only.  I tell you it was like a scene from a horror movie. I thought we were going to be engulfed by the stuff. When it is daylight Alec has to clean both salt water inlet filters to the engines, which are clogged with weed. This is something he now keeps an eye on and cleans out regularly . Also when motoring the weed gets caught around the props which slows us down and causes the props to vibrate. To clear it we have to put the props into reverse. In certain areas this was quite often.

Boqueron

By dawn we have crossed the Mona Passage and are running down the west coast of Puerto Rico. It is midmorning when we finally dropped anchor in Boqueron Harbour on the south western corner of Puerto Rico.  Log 185nm. Here I am able to make a phone call to Customs and Border Patrol to say we have arrived. This is a USA territory. They take our details and tell us we will need to go back to Mayaguez – back along the coastline we have just come along – to complete the paperwork.  It is now Saturday and everything is closed till the Tuesday as Monday is a holiday being Memorial Day. Thankfully it is not too far, and we can take a cab there. There is no way we are backtracking in SHAMAL. This beating into the wind has truly lost its glamour!!! Also they have told us we can go ashore over the weekend thank goodness.

The Dominican Republic - D.R.

 

 

Farewell Jamaica

Hello Again,

 

Monday 7^th May 2018 Time to say farewell to Jamaica

 

We wake early, and it is still raining.  Low cloud hangs over the hills around the bay.  It is 29.6deg.c. Rather humid.  But the winds are forecast to be easterly to south easterly, just what we need as we head up towards the Windward Passage which will take us between Cuba on our Port, and Haiti on our Starboard. This stretch of water is known for fluky, or, extra strong easterly winds, and strong currents.  Let’s hope we time it right. We have the Sierra Maestra mountain range rising to 1,972mts along the Cuban coastline, then dropping dramatically into the sea with depths reaching to 7,239m in the Oriente trough.  Close to the coast one can take advantage of the katabatic effect of the winds in the early hours of the morning if we strike the calms.  On the Haitian side we have the Golfe de la Gonave.

 

Shamal in Luperon
 

Luperon

Even though we are ashore early to collect our clearance papers, the boys don’t arrive until 1045.  By the time all is completed, we arrive back on Shamal, take down our shades and make a coffee while the last of the rain passes through. It is  midday when we lift anchor and move out of Port Antonio.  Three other boats were going to leave with us, but have decided to wait another day.  By 1300 we are sailing along very nicely under full main and jib, then a line of squalls shows up on the radar, so we reef down.  They don’t affect us too much, and we are still moving along at 6kts. Our run through the Windward Passage turns out to be a broad reach with wind gusts only to 22kts.  The tide is in our favour and by early morning we have turned the corner and are running along the north coast of Haiti. A few hours later the winds have come around to be on the nose again.  This makes for a long slow passage for the last 60nm towards Luperon on the north coast of the Dominican Republic.  It is not till the following morning that we slowly motor into the wonderfully sheltered harbour and pick up a mooring buoy.  We are surprised by the number of yachts in the bay. Many have been closed up for the coming hurricane season, but we soon learn there are others like us, just stopping off for a few nights before heading out again.

Jamaica



Jamaica

Hello Mon

 

Da mon on da big tourist boat, he talk too dam quick to understand. Da reggae music blast too dam loud for ya to talk, and da smell of da jerk chicken wafts across da bay make ya hungry.  Yes this is da Jamaica, home of Bob Marley, dreadlocks and beach partying till the wee small hours of the morning. Lively to say the least.

 

The Island was first populated by the Arawak Indians.  Christopher Columbus discovered the Island in 1494.  The Spanish arrived in 1510 and introduced sugarcane using the Arawak as slaves.  By the end of the century the Arawak Indians had been entirely wiped out from ill-treatment and European diseases. New slaves are now brought in from Africa.  In 1654 the English arrive on the scene, and take control of the Island. Autonomy from Britain was granted in 1947, and full independence in 1963.

Return To Cayman Islands

Hello Again To You All At Long Long Last

Beautiful Caymans
 

Well, this is our third visit to this beautiful corner of the Caribbean, George Town, Grand Cayman. Yes it can be glitzy, commercial - say like a mini Florida, and, very expensive, but it is an excellent stop for yachts to take that break after a rather hard slog here, as we were  against the trade winds on this leg.  It also makes a great break for those traveling on to Central America. Check in is free, the waters are crystal clear, and one can have those spare parts flown in from anywhere in the world knowing they will arrive – yes we are waiting on some!!

Easter on the Rio
 

 

Easter on the Rio

 

Firstly back to our last days on the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. As we waited for that weather window to depart, Alec and I filled in time making “SHAMAL” ready for her first ocean passage of the season – well so we thought!  Also  we had the Easter week break.  We watched as the locals gathered on the Rio for what is considered one of their most important festive seasons of the year.   Things got a little crazy on the water.  Villages arrive in Frontares by boat and whatever means they can to join family and friends.  The rich, famous and stupid arrive on the river and out come all the water toys.  Easter here was a week of craziness.  There was one accident, which Alec and I did not see, where two local lanchas ( they are the local motorised small boats about 7mts long with an over powered motor on the back) hit each other, one cutting the stern off the other!!!  On Good Friday morning the local Priest came around the river with a flotilla of boats all dressed in purple cloth, to bless the boats.  They stopped at twelve marinas – stations of the Cross - to give the Blessings. It was rather a grand site watching the parade and see the spirit of Easter celebrated here.