Day 7

After more broad reaching with genoa and full main, we timed our landfall in the Vavau Goup perfectly at sunrise.

We had company with the flagship of the Oyster Rally the 90 ft  ‘Satori II’ showing on AIS for most of the night. We were sailing at 9 knots with a couple of jibes to fine tune our arrival time and point of sailing for comfort while they were most likely motoring a direct course at 8 knots. They got in an hour or so ahead of us, but the clearance officials don’t start work until 0830 anyway. We were at the customs wharf 15 minutes early to get our fenders ready and called the Port Master who gave us permission to use the somewhat smaller scale fisherman’s wharf. Satori took the container/customs wharf and we were both docked within a few minutes. A local fisherman was driving by in a minivan with a baby on his lap as we approached the gnarly concrete wharf. He immediately stopped, hopped out and caught or lines. Docking here is quite dicey with the potential for much damage to the topsides, but the wind was light from the right direction and with fenders positioned appropriately and using prop walk we managed the maneuver without any issues. While waiting for the officials to board and clear us, a smaller Aussie yacht also arrived, and we allowed them raft alongside. Customs, Immigration, Health and Biosecurity finally came and after much paperwork we were allowed to step ashore and get them some Tongan money from an ATM a short walk downtown. We made a quick stop at the open-air local produce market for some eggs, Bok choy, papaya and bananas.

Anchoring in Neiafu is always a bit of challenge due to the depth of the harbor with all the shallow areas taken by mooring buoys. We generally do not pay for moorings when anchoring even as deep as 100 ft is available. The risk of a faulty mooring is just too great where they are minimally regulated. Most boats will not anchor in depths greater than 80 feet leaving us some options at 90 – 100 ft.

On June 18, 2024

We are now anchored in 90 ft at:

18d40.02m S, 173d58.99m W

Day 6

With our increasing latitude, temperatures are finally cooling off and we may even start wearing clothes! The sea temp reads 82F (down from 88F). Winds have been nice trades (15 – 20 kn) and no squalls or lightning for about a day.

This from Sailingbird’s Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga on approaching the Vavau group:

From the North
The triangular stretch of water between Samoa, Tonga and Fiji can be very rough – some vessels have reported their worst South Pacific weather in this region. Even at the height of the SE trade-wind season, conditions are unpredictable. This is a volatile area where heavy squalls (as well as electrical storms accompanied by tremendous sheets of lightning and thunder) can occur anytime throughout the year.

From the East
This passage from the Societies or the Cook Islands is a fairly straightforward affair, but some factors should be considered. Winds blow primarily from an easterly direction, but periods of unsettled weather are usually encountered somewhere along this route.

Both the reel lure and the handline lure got mangled so we replaced them. We will try to pay better attention to strikes today – our last day of fishing until we leave Tonga for New Zealand in about 11 weeks.

On June 17, 2024

1200 Tonga Time

1600 PDT (June 16)

1300 NZST (June 17)

Our position was:

18d02.7m S, 171d57.0m W

COG 255dT

Noon to noon:  203 nm

We plan to make landfall early tomorrow morning and clear into the country in Neiafu. At least we won’t be dripping sweat on all the paperwork.

Day 5

Its Tonga time! Last night we decided to do an early hyperspace jump over the dateline and change the ships time and date to Tonga (UTC +13).

A friend tracking our progress asked: “Are you sure you are not missing out [on] a chance to visit places in the pacific you may never see again? Imagine that you sell the boat and then it would definitely never happen again.”

We’ve either been to or after researching, found all other stops on this trip to New Zealand to be undesirable:

Hawaii – harbormasters do not want yachts anchoring, marinas don’t want us or are unsafe, natives will rip you off and don’t like haoles.

Kiritmati (Christmas Island) – rolly outside anchorage

French Polynesia (excepting Gambiers) - been there and now overcrowded with anchoring restrictions in the Societies, unfriendly natives.

Rarotonga – crappy harbor with onerous clearance regs – will fly there some day.

Manihiki – rolly anchorage outside the lagoon and have all the black pearls we want.

Suwarrow – been there, park not open this season (ranger died).

Palmerston – families fight over hosting yachties, can’t use own dinghy to go ashore, bad anchoring.

American Samoa – been there, Paga Pago is a sh*t hole with a rat infested check-in wharf and we have enough inexpensively purchased provisions from Costco in Reno NV to get us to New Zealand.

Samoa – been there, nice but not worth the extra distance and stop.

Fiji – spent six months there – seen it all.

We stopped in Penryn because we had not been there, the natives are nice and it was the closest port of call leaving San Francisco (barring all the above) on our way to Tonga and New Zealand.

We will spend over two months in Tonga's Vavau Group because it on the way, closer to NZ, has dozens of sheltered anchorages, small resorts/restaurants, diving and swimming with whales.

It’s a bit like Johnny Cash in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov4epAJRPMw&ab_channel=MargrietAskew We may do a parody some day with all our cruising ports of call from around the world…

On June 16, 2024

1200 Tonga Time

1600 PDT (June 15)

1300 NZST (June 16)

Our position was:

16d37.0m S, 168d44.6m W

COG 248dT

Noon to noon (25 hrs):  218 nm

Day 4

This morning a really big fish broke our 80lb test line and took a good lure and steel leader. We are now fishing with the rod and reel again but also a 300 lb hand line on one of our power winches. Katie hopes Kurt doesn’t take on Captain Ahab tendencies.

On June 14, 2024

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (June 15)

Our position was:

14d28.6m S, 165d42.2m W

COG 238dT

Noon to noon:  209 nm

Day 3

After a rude but brief 30 kn rain squall this morning our conditions have settled in to a nice 17 kn trade wind with Interlude beam reaching at 9 kn. We sailed thru more Korean fishing activity but only as indicated by AIS signals from the boat and net. Any more than a few miles away and we can’t see the boat and more than a couple cables away we can’t see the net buoys.

While at anchor in Penrhyn we were able to repair the B&G masthead unit that gives us wind direction and speed. Also, repaired was the sea water cooling system for the air conditioner (nice to have in these latitudes). As you can see in the photo below, we deployed all awnings and even started using a small silver tarp on the topsides at the refrigerator and freezer to keep the dark paint cooler in this area. This will always be the sunny side while at anchor in the trades.

Repairing the masthead wind instruments in Penrhyn

On June 13, 2024

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (June 14)

Our position was:

12d15.1m S, 163d09.3m W

COG 238dT

Noon to noon:  193 nm

Day 2

We caught a small wahoo yesterday. Also known as ono in Hawaiian, it was so sneaky that it took all the line off the reel to the bitter end before we noticed it was on. By then it had drowned and was quite a drag to reel in (we did not slow the boat). Today we have had a couple strikes but no landed fish.

We were wing and wing sailplan in 8 to 12 kn breeze since leaving Penrhyn yesterday. The wind is finally filling in as advertised to 15 to 18 kn and we are now broad reaching with full main and genoa.

The Cook Island atoll of Manihiki will be off our starboard beam in a few hours but we will not be stopping. Only the uncomfortable anchorage outside the lagoon would be accessible to us. After the oysters in Penrhyn were wiped out by disease in 2000, Manihiki is now the center of black pearl production in the Cook Islands. We got our fill of black pearls in the Tuamotus and are keen to get to Vavau where temperatures are somewhat more reasonable. We have taken to running the air conditioning concurrent with battery charging by auxiliary generator during midday when pilothouse temperatures can reach 105F.

On June 12, 2024

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (June 13)

Our position was:

10d19.1m S, 160d32.5m W

COG 238dT

Noon to noon: 151 nm

 

Day 1

We spent ten days in Penrhyn and enjoyed the smooth water of the lagoon anchored off the eastern motus. We socialized with islanders and cruisers alike making new friends from around the globe. We will post a separate Report on Penrhyn.

 

Yesterday Kurt went ashore at Omoka village to get outward clearance papers to Neiafu, Vavau, Tonga. Katie cooked and baked most of the day for the passage.

This morning, in bad light and rain, we retraced the GPS tracks we laid down on entering to exit the lagoon and set sail for Tonga.

On June 11, 2024

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (June 2)

Our position was:

9d09.0m S, 158d16.8m W

COG 238dT

Day 18: Land Ho!

This morning we saw the familiar sight of palm trees on the horizon reassuring us that the earth is not flat and everything is where it is supposed to be. Penrhyn (Tongareva to the Cook Islanders), is a large atoll with a population of around 200 and has Free Association status with New Zealand. After motoring all night and until noon today in calm conditions, Katie had half the boat washed by the time we arrived at the pass. The pass was narrow but well charted and we made our way to the anchorage with Katie on the bow just confirming what Kurt was driving to on the electronic chart. The flat calm conditions actually make it harder to see coral due to the mirror-like surface of the water. Overall, it was one of our easiest landfalls.

 

We anchored off the village of Omoka to await clearance. After a while two officials (Customs $NZ 60 & Health $NZ 25) arrived in a dinghy to collect our outward clearance, inward clearance, crew list, declaration of health, vessel registration, nil list, personal effects declaration, ships prescription drug inventory, liquor inventory, tender inventory and stamp our passports. Mr. Junior Andrews and Mr. Tuku Mastu were efficient and friendly. They invited us to church tomorrow and to a 21^st birthday party feast for a young lady on Monday (the King’s Birthday holiday).

 

Amazingly, three other yachts also arrived today: a Canadian, a Kiwi and another American making a total of six now in Penrhyn.

On June 1, 2024, our position at anchor
1200 Cook Island Time
1500 PDT
1000 NZST (June 2)
was:
8d58.80m S, 158d02.94m W
24 hr noon to noon:  192 nm

Day 17

We had good conditions reaching with main and genoa until this afternoon when the forecasted light wind area finally overtook us. Interlude is now motoring and most likely will continue under power until we anchor sometime around noon tomorrow at Penrhyn.

Only one more Korean fishing vessel with AIS marked net just starting to deploy as we crossed their stern.

 

Kurt has been checking into the Pacific Seafarer’s Net every day and for the last two days even served as a relay station for one single hander vessel leaving Hawaii for Alaska. No one but Kurt could copy him and after two days at sea his satphone stopped working. He was to call his wife every day to reassure her he is okay. This is why we have backups for backups. I’ll bet they are glad there is a HAM radio aboard and people working the PacSeaNet.

 On May 31, 2024, our position at
1200 Cook Island Time
1500 PDT
1000 NZST (June 1)
was:
6d37.7m S, 155d51.8m W

24 hr noon to noon:  218 nm

 

Day 16

With the wind dying yesterday afternoon we redeployed the Code Zero and managed to keep it up during some nighttime squalls. This morning however the sail had had enough and ripped leech to luff. We furled the tattered sail and got it and the furling gear stowed in the forepeak. Interlude is back to making 10 kn tracks beam reaching with the genoa and one reef in the mainsail.

We are starting to time our landfall at Penrhyn which would ideally be sometime midday when the sun is overhead allowing us to see the numerous coral hazards in the lagoon and make our way to Omoku village. A weekend arrival could be problematic for some clearance officials so we used the Iridium satphone to call the Government Executive Officer, Mr. Puna John Vano. He was very nice and sympathetic to our arrival schedule especially since Monday is a holiday (King’s Birthday). We agreed that Interlude could remain quarantined at anchor (flying the ‘Q’ flag)  until Tuesday when the official boarding party would process us. We have to be sure not to do any work, swimming, diving or dinghying on Sunday as the Islanders there are very religious.

On May 30, 2024, our position at

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (May 31)

was:

3d53.3m S, 153d27.9m W

24 hr noon to noon:  186 nm

Day 15

We crossed the equator at 0200 last night and paid tribute to King Neptune today.

We are both shellbacks and there are no pollywogs aboard, so the ritual was limited to appeasement with a splash of rum over the rail. Kurt has crossed eight times and Katie five.

 We also decided not to wait until landfall to change to Cook Island Time. With the wind dying we could use three more hours to pad our stats:

On May 29, 2024, our position at

1200 Cook Island Time

1500 PDT

1000 NZST (May 30)

was:

1d24.8m S, 151d36.1m W

27 hr noon to noon:   215 nm

Day14

At around midnight we had another encounter with our non-responsive fishing buddies. The same two Korean boats, the Okyong and the Dongwon (hilarious names) we encountered yesterday had somehow got ahead of us and set their gear right in our path. Although not good at answering the radio, they were very good at marking their net with five AIS buoys allowing us to avoid any issues with a slight course change.

Our conditions have stabilized but with slightly more wind than the 15 kn forecast. Since it was all hands on deck to deal with the Koreans, we also tucked in a reef at around midnight with no loss of boatspeed. We still have the same wind and seas this afternoon and are making good progress. A favorable equatorial current is adding at least a knot to our speed yielding 9 -10 kn SOG while beam reaching with genoa and reefed mainsail.

A few days ago one of our gaggle of wayward sea birds disabled the B & G masthead unit that gives us wind direction and speed. We happened to catch sight of the likely suspect, a tattered petrel sitting atop the rocking mast trying to hang on. As part of prepping for this cruise, we replaced the masthead unit that was previously broken off by a bird with the spare now damaged by another bird. These units for the 38-year-old instrument system are hard to get. Fortunately there is a company in the UK that makes aftermarket parts that are even better than the original B&G. We got a new spare and are now glad we used the old spare first. We are not however (ie unlike Ellen MacArthur) going to the top of the mast to swap it out while underway. This was all to say that we are now sailing the traditional way, looking at the water, Windex and telltales for wind speed and direction. At night the Windex has its own light and we make full use of Interlude’s foredeck, spreader and cockpit LED floodlights while changing and trimming sails. The masthead unit will be repaired or replaced at anchor (<800 nm to go!)

On May 28, 2024, our position at

1200 Interlude Time

1200 PDT

0700 NZST (May 29)

was:

1d33.7m N, 149d29.7m W

24 hr noon to noon:  215 nm