[hoops name=”break”]3:00 am 8/22:
Sleepy is the word for the day…..not sure if it is the bee sting or just getting tired of all these long passages but having a hard time staying awake…..arghhhhh!!! I took 3 naps yesterday and still feel very tired!! We are not alone on getting tired of these long passages….that is a big topic with all cruisers now. So far this season we have done one 19 nighter, one 5 nighter, one 4 nighter, two 3 nighter, two 2 nighter and one 1 nighter and we still have a 5 nighter to go….that’s 44 nights at sea….whoa!!!!!
When we get to Tonga in about 8 hours we will gain a day….even though we will not cross the official dateline (180 deg longitude) Tonga has elected to be on the same time as their neighbor Fiji….so if it is noon on the West Coast it will be 9:00am the next day in Tonga.
The winds have steadily built to 15-22G25 kts ENE and the seas are now 4-6′ ENE….a bit rolly….ugh!!!
4:00 pm 8/23:
We have arrived safe and sound in Neiafu Tonga….yeah!!!! Check-in was a bit of a hassle but the people were very friendly. First you had to dock at the custom dock, then Customs, Immigration, Health and Quarantine all came on board….filled out a bunch of forms and they asked some cursory questions….no inspection and they took no food away…..yippee……then we had to go to an ATM to get Tongan dollars to pay the $123TG to Health…..after that we could go anchor…..there are plenty of moorings but not for our size so we went to 3 different spots before anchoring in 95’…oh joy!!!!!
We will be here for a few days before we head out to the over 25 different anchorages around Vava’u!!
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Stats as of noon 8/23:
Position: 18 39S 173 59W
Traveled: 249nm total
Course: 264M COG
Wind: 15-20G25 kt ENE calmed as we approached Tonga to 10-15 NE
Waves: 4-6′ ENE short period
Speed: avg 7.0 kts SOG; 1400 rpm
Weather: 80% cloud cover; a little light rain; sea temp 80 deg F
Boat sightings: 0 today
Fishing: one big one that broke the line; lost my favorite blue/white rapala 🙁 ((((!!
Sail: not up
Fuel burn: no reading yet
Hope all is well!
John[hoops name=”break”]Mystic Moon
Just looked at the map of all MM’s positions on the Selene website. You two have covered a whole lot of water! Have to zoom almost all the way out to see your very impressive track. Love reading your blog posts. YBs definitely know how to have fun! Cheers! Deb, Bill and the pups
Glad you arrived safely! Hope you catch up on your rest…