Sunny Tonga with Son Ben

We have been having so much fun with Ben these past 5 days that
it has been impossible to write. The sun came out a few days
earlier than forecast and suddenly we were back in paradise.
Really amazing how Tonga went from feeling kind of dreary and
dull to vibrant and sunny and beautiful. We snorkeled with Ben
at our first anchorage ( #8) and had nice walks along the
beautiful beach there. Big fruit bats came out at sunset and
swooped over the mango trees. A boat came by selling fruit and
we were able to get a few papayas and limes to replenish our
store of food. Then we sailed over to anchorage #16, the Coral
Gardens. We only spent a day there but managed to fit in
several snorkels and two boat parties. Sora, a boat we have seen
many times over the past six months, has a young woman named
Cassie on it – as well as her two parents. Cassie spent a whole
year sailing with just her dad, and her mom joined them in
Tahiti just a few months ago. They invited us over for a party
on their boat along with some young people from other boats –
including a guy from the boat Caca Fuego (shitfire!) and Rick
and Courtney from Guava Jelly. In the middle of the party we
heard a call on the VHF from a neighboring boat, Tahaa, calling
for help as they thought that Irie, the boat next to them , was
dragging. Everyone on board Sora lept into their dinghies to
find the folks on Irie and to stop the boat if it was really
dragging. It turned out to be a false alarm – the boat was
secure, but had just drifted in a circle around its anchor as
the wind calmed down. It turned out to be a very nice evening
and Ben had a good time visiting with Cassie (who is very cute).
Later in the evening we sat on our deck with Ben and watched the
southern hemisphere stars in their full glory.

The next day Cassie joined us for a great snorkel on the
outside of the reef – the water was deep and very clear – with
amazing coral . Lots of fun.

Tongan feast

We then sailed over to another
anchorage – #11, which is the site of a Saturday night Tongan
Feast. We found our friends Quest at the same anchorage and
went to the feast together. It was great fun – with about 40
people there from other boats. A group of Tongan men were
seated on mats around a big bowl of kava and played and sang
Tongan music. Everyone who wanted to participate in the kava was
welcome to, so Ben, Mark and I all had a couple of cups (we are
still not sure what the effect of kava is supposed to be, but it
is fun trying it out). It rained hard for a while, but we were
dry under the thatched roof hut. Then the “formal
entertainment” started which consisted of Tongan dancing
performed by 10 Tongan schoolchildren. They were adorable and
energetic and it was great – Ben took some great photos. About
8:00 they served the feast which was a very traditional Tongan
meal – served on banana leaves and on various natural plates
such as coconut shells. Everything was eaten with your hands.
Tongan feast

There were several kinds of fish and lots of cassava, sweet
potato, cooked banana, and other starchy things. Ben wasn’t too
thrilled with the food, but Mark and I enjoyed it a lot. We had
a great time talking with Denise and Pierre from Quest.

Yesterday our friends from Risho Maru joined us in the
anchorage. It was a stunning day and Ben started wind-surfing
lessons from Peter. They started out with Ben practicing
standing on the board and getting pulled by a rope attached to
Peter’s dinghy – just like water-skiing, but on a wind-surfing
board. Ben took a few good falls and then got the hang of it and
was skiing all around the anchorage.

One of our heads stopped working and Mark decided it was time to
bite the bullet and put in the replacement macerator and pump.
Not the kind of job that one does unless absolutely necessary.
It ended up taking him the better part of the day – a real pain
in the you know what – but by 4:00 he had successfully installed
the new parts and the head (toilet) is now as good as new.
Hooray for Mark!

In the evening we went out to a restaurant on the beach here –
La Paella – which serves a fantastic paella dinner and also has
live Spanish music. We went with Denise and Pierre (who was
celebrating his 48th birthday) – and 3 bottles of wine – and had
a really fun evening. The food was great and plentiful, with a
beautiful cool breeze blowing through the thatched restaurant,
and a nice view out to the anchorage. The pet goat and dog kept
wandering around the restaurant – adding a great deal of raw
humour to the evening as the goat was a male and the dog a
female, and the goat was apparently quite a lusty guy. The goat
and the dog kept circling each other while the Spanish guitarist
(the owner) and his wife sang beautiful Spanish and Portuguese
songs. We had so much fun. We ended the night sitting on our
deck watching the stars again.

Today Mark had to do some work – “professor” work, not boat work
— so he stayed on the boat while Ben and I took a taxi into
town to do some grocery shopping and internet stuff. The taxi
driver was so great – we had to stop at so many stores to get
everything we needed – including the fresh fruit market, the
bank, the gas station, the curry man, a grocery store, the
bakery, the Aquarium cafe (where Ben was doing internet) and
best of all, ‘Pete the Meat” – the guy who collects trash 3 days
a week, and sells ‘high quality’ meat the other days. Taxis
here are very inexpensive and convenient and we were really glad
to stock up on supplies as we were running out of anything good
to eat and now we will be spending time at anchorages that don’t
have either stores or restaurants. The time is going by way
too quickly – there is so much more to see and do with Ben, but
he only has another 9 days with us. Maybe we can talk him into
staying???

L.