We arrived at Nuku'alofa the capital of Tonga last night just as the sun was setting at 1800 and dropped anchor next to Pangaimotu Island. In the fading light we could make out a strip of sandy beach, tall palm trees and about ten other vessels anchored to the south of the island. After a much enjoyed hot shower and a quick dinner we slept like logs until waking naturally with the morning light.
Our voyage statistics are; 1,132 nautical miles over 12 days and 6 hours. A total of 24 hours of motoring in calm conditions, the longest period yesterday (9 hours) was in 5 metre swells.
The last 4 days were a mixed bag of conditions. On Saturday we were sailing to windward on a building North Westerly with boat speeds up to 7 knots for 14 hours, then we endured a South Westerly gale on Sunday with a small headsail for 14 hours as a series of fronts came through. The wind abated early Monday but unfortunately the swells didn't abate as quickly, they stayed with us for the final 2 days as we made use of the .75 oz Code Zero and then completed the voyage under motor. It is hard to endure such light conditions once land is sighted!
This morning we entered the inner harbour to clear customs. After tying up alongside another yacht also awaiting clearance we patiently waited for an hour for the customs officer to arrive. Then several other yachts needing clearance arrived and tied up alongside our little flotilla. It was nice to be able to chat to other yachties whilst waiting for clearance procedures to take place. After another couple of hours the quarantine officer arrived and then an hour later the health officer arrived. All the officials were very courteous and relaxed.
After finally being able to leave the vessel we went to the local produce market and bought some fresh supplies. This evening we returned to anchor off Pangaimotu Island and enjoyed a swim over the side followed by a delicious papaya.
All is content onboard Ambler
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4 comments:
Glad to hear you have reached Tonga safely. Look forward to your next photo album! Cheers. Ian R.
Nice one!
Nice one!
Hi Kathy and Wayno, just thought I'd check in to see what you're up to as I hadn't done so for a couple of months. You're in Tonga! I look forward to having a bit more of a read about you're adventures over the weekend. It's cold here in Tassie, heavy frosts all week....but our Kingston Beach swim group made the front page of the Mercury on Monday. Cheers, Steve W. P.S. It's 21 years (!) since my Coffs Harbour birthday dinner while headed north on Avocet.
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