It is funny the things one longs for when you are at sea.  For a good part of our passage to Tonga, all I wanted was a calm anchorage where I could spend a little time being lazy and do my varnishing.  A little gem of a bay can be found between the islands of Pangaimotu and Tapana, only a couple of hours sail from Neiafu.  It is protected in all winds, and does not get the long ocean swells that sometimes affect other anchorages in Vava'u.  Eduardo and Maria have reopened their Spanish restaurant (La Paella) on Tapana, which is a tiny island otherwise uninhabited.  There is a lovely walk across the island, through lush rainforest and the taro plantations which are occasionally tended by local landowners.  At low tide you can return by walking around the coast, a broad coral shelf spotted with white sandy beaches.

Blue Moon anchored at Tapana

We discovered this is the ideal place to base ourselves, with access to Neiafu just a short taxi ride from Pangaimotu.  A feature of Vava'u we remember from previous visits was the red mud roads, but thanks to European Union aid money the road has now been paved all the way to Ano Beach.  Tapana is also only a short hop to some of the most beautiful and isolated islands in Vava'u, many of which are not very good anchorages so they can only be visited as a day trip.  One of our excursions out of Tapana was to Kenutu, on the far eastern edge of the reef.  We spent a few days there, enjoying endless white sand beaches and turquoise waters.  When we arrived, there was a huge party underway with tents on the beach, cooking fires and music blaring.  We discovered this was a family reunion for the descendants of the original landowner.  Many of them now live overseas, and had come back for the event from San Francisco, Texas, New Zealand and Australia.  They wanted their children to know their heritage, and many were advocating to keep the island the way it is rather than dividing it up between individuals, or developing it.

Family reunion

We often see Humpback whales there as they come in to mate and calf at this time of year.  Vava'u offers them the perfect deep water shelter they need between the many islands.  The shapes of some of the islands reminds me of sailing through a pod of whales resting on the surface and I wonder if the whales have some folk legend about their ancestors being turned to rocks here.  One day we heard them singing - through our hull and in the water when we were snorkeling.  They kept it up all night too, it was like having a new puppy locked in the kitchen!  If you have seen 'Finding Nemo', Dory really spoke like a whale, and she had a perfect Humpback dialect.

A blue houseboat is permanently moored at Tapana, its sides gaily painted with murals of local flora and fauna. This is The Ark Gallery, displaying the work of resident artist Sheri Roberts, as well as some local jewelry and crafts. Sheri paints to order - T-shirts and canvas works depicting fish and local scenes. She also will paint one of your boat. Her husband Larry, takes guests out for day charters on their trimaran which is also moored in the bay. Originally from the US, they have been sailing here, off and on, for twenty years, finally settling and building the Ark Gallery four years ago. We became good friends and have spent many a 'happy hour' on the ark, enjoying the tales of other cruisers that have moored in the bay for a night, or a week.

The Ark

The VHF provides us with the most unusual entertainment, in a mixture of Spanish, English and Tongan. The other night, a charter yacht called up to book for dinner at the La Paella restaurant. Maria answered - "I am fool." The charter people were not to be deterred - they said they were going home the next day and really wanted to come for dinner. "I have no more food!" - says Maria. Sheri cuts in, from the Ark Gallery, to say she has 2 kilos of chicken. Maria says - "Just a moment." Then there is a long silence (Maria is phoning Sheri on the mobile at this point to say she does not want any more people so - "Shudup will you!" Then Suzie, from the yacht Prism, pipes up to say she has some tomatoes and cucumbers (she doesn't have a phone). Maria comes back to ask how many people there are. "Eleven!". "I have no more tables!" Caroline, on the yacht Sea Crane, comes on the radio to say that she has more food. The charter people don't mind where they sit. Maria is finally beaten into submission.

We have had quite strong winds most of the time we have been here, so it has been nice to be tucked up in a safe bay. Last night a sudden squall came through with a 180 degree wind change of 40 knots and rain. Being almost locals, we have taken one of the moorings here, so we were fine but there were boats moving around all over the bay. At least it is sheltered, unlike many of the anchorages in Vava'u, which would have been chaos. Another night we awoke to strobe lightning that lasted for five hours, and Tonga's first hail storm in 70 years.

For the past few weeks we have been debating the timing of the 'blue moon', a rare occurrence of two full moons in one month. Several people believed this would be on July 31st. Our Nautical Almanac agreed. Others insist it will not happen until August. We decided not to risk it and will have a party on both dates. Besides, we will cross the date line when we go to Samoa so perhaps this will have some effect on things. We started out by inviting the small group we have been spending so much time with here - Sheri and Larry, Suzie from Prism, Caroline and Rick from Sea Crane. My idea of a little dinner party needed revising though, when more of our friends arrived. Something we have noticed from spending so long in the Pacific, is that people we knew several years ago have now completed their circumnavigation so we are meeting them on their way back. What a nice surprise to see Bloody Mary sail in, who we met in Mooloolaba in 1998. Then a couple who had helped us enormously in Fiji when we had all our troubles there, Phil and Naylene. They are no longer in the sailing ship Old Glory, but have modern yacht now, La Scalla. It was Phil's birthday, and they are good friends of Eduardo and Maria the owners of La Paella Restaurant. We had a great night at the restaurant with 16 people, entertained as always by Eduardo's unique music, as well as Naylene's beautiful voice. It was only the day before the 'blue moon' and the whole group seemed enthusiastic to celebrate with us.

Eduardo and Naylene

We awoke on the morning of the 31st to a beautiful day. As I was contemplating my rearranged menu to accommodate another ten or so. Larry came over to invite us for a to sail to Maninita Island with him for the day with his charter. Maninita is the most southern island of the group, and supposed to be the most beautiful. We debated for about five seconds, grabbed our snorkeling gear and went. It was a magic day, with whales out in the channel and curious boobies flying in to check us out. As we neared the island, we caught two fish. The island is a dot of sand with a few palm trees, which makes for a nice walk. Rob found a beautiful big Textile cone shell for me. We enjoyed our snorkeling even though most of the coral has been killed by the cyclone last year. We have found this everywhere we have been this time, which has been disappointing after the beauty of the coral gardens we remembered from our last trip to Tonga. We arrived back at Tapana at around 5:00 pm to discover most of the other boats had similar ideas about the day, so the bay was deserted. We quickly put our little dinner party together, with a lovely big 'blue moon' sparkling across the water.

Typical crafts found on the islands

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