Nuku'alofo,Tongatapu,Tonga

fire dancer

lobster night on Callisto

Videos have proved difficult and so have more photos. They may have to wait for High speed internet in NZ.

Ron is in transit and should arrive tonight. We have missed the best window for the passage but it will be safe to leave tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning after we complete the paperwork cha-cha and get some fuel.

We may have a bumpy ride with 20 kt wind and 10 foot seas but no SW gales are forecast for the next 10 days
We will keep yuo posted

pangaimotu, tongatapu,tonga

We have spent a number of days in southern Tonga and have enjoyed it very much. We spend our time getting the boat ready for the final push south. We went a resort on the south part of Tongatupu for a Tongan feast and dance show. The resort was quite spectacular with the beach and full moon and a crystal clear night. The fire dancing was also excellent and some video will follow if I can figure out to post it.
We were invited to church and lunch to follow today but its blowing 15 kts in the harbor so I'm not sure if we will make it.
Many of our friends have left over the past few days.
We have, unfortunately, missed a good weather window to go to New Zealand while waiting for Ron. He will get here by Tuesday or Wednesday and I hope another weather window will open up soon after that. I may have to wait another week, however. My eyes are glues to the wearher reports.
Will be working on photos and video later today

Pangaimotu, Tongatapu, Tonga

Today finds us anchored off the tiny island of Pangaimotu which is in the southern part of Tonga about a mile from the capital city Nuka'lofa. The wharf in Nukalofa did not seem very appealing so we came here instead. We had an ecxellent sail down from the Hap'ai group of islands and the weather seems to have cleared for the time being. My fishing karma seems to have returned and we caught some very nice Mahi and Wahoo.
We did have some excitement in our last anchorage which was in the channel between the two Nomuka Islands. We anchored up in sand and coral patches in calm conditions. I dove on the anchor and it seemed to have set well. We went to sleep after setting the anchor alarm and were awakened at 0430H with a 180 wind shift and a squall with winds to more than 25 kts. The anchor alarm went off and before I could get oriented we were aground on coral. There were no lights ashore with sheets of rain and a lot of wind. My electronic charts were quite inaccurate and it was difficult to know which way to try to power off the reef in the dark.
We waited tensely for daylight and help from the crews of three other boats who were anchored about a mile away. We managed to kedge ourselves off with a large Danforth anchor set astern and tilting the boat with tension on a halyard on the main mast . Our friends, Brian and Brady from Delos (another Amel) were excellent in saving our boat from the reef.
In some ways, we were quite fortunate and subsequently diving on the boat showed no significant damage to the hull and rudder, just quite a bit of paint scraped off the keel and a few gel coat dings.
We are going into Nuka'lofa today by dinghy to do our check in and some shopping. Our days will be spent getting ready for our final leg to New Zealand and doing some sight seeing.
Photos to follow

Ha'afevu Island, Ha'apai Group, Tonga

Today's latest from Callisto:

We are meandering our way down the Ha'apai Group of Islands to our final Tongan destination of Nukalofa in the south. This area is quite remote and there are no facilities or internet. The diving is excellent and we went for a night expedition for lobster two nights ago which was not too productive. The water was very clear and there is a whole new perspective to the coral and the sea life under flashlight at night.
The weather has not been too good with quite a bit of rain and winds that vary in velocity and direction which I'm told is due to the convergence zone of various meteorological influences. I don't pretend to understand them.
All is well with the Admiral and Jennifer and I think all of us are looking forward to getting back to civilization in New Zealand. This will happen all too soon.
Today we leave Ha'afeva Island and will go to Nomuka Island and then on to Nukalofa by Monday.
Ron is due to join us on the 26th and weather permitting we will leave for New Zealand soon after that. I can't believe that we have been out here for almost a year!

Lifuka, Hapai Group Tonga

We arrived safely in Lifuka after 14 trying hours at sea. Despite a forcast of 10 - 15 kts from the East, we got into near gale with gusts to 40 knots from the SSE. It was a long and bumpy 80 miles. The rain has now stopped and all is well off to explore the new surroundings today. More to come

photos from Tonga and the regatta

the team
the pie eaters. helen on the left won the event. She ate 10 banana custard pies!
the limbo dancer
tug of war
the RC church in Nieafu
the five legged race. very tricky
Steve( to my right) removed shorts prior to the blindfold event
yacht harbor Nieafu, Tonga
sack race
event list
the competitors
entertainment during the Full Moon Party
Admiral and I at Full Moon Party
The Friday yacht race. I'm in the dinghy with the blue sail to the right of the mega yaght "Nirvana"
Being assaulted by my friend Sven on the pub crawl
green man, heineken man and princess leah
the drag contingent on the pubcrawl
jennifer, ben and helen
concentrating on tossing a bean bag in the cornhole tournament