Immigration and more boat maintenance in exotic places

And rhe saga continues.....

Wednesday, back to immigration.  Oh by the way, bring your own pen and exact change. 

Anybody out there reading this and coming to Tonga. Take note. You need  passports, their form, a letter written from the boat requesting an extension. To be safe include the boat name, all the names of the people requesting the extension and forvhow long. They didn't seem to care who signed it.  A passport photo of each person. And exact change is helpful.  We didnt need it, but an other boat had to give copies of their passports.  Kinda random. All that and come back on Monday to pick up. Yikes.

At least we spent the afternoon putting the toys in the water. Earl brought back full jugs of fuel and again the beer was cold. 

Pictures

Heading home after a cold beer at Mamas

22 May 2018

Searching for Boat parts in Paradise

So the rudder bearing. OMG what a mother to get out, but we did. Who needs specialised tools when you have Morrison ingenuity on board. I won't go in to all the details, but it did involve all the key components that make this life so glamorous - head down ass up, hot, dropping things (thankfully not all the way to the bilge because we taped a catcher cloth in place), swearing and finally after 2 hours the part came off the rudder. With all that in mind the thought of putting it back on is daunting.

The next step is finding a replacement part. The shuttle from Mama's took us over to town at 1100. We got a taxi to Tonga Cool where Allo (sp?) said he couldn't help but the bearing should just spin over and pop out. Go to Spare parts Zone and get a new one. SPZ sent us to another place to have the bearing removed from the housing - sadly they weren't exactly on top of the program and cracked the housing. Back to SPZ. The head guy there helped us (thank god) and knew what we needed - he has the bearing, but not the housing/plate it goes in. He called a guy - it will be here Friday (would have been tomorrow if we had made the 0900 shuttle). Dennis is not confident that it is going to happen - I will call tomorrow. Next stop Digicel for sim cards for our phones after almost 2 hours we sent our helpful taxi driver on his way for a whopping 15 dollars US - a deal at twice the price. FOOD! we were all hot and starving - spicey chicken and pork? curry for lunch - lots of food for 3 people plus drinks - $12.50 US. From there almost an hour back at Digicel setting up the phones so we can top up on line. Can't complain - 2 GB for $10 US. 200pm now - and on our way to immigration to extend our visas. Customs guy yesterday either an ass or doesn't understand english too well - I mean it was his handwriting that only gave us 30 day visas.... Oh well. We were given forms to fill out at immigration handed them in and the guy says - oh we don't process these after 2pm. Come back tomorrow morning and bring passport fotos to go with the paperwork. Sigh...... Next the market - nice veggies and some fruit. picked up some lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans, apples and oranges. Went to the "US" mini mart across the street and did some costco shopping - Man costco is everywhere!!! I am very happy to have picked up some pasta and kirkland canned chicken (its the small things right?). We were done, stick a fork in us done. Taxied back to the dock and waited for the 4pm shuttle - which arrived right on time, turfed off the cruise ship tourists, loaded us on and headed back.

AHHHHH. a beer, a swim, a shower..... Life is good. Need to check with Earl what time the shuttle is going in the morning so we can tie up the immigration loose ends. Then the plan is to blow up the paddle board, put the kayak in the water and chill. We will be here until Monday at least as the part doesn't come until friday and we can't check out on the weekends. Next stop Ha'appai group.

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21 May 2018

TONGA!!!! We arrived Tongatapu - Nuku'alofa approximately 1500 hours. The run up from Minerva was nice - sailed for about a day and a half then motor sailed to ensure we arrived here in the daylight. It is picture postcard beautiful. We anchored at Pangiamotu in front of Big Mama's place. We had a swim, showers a meal at the table then a good night's sleep in a flat bed. Heaven.

Today we completed customs and immigration formalities. We motored over to the ferry dock and tied up at the cement pier. The customs office is strategically hidden in an unmarked building surrounded by containers. But we found it and it had a/c - wow! and it is warm so it was definitely appreciated. After filling out forms with the same information in at least 4 different places, we were good to go from customs. The customs guy called the health guys and the quarantine (biosecurity) guy and lo and behold, the first one was there waiting by the time we walked back to the boat and the Health guy was there within 5 minutes of the Quarantine guy leaving. Sorted.

We mistakenly thought we had to go back to the customs guy - so we did. He told us we have 3 month visas - this is contrary to everything we have heard, so need to check that out tomorrow. Dennis asked him about fuel, and he directed us to the 2 fuel suppliers. No joy on having 400 litres of diesel delivered to where we were tied up. Seems they have no empty drums in the country and don't know when they will and won't bring the truck to deliver any less than 1000 litres (yeah not so much lol). So we walked back to the boat and got a taxi to take Dennis to the gas station to fill up the jerry jugs. 20 gallons down - at least 80 more to go........... An ATM was found and Tongan money obtained. Dennis brought back a cold diet coke from the gas station - OMG ambrosia from the gods. By this time we were all hot and hungry. It seems we forgot to have breakfast - we did have coffee, so at least we were awake, hot and hungry. Back to Pangiamotu where we managed to get the anchor down on the second try.

Nachos for lunch!!! The dinghy is in the water, the newly obtained fuel in the tank - YAY time to play. Met the neighbors (who also loaned us Tongan money to get through check in) and went in to Big Mama's for a beer or two. Sadly I am not all the way into cruising mode, cuz I forgot my camera :(. Oh well guess we'll have to go back tomorrow.

So Big Mama's. Yes there is a big Mama and her husband Earl. really only pictures can tell the story. There's a wreck out front that is used as the sign for the place. Gita did a number on some of the buildings, but the beer is cold and there is shade. They have pigs - 3 adults and 5 babies. Imagine a big pig running down the beach to cool off in the water. Crazy! Earl will help us get more fuel later this week.

Tomorrow the plan is to get up and remove the rudder bearing in time to catch the ferry into town at 0900. We will then try to obtain sim cards, fresh food and info on replacing the rudder bearing (cross your fingers there). If all goes well we'll get the 1100 ferry back and then relax in the water in the afternoon. I'll let you know how that goes.

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19 May 2018

another nice day. some sailing, some motorsailing. Will arrive Nuku' alofa tomorrow - using the engine to ensure that happens during daylight. Think the passage into the harbour is going to give us some new gray hairs. We are all looking forward to a new place.

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Friday, definitely Friday 18 May

We left Minerva Reef today - approx 0830. Beautiful sunny day, nice breeze and guess what? We are actually sailing!!! Wow this is nice. We are still heeled over some, but its a nice smooth motion. We are really enjoying the quiet.

Minerva was an awesome break I am so glad we were able to stop. At low tide the boat was so still i would have sworn we were tied up at the marina. We had a good rest, got necessary chores done and enjoyed being still for a few days.

So yes it is Friday here and we will not lose a day on arrival in Tonga. Big shout out to Peter at Northland radio. I don't know what the set up is, but he has been on the radio at 6pm (NZ) every night taking our position, answering questions (like will we lose a day) and generally mother henning the boats that check in. It is good to know he is there for us - so send some positive vibes his way.

We are back to our routine of watches etc., and expect to arrive in Tonga Sunday afternoon. We can't check in until Monday, but we will anchor, fly our Q flag, reinflate the dinghy and make ourselves presentable for dealing with the Tongan customs and immigration officials. I am really looking forward to the fresh food market. WE plan to stay in Nuku ulofa for a little while, we want to see what sights there are as well as try to deal with the rudder bearing. Hopefully the internet will be good enough to post some pictures.

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Thursday or is it wednesday??

17 May New Zealand time

It has been a really nice break - even if it has been a working one. MInerva is totally awesome and it has been heavenly to be still and sleeping like normal people.

So what have we done the last 2 days? The Forward head was rebuilt by Paul. KUdos to him for not jumping ship that was an all day nasty project. Dennis fixed/replaced a couple of fans investigated the rudder leak. seems the bearing on the rudder is loose - nothing to be done about it until Tonga - it is in no danger of falling off or not working. He also adjusted the packing gland around it. We'll see how she goes once we are back underway. Its not leaking much at the moment. Paul wanted to switch cabins (meaning a total resort of the food etc) which I did whilst he was slaving on the forward head.

Today was a little more laidback. Dennis added waypoints for Tonga into the navigation system (trust me not as straight forward as it sounds), topped up the engine oil and coolant. YIkes we motored more to get here than we did to get to NZ from HI. Crappy weather routing. so we also put all the diesel from the jerry jugs in the tanks. I cleaned and vacuumed the interior and the cockpit and made food (I am always making food). and we made water - the watermaker loves this clear water. THe filter I changed that only had about 5 hours on it from Russell was disgusting - in fact the water maker wouldn't work it was so yucky. Yep just boat maintenance in paradise - hahahaha. We all got a swim in today - the water really cleared up - you can see all the way to the bottom - 45 feet.

Toast and Dean sent some weather info which pretty much supports what Dennis is seeing on the gribs. We will leave tomorrow morning for Tonga (nukalofa sp??), hope to be there Sunday. ONce there I will figure out what the time difference is. I think we lost a day there somewhere - so its really yesterday and one hour ahead. Does my head in. We hope this next leg will be a little friendlier, but as always will batten down the hatches just in case. LOL.

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YAY! Minerva

15 May - 1600 hours - made it to N Minerva reef. What a crazy crossing so far. All upwind (close hauled) and motor sailing the whole way. Pretty much a first there. Oh well. We are here and after 3 attempts finally got the anchor to stick. Frustrating, but again we are here, we are stopped it is flat and quiet with a nice cool breeze coming thru the boat. AHHHHHH. the beer was good and so was the gin and tonic. Fajitas for dinner. Showers. Life is good.

So here we are anchored in the middle of the ocean. How cool is that? I will post pictures (eventually). There are 4 other boats here, at least 2 are leaving tomorrow. We plan to be here until Saturday and then only 250 miles to Tonga. It is warm here too. Of course we have one or two chores to do while we are here - forward toilet needs a new flapper valve and seat and the rudder is leaking - those are the main two. after that its just a lot of tidying up after 8 days of being at a 20 degree heel. Oh and we will all sleep in our own beds in the normal orientation. HAHA we have been taking turns sleeping on the settee and the floor in the main salon - I am short enough to be able to sleep sideways on our bed, but even my feet hang over the edge! Really it is the simple things....

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14 May

day 7 - definitely warming up. too hot to sit in the sun in the cockpit and still taking waves, so can't take down the rain flys. Nice problem to have. Still here, still bouncing along. We should be at Minerva reef north sometime tomorrow - its 80 miles as the crow flies. We still have to get some easting in - our plan is that south Minerva will be blocking some of the wave action and we will be able to head east more comfortably. Right now we are going as east as we can without a full on tack. So still close hauled.

Uneventful day. All well on board - looking forward to being flat and still for a few days.

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Sunday 13 May

Well Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day. Uneventful and more of the same here. motorsailing, winds still from the north, bouncing along. Highlight of my Mother's day was having a shower. Or at least getting clean using running water haha. No hot water, but felt good. Did my 10-2 watch in shorts and a tee shirt - nice and warm. still have the enclosures up as still getting some pretty good wave action. Really nice to be dry. Trust me its the small things.

Its 5pm and overcast at the moment. time for me to start thinking about what to make with the defrosted chicken - I am thinking curry. pretty much our routine. light breakfast, snacks for lunch then dinner. Dennis does the checkin on the SSB at 6pm so we eat just after that. Our routine has been to turn off the engine for the checkin so Dennis can hear and then eat with it off and enjoy the quiet.

no other traffic seen - just us out in the middle of the great blue sea. Looking forward to Minerva, but not the day of heading east to get there. that will be a whole lot of not fun, but maybe not. Murphy's law says that the day we head east will be the day the east wind comes and we'll have more bashing.

Everyone seems to have overcome any seasickness and all is well.

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saturday 23 May

Nothing exciting to report unless you consider a broken toilet (head) exciting. good thing we have two as the sea state and point of sail are not conducive to boat projects at the moment.
The sea is that beautiful blue color that blue water cruising gets its name from. it is still sunny and pretty warm. THe high that is currently beating us up is pulling up a little of the cool wind from the south. Dennis says we will know we have gotten thru the high when it warms up more.
So yeah, still motor-sailing trying to get to the east as much as possible, wind has gotten stronger 15- 20 kts, but straight from the N/ NE, sigh.... one day i will have a behind the beam crossing - it could happen. haha. Josh knows what I mean. I have to say though that the new side coverings I made for the cockpit are pretty awesome. definitely not pretty, but hey we are dry and that is a major plus. We've been having water over the bow since last night. so score one for me and my sailrite!!

For lots of different reasons - mostly the point of sail we are currently on, we are going to go to Minerva reef - look it up. a place to anchor in the middle of the ocean. Way cool I think. We hope to be there by Tuesday and will stay until Friday or Saturday.

ok, that's us for now. we are hunkered down and holding on for the ride. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there. I hope you get lots of hugs and I love yous.

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day 4 rockin and a rollin

yep I knew it was coming. lol my favourite point of sail - close haul. yah - nahh. at least we reefed the main today - we are way overpowered with it fully deployed - better now. on a positive note it is warming up. Was cloudy early today, but sun is out again now. We are doing okay, Dennis and Paul back on anti seasick medication. I'm doing okay so far. hope all is well out there.

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Day 3 10 May

Still motoring with the main up. winds still very light. Another beautiful sunny day. Checked the fuel situation -still good only used 1/4 tank in 43 hours of motor sailing. We are all well, catching up on sleep. Dennis actually had coffee today, must mean seasickness is not a worry. I finally caved and had a diet coke - yay bye bye headache. Don't feel like I drink enough caffeine to have withdrawals, but there you are.
Feels a little warmer, must be the north aspect of the wind.? Last night was pretty comfortable on the midnight to 0300 watch. Everyone is in shirt sleeves today.
Crew is being fed well which is probably the only real upside to no wind. I made fried chicken with salad last night and huevos rancheros for brunch today. Thinking I should have brought more fruit - oh well we definitely are not going to starve. Tonight's menu is shepherds pie.
Another positive of flat motor sailing (and did I say it looks like a lake out there?) is that i was easily able to wash my hair - no hot water but still felt good. haha its the small things right?
oh the glamorous life of crossings. Some people have deep thoughts, but not me - I think about what to cook and when to sleep. Kind of refreshing to be forced to not worry about anything but those things. Trying to live in the now and enjoy what we have no way of changing.
yep off for a nap before starting dinner.

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end of day 2

position 33.31.82s, 176.59.57e, course 55T
sunny day and we are settling in, not too much wind so lots of motoring. good way to start, but wishing for about 5 more knots of wind. I know, I know, I want it all. Everyone caught up on sleep today, I finally feel human - just in time for night watch.
It's still a bit cool, we are all in long sleeves and long trousers during the day and bundled up at night. The moon came up last night and looked like a big ship on the horizon. Was pretty bright when it finally decided to come out from behind the clouds.
Not too much traffic out here, saw a freighter yesterday afternoon, and a sailboat passed behind us this afternoon. had a swallow hanging out today - way too far out for him. Paul said he was able to pick him up out of the cockpit. Finally flew off.
Boat systems functioning properly at the moment. the part for the refrigerator and freezer didn't come in time, so a boat coming to Tonga behind us will bring it. So, they are functioning, just have to turn them on and off as they are either on or off - lol.

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We're leaving!

Tomorrow is the big day. We have a window and ran around like crazy the last two days to take advantage of it.  Sadly we will not be stopping at Minerva reef. We have to make as much east as possible otherwise we will have wind on the nose for the last  250 miles or so. Definitely not my idea of a good time.  Its disappointing for sure, but one of those choices that come up from time to time.  Minerva isn't  going anywhere, so maybe next year.

It's about 1000nm to Tonga from here so figure 6 to 9 days.  Feel free to email us at wdj9035@sailmail.com and or follow us at www.oceantracking.com  using wdj9035 as our call sign. Getting email on a crossing is like getting cookies from mom when you went to camp.   The blog is not posting to FB or updating our track and I have run out of time to deal with it.

So why such a crazy day?  We've been steadily working on the boat for 10 days right?  Well I have been pondering just that as i sit in the marina  laundry doing the final loads.. and i guess it comes down to the fact that there is a pretty long list of things that cannot be done way in advance.  Laundry is a prime example  you do it and then you have to wear clothes or use a towel.  Same with fresh food - it doesn't last hence "fresh", filling water, getting duty free fuel, putting the dinghy on  deck, setting up the jacklines, setting up the wind vane steering and thats not all of the list.  So no matter how "ready" we are, the last days are always a scramble, and if  we wait for perfect.......  we would still be here in June. And frankly it is too darn cold now.

Yesterday we finished cleaning the hull using our hooka (no not the kind you smoke, it's an air compressor run off a battery so we can breathe thru regulators  sorta like scuba but attached to a hose).  It was my first time doing it  one of those things Josh and Dennis just did..wasn't  as bad as I had anticipated, went well.  My only complaint was about all the little sea criiters that decided that if the couldnt attach to the boat they would attach to me (my wetsuit).  Yikes i had whole colonies ewwww!

So thats us for today.  Our  appointment to clear out with customs is 9am, and we plan to head out directly  after that. Happy Mother's Day in advance. 

6 May 2018

Rainy day chore day. 

After spending all day yesterday fixing the really not broken (air lock) generator, we have another calm as day for doing chores. 

Dennis thinks we may have a weather window, leaving Tuesday at the latest. Not sure we can get  all the "must dos" done for that. However the next window looks to be 10 days out. We could be in Tonga by then.. email sent to Commander's weather for input. 

Honestly though the boat is looking prerty ship shape. Paul has been tireless in completing any task we throw at him.  Lots of things checked off the list of "nice to get done". For example floats on the dinghy line, toe protectors on the fittings on the forward deck and the latch fixed on the cupboard in our head.

I suppose the 3am wake ups thinking of things to finish up indicate its time to get a move on. 

Will update when we figure out what the plan is. For now. Back to prep work

Final FB try for today

Why oh why wont post to FB  i dont wantvto buy symphony

Test post 2a

Test 

Facebook test post

Testing testing again

3 May 2018

Re: Sunset back on our mooring

Its been a busy busy week at the marina. We checked off many things on the to do list.  

Today was a beautiful day.  We motored back to our mooring, put the dinghy back in the water and took ourselves in to Russel for a nice hike up to the much maligned Flagstaff. Followed by a beer on the  the waterfront and our first  (of many to come)  provisioning on foot. Steaks on the BBQ for dinner!  

We notice how quiet it is here in Lily bay. And a nice sunset to end this autumn day in the Bay of Islands  (BOI)