The weather broke, the sun came out, and off we went.
But we did not move far. The Vauva'u Group is a collection of funny shaped islands, in the crater of what must have been a gigantic volcano. We slipped our mooring quietly and sailed off back through the dog-legged entrance to the harbour, and went round to a nearby bay. On the way, we passed two huge caves and a series of pretty islands, and when we arrived, many of our World ARC friends lay already at anchor. A long sandy beach lay at the head of the bay, which was surrounded by what looked like impenetrable jungle. We just had time for a beer and lunch before half the crew assembled on the beach to gather firewood for a bonfire (under the masterful direction of Ian from Jus'doit, who sat sipping a beer whilst we dragged longs and brushwood into a suitable space already ringed with blackened stones - we were not the first). Such intense labour brings its rewards, and soon we, too, were sipping ice-cold beers whilst making sure the fire was properly alight. Before we knew where we were, it was starting to get dark, and the balance of the crews began to arrive. They had been labouring too, and varieties of kebabs, steaks, sausages, salads and puddings were soon being unloaded from the dinghies. Talulah Ruby's crew had been fishing, and these lay wrapped in foil waiting for the right moment. Strega, Talulah Ruby, Jus'doit, Akoya, Andante, Northern Sky (including Gerry's guitar), Maamalni, Windflower and of course our old friends from Quasar V were all anchored in the bay, and plus a few friendly strangers (from WMD) we were a large and merry (soon much merrier) crowd. Gerry started the music, but Talulah Ruby's Spanish trio were in there, and Wolfgang from Windflower showed that he too knew how to entertain. The party dispersed rather late and rather slowly. Sensibly some retired to their own bunks. Not so sensibly (especially for her crew) several carried on late into the night aboard Strega.
Next morning the bay was strangely hushed. Anchor lights remained on late into the morning. No merry greetings rang around. But soon a small party of diehards was seen scouring the beach for bits of rubbish, missing shoes, damp hats and half empty bottles of mosquito repellent. The party was over. A few boats left for other similarly delightful spots. Accompanied by the Quasars, we piled our snorkelling gear into the inflatable and made our way to the caves we had passed on the way in. The largest had a cill about eight feet deep, which once crossed led into a huge cave. Inside, the water was probably over 40' deep. It was spooky enough in the dinghy, but when we came back in our snorkelling gear few of us penetrated deep into the cave! Outside, the shelf dropped away into the blue - the chart showed depths of 80 metres only a few feet off the shore. Myriads of brightly coloured fish swam in and out of the caves and along the reef, and there were massive coral heads along the shelf. Adjacent to the big cave was a smaller, lighter friendlier one, and this too teemed with marine life. Dinghying home, we diverted into the adjacent bay. Here was the only village on our little island. There was little sign of life, but there was a long sandy beach, off which were anchored many of the Blue Water Rally yachts, and one or two of our own World ARC boats. But we decided ours was the prettier and more secure. So we stayed a second night (quiet evening on board, with John from Quasar enjoying a gin and a bottle or two of rather rare tonic - we still have lots of the former, but nothing to dilute it with. Better than the other way round, though).
And the next morning, we sailed back to Neiafu to clear customs, load up with duty free fuel, beer and fresh foodstuffs for our journey to Fiji. Clearing out was the usual bureaucratic nightmare - for a place which thrives on the yachtsmen (and looks after them superbly), the endless form-filling is not a good welcome or farewell. None of us spent less than two hours clearing in, and none of us spent less than two hours clearing out. But refuelling, which had promised to be difficult, was a pleasure, with two friendly Tongans efficiently transferring 1700 litres to six different boats in a couple of hours. The last of our Tongan dollars changed hands, the miserable balance (boo) was transferred to Norfy to spend on beer (hooray) and there was time for a short walk ashore (Will and Elizabeth) and a short nap (the Skipper) before our 5pm (local time) departure.
What delightful people, what a great place. But we could have done with a few more weeks so that we could have visited the other island groups. Never mind, they will still be here for the next time.
All well here, and best wishes to everyone.
.James, Chris, Elizabeth and Will
Yacht Cleone
Vauva'u
Tonga