can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 148; Crossing the International Date Line, Arrived in the Kingdom of Tonga, Immigration Clearance & Dinner Ashore; Monday, June 2, 2014



Though the International Date Line is supposed to be at 180 degrees longitude, the line jogs right, around Tonga before that longitude. So, even though we arrived in Tonga on Sunday, June 1; we really arrived on Monday, June 2. We 'lost' a day that we will never get back. Never. Only if we head back east would we recover this day. But we're not. We're heading west until we get home.

Joel's 1:00 AM to 6:00 AM watch was without incident. When I woke and took over the watch at 6:00 AM, 500 foot cliffs were visible in the darkness to our port, about 3/4's of a mile away. And there were no lights visible on the islands. Low swept clouds moved from east to west. The planet Uranus was visible behind us. We entered Tongan waters to the north of the island group Vava'u; then we turn south and then southeast, before entering thru a series of islands en route to our anchorage. The wind was 9 knots from the southeast, and our boat speed was 5.6 knots. No sail up now as the wind went south of east during the night. To keep pressure off our broken shroud, we didn't want the mainsail up on the right side. That would put pressure on the left, lower shroud.

At 6:16 AM the auto pilot stopped working and the boat started to round up. I grabbed the starboard wheel, put the boat back on course and turned the auto pilot back on. That's a principle reason we have someone on watch in the cockpit at all times. The auto pilot, about once per week, likes to turn itself off. Don't know why. Apparently we're not the only boat that has this 'gremlin.' Speculation is that it's a software problem.

At 6:28 AM an alarm went off signaling that we had arrived at our waypoint. I turned it off and turned south. A few minutes later my cell phone registered service, service that we never got when we were in Niue. At 6:40 AM our depth meter started registering again. Over 500 feet it doesn't register. The depth was now 352 after having been over 5,000 feet minutes before.

At 7:50 AM we entered Faihava Passage en route to the finish line for the last segment of this 3 segment leg. We crossed the line at 8:23 AM.

At 8:30 AM we changed our VHF channel from 72/16 to Channel 26. There was a local cruisers net that was on the radio each day at this time. A person named Baker conducted this net. Local topics of interest were covered, and each boat listening in had a chance to make comments or ask for assistance. I requested information on a rigger in Tonga - if there were any. And received a couple of suggestions. I'll contact one of them tomorrow.

By 9:15 AM we had grabbed a mooring ball across from the Aquarium Cafe, where the rally headquarters was located.

After inflating the dingy we motored in to the Aquarium Cafe and ordered breakfast, which consisted of banana pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit and toast. We were scheduled to meet with an Immigration's official at 11:30 AM, but I forgot we were on 'island time.' This official showed up at 1:00 PM. Have patience.

We found out where to get our laundry done; and where the ATM and pharmacy were. At 2:30 PM we were back on the boat. I took a 2 hour nap while Joel played games on his phone.

At 6;30 PM Tommy, Marianne and John from II Audeacious stopped by and we followed them in their dingy to a restaurant. Joel and I ordered red snapper and lobster. The dinner was not very good. The fish was dry and not real tasty, and the lobster tail flavor was diminished by being cooked in the same sauce as the fish; and my lobster tail was 'spoiled.' You can tell when lobster, shrimp or crab are 'spoiled' if you get a taste or smell of ammonia in the food item. For dessert we had banana bread and vanilla ice cream. That was good. When we went to pay we found out the restaurant didn't accept credit cards. So Joel took off to find an ATM. He was successful.

Back on the boat at 8:50 PM, we watched the DVD Jerry Lee Lewis Last Man Standing. This DVD had been loaned to us by Marianne from II Audeacious. Pretty good movie.

All rally boats are now back together in Tonga. From Bora Bora to Suwarrow to Niue and then to Tonga, the rally boats were divided into two groups: Group 1 and Group 2. The reason was principally due to Niue having only 20 mooring buoys. If all 37 rally boats showed up at the same time we all couldn't grab a mooring ball. Initially we were slated to be in Group 1. And we knew more people in Group 1 than Group 2. Because of my infection on Bora Bora, we jumped to Group 2 so I could visit a doctor one more time before departing. However, by spending a couple of weeks with the Group 2 boats we have gotten to know the crews of those boats better.

334 Days until home.

Brian Fox



Previous | Next