POST

Thursday October 25, 2007
Well we are not on Bella Donna we leave early this morning for Auckland, New Zealand. The weather window is still in doubt, but we must be back in the USA by October 28 and our booked flight is from Auckland. The Kingdom of Tonga is not real happy with our decision to leave; this morning about 6 AM I was half awake and half asleep having a dream about cleaning third story windows on some house in Hawaii. First of all our house in Hawaii is only two story and can't my subconscious realize I am on Bella Donna. Anyway just as I was worrying about the functioning of where the sectional latter I am standing on joins a roar and whirling sound suggests sudden high winds. Alarm bells start sounding from the chart table and I awake to realize the wind is not in my dream but the real thing. Bella Donna is moving about swinging aggressively on its 300 feet of anchor chain. The wind not only increased dramatically but is coming from a very different direction. I react with a brief panic but realize we are ok except for a few loose items that may not be entirely secure on deck. The pitch of the rigging hum tells me the chart table alarm is reliably responding to high wind; we set an alarm for very high winds while at anchor in case we slept through the blow. Then the heavy rain hit; what we are experiencing is a sever squall.

I start to complete my packing with the thought that Bella Donna is just fine. Then I remember John being worried about a yacht anchoring too close in front of us just yesterday. He had radioed them to say their yacht may be over our anchor and if we needed to weigh anchor there may be a problem. If we swing 180 degrees we would be in danger of coming into contact with the yacht anchored too close. I drop the packing task and hurry out to the salon. John, Deborah and Ant are already on deck. The anchorage is in chaos; some dinghies are upside down, some yachts have clearly drug their anchor. Miraculously there are no collisions or other serious problems. We have swung exactly 180 degrees but the yacht anchored too close swung too and even though his anchor chain is much shorter than ours he is more than a boat length off our stern, not comfortable but good enough.

The ride in the dinghy with our entire luggage in another hour is ok but a little rough and wet. A long taxi ride is followed by unfamiliar airport procedures. Finally we are on the plane which is a big seven seat across Boeing aircraft. Therefore the flight of 1000 miles takes a little over 2 hours, not bad. Auckland is well a little cold. There is a strong cold wind and most of my clothes are shorts and tee-shirts. The hotel is a real winner; Dani has done a great job of finding just a great place. It is close, within walking distance; to most all of the things we want to see while waiting for our flight home on Sunday. It has a great gym, pool and caters to the business traveler with internet, news papers and great free breakfast.

Our night ends early around 8PM I fall to sleep reading information on what there is to see and do.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Tuesday October 23, 2007
I skip ahead one day because recent events overshadow the shopping trip we made yesterday.
This morning was like any other morning on Bella Donna with coffee and breakfast. Suddenly
the VHF radio channel 16 that we always monitor comes alive with a distress call from
sailing vessel Nomad Life. They left for New Zealand yesterday morning and hit very rough
weather. There is just a husband and his wife aboard and about 11 PM last night the
husband had laid down to grab some sleep while his wife stood watch. She had been sea sick
and throwing up but the husband had to get some sleep. The husband was awakened by a loud
noise and rushed to the cockpit to find his wife with a serious gash above her eye and she
was out cold. She must have passed out and hit her head on something sharp on the
companionway.

What followed must have been very difficult for the both of them. When we heard the
distress call Nomad Life was a little over 20 miles out in rough seas battling head wind
and seas trying to tack back to Nuku'alofa. Papillon was doing a superb job of
coordinating other yachts, medical care and port authority to help the distressed yacht
with an extremely tired single hand sailor aboard. At this time the wife's head wound was
still bleeding and she was slipping in and out of consciousness. John offered and it was
accepted to contact a doctor thought to be aboard a big blue mono hull that arrived late
yesterday anchored next to us. Before he is able to speak to the doctor Nomad Life radios
that his wife is experiencing convulsions and when she comes out of it she does not
recognize her husband. The French doctor turns out to be a surgeon and his assistance
immediately improves the medical advice available to the distressed husband and the wife's
bleeding is at least stopped.

It becomes clear that the husband needs help bringing Nomad Life back to Nuku'alofa to get
his wife back to the hospital. John prepares the gear including life jackets, GPS, Charts,
stabilized binoculars, hand held VHF radio and satellite phone. John also drops by and
picks up the French surgeon and jerry cans of fuel from other yachties. After getting a
GPS position for Nomad Life, Ant runs John and the doctor on a course in our dinghy
towards Nomad Life. It becomes clear to me that John is doing an excellent job of what he
is trained to do. We listen as I am sure all yachties are to channel 16 to get the
progress reports.

On the way a faster fishing vessel picks John and the doctor off our dinghy and rushes at
over 20 knots per hour to the distressed Nomad Life in minutes. Ant returns our dinghy to
Bella Donna. After coordinating how to board her in the rough seas John and doctor
transfer to Nomad Life. Heading downwind to steady the yacht the doctor examines the wife.
The news is good; she is stable and can wait the 3 to 4 hours until Nomad Life makes it to
calmer sea near the fuel dock before being transported to the hospital. The doctor and
John are just what are required; they have a calming affect on the whole situation.

Like I said the events of this morning makes the coffee shops, shopping and walk to town
yesterday way less important. Tonight we are scheduled to go to the cultural center to
learn more about Tongan life. Cheers until tomorrow.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Sunday October 21, 2007
Yesterday Argentina defeated France in the rugby world cup semifinal to determine who
finishes in third place. France just could not get excited about the game and were
defeated badly by a hungry Argentina team. Today is the final between England and South
Africa. You bet we are going to the game or at least watch it on big screen at the local
Bill fisher Bar. Ant has the South African flag and is exploding with support for his
country's team. Deborah is of course squarely behind England and looking for an English
flag. John says he has been gone from South Africa for a long time and married to Deborah
so he is neutral. This should be interesting.

It is Sunday morning in Tonga even though the game is played at 7PM Saturday night in
France. Tonga does not allow any work to be performed; police fine people for exercising
on Sunday. You will be stopped if you are running and in big trouble if it is on the
street in front of a church. The town is very quiet there are very few cars on the street.
Almost all businesses are closed. The only place to get breakfast or coffee is in a hotel.

We dinghy ashore and walk the quarter to half mile to the Bill Fisher Bar. A lone man, the
only bar employee we are to see, is at the front gate to let us in. There are chairs set
up in front of a big video screen set up in front of what is usually a busy bar. Nothing
is be served the bar is not making any money; it is a weird scene as everyone takes their
seat and stares at the screen. Most of the crowd has England leanings, but the South
Africans lead the entire game. When a good play is made by either team everyone applauds.
It is only when a team scores that the in favor fans show emotion and approval. South
Africa wins the try less event.

There is nothing to do in town, so we return to Bella Donna to enjoy a lazy Sunday
afternoon. We notice a catamaran built in South Carolina leaving for New Zealand. The
husband and wife aboard had been at Big Mama's last night. He is a dentist and she teaches
music. They have been cruising around the world, mostly South America and the South
Pacific so far, stopping in each place for weeks at a time. They contact the local schools
and offer to come in and hold learning experience for the students. They brought a huge
amount of tooth brushes partially purchased and partially donated by the manufacturer. The
husband handed out the free tooth brushes and pencils to students with a lesson on how to
properly brush. The wife worked with the music classes. Her task was more difficult in
Tonga where music is a series of numbers rather than notes, thus like a foreign language
translation. Both helped with language and science classes as well. They are both
beautiful and generous people; I am sure they have made a difference everywhere they have
been.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Saturday October 20, 2007
Yesterday afternoon we did some sailing south to look at beaches. There is one perfect
sandy beach after another. You could dinghy ashore to a mile of private beach on an island
probably not inhabited by another soul. Unlike other beautiful beaches we have visited
there are no stinging or biting insects.

Late that afternoon we head south for 90 mile passage to Nuku'alofa, the capital and
largest city in The Kingdom of Tonga. Unlike the last passage the winds are gentile and on
our stern. Bella Donna sways gently along in the open Pacific Ocean.

Just before first light we can distinctly smell land. As the sky brightens John points out
the first island that could easily be mistaken as a cloud. It takes us almost 2 hours to
reach the harbor at Nuku'alofa. We count about 20 cruising yachts at anchor. When John and
Deborah were here in August Bella Donna was one of three yachts at anchor here. We anchor
close to town because we must check in with Customs and Immigration. Several calls on the
radio go unanswered as it starts to rain so we decide to take a taxi to town. Nuku'alofa
is swarming with Saturday shopping locals, cruisers, backpackers and Forum attendees. Yes,
the Forum ended here and the streets around the International Dateline Hotel, between
Bella Donna and town, are closed to everyone for security reasons.

The taxi lets us out at the TonFan so we can purchase some internet wifi time so we can
use internet on Bella Donna from the harbor. Walking towards the harbor through town as it
starts to pour down rain; we scan all the stores full of Saturday shoppers. Our first
purchases are umbrellas. We have come half way around the world without umbrellas, but it
is time to buy. We stop in a bookstore where John and Deborah bought the Lonely Planet
guidebooks on Samoa and Tonga we have been reading. I see a Lonely Planet guidebook on
Hawaii and thumb through it. How unique it feels to be in Tonga and reading about a very
different Polynesian Island that you know well; in fact you own a home there. In the end
we buy no books as we think we do not want to pack them back home; besides, they are
cheaper purchased on the internet.

In out of the rain, we have coffee and treats at the Friend's Café where many cruisers,
backpackers and tourists hang out. The place is packed; you just get a number and everyone
at your table orders on it and they bring the treats to you. They offer internet at a
price, both wifi and a computer if you see one available. The crowd represents many
countries. Most are Kiwi and Australian; several are clearly from Europe and Asia. The
Americans are few.

The rain has let up and we walk back to the Dock; it is a long walk. The pontoon wooden
dock starts to violently twist as we walk out to our dinghy. We turn around to see a Huge
Tongan man who is calling to us, "Hey Bella Donna"; he turns out to be customs and
immigration ready to come aboard Bella Donna and check us in. He asked John for a Bella
Donna tee-shirt in August and John told him he was out of tee-shirts; he told him we were
bringing tee-shirts from the US and he would give him one in October. He comes out to
Bella Donna and spend a long time with us; he got his tee-shirt. I hope it fits; extra
large is the largest we have.

Back on Bella Donna we decide to go to Big Mama's Yacht Club for happy hour and perhaps
buffet style dinner we have heard advertised. The steaks Deborah has taken out will wait
till tomorrow night's Bar B Que. Big Mama's is on an island less than a mile away where
many of the 20 cruising yachts are anchored. We drop anchor there just as the winds kick
up to more than 20 knots. The ride into Mama's is wet; the dock lading is acrobatic, but
not as acrobatic as in the dark after a couple of drinks and dinner with wine. Mama's is a
large covered deck with bar and tables. Several of the cruisers from the yachts anchored
around us also show up and happy hour is extended until after 8 PM. A dinner of chicken,
sausage, fish, slaw, potato salad and French bread is served buffet style.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Friday October 19, 2007
It is a beautiful morning in Pangai and the locals are standing on the dock staring into
Bella Donna. After a quick breakfast we all take off in different directions to town. I am
determined to take a long bike ride. Once again we take the 4 foot dinghy ride to the dock
me with by bike. I decide to head north out of town toward a low water crossing from this
island to the next. The guide says one should be careful that locals often drown trying to
cross due to swift tides and wind. I decide to bike there to see how bad it is and decide
when I get there the feasibility of crossing with my bike.

A paved road heads north past The Friendly Book Store, a very small one room building jam
packed with stacks of magazines and books that look well used. There is very little
traffic on the road, just the occasional bus or taxi. There are private vans and trucks
usually filled with locals. There are extremely few private cars with one or two people in
them. They drive on the left side here so I think about riding down the right side so I
can at least see the vehicle approaching me. This does not work well because the oncoming
traffic drives close to the left side even though there is not traffic coming the other
way. I decide the prospect of a rear end collision is better than one that is head on and
ride on the left side.

I pass several cemeteries that have the now familiar local graves with the colorful quilts
draped over more than a head stone; it is a head wall I suppose. I then spot a cemetery
that looks like one you would see in the United States. Upon closer inspection it is
labeled as a European Cemetery. A prominent grave is of a Christian minister who died in
the 1800's at the age of 82. I looked at ages and I am hard pressed to find many over 50
years old. Even today the life expectancy of a local Tongan is said to be 50 years. Many
of the women died young; I saw many 28 to 34 year old women with "The Wife of …" on their
headstones. Maybe childbirth plus the hard life far from home was too much in the 1800's.

Tongans passing in vans and the backs of pickup trucks slow down and say hi-bye to me.
Again toddlers wave and say bye as I ride past. I have done some research and I think the
little guys have heard the older kids say hi then bye to strangers like me and they just
shorten the greeting to bye. Every time I slow down people working in the fields wave and
greet me. There is no farm machinery in Tonga; the fields are cultivated with a digging
bar by hand.

Every time I stop people, mostly children, walk up and talk to me. They want to know where
I am from and where I am going. I ask if I can take their picture and they say yes and
break into a pose. I have heard that Tongans do not like their picture taken so I always
ask first; I think the guide books are wrong about this, at least in Pangai. I always show
the review on the camera screen to them and they always break out into a big smile. I
don't think they have seen many digital cameras, if any. One about 7 year old boy came and
sat with me on some rocks. He asked the usual questions and just wanted to sit and share
the view. When I have to leave his little face looked sad; it broke my heart, but I had to
move on to be back by noon.

It turns out the low water crossing at the north end of the island is now a one lane
causeway about a quarter of a mile long. Some care must still be exercised as there is not
width enough for a bike and a bus; we all know who would get wet.

I ride for quite a distance through small farm villages until the road becomes a dirt path
into a private parcel of land. I turn around and ride hard back to town to meet everyone
at noon. Back at Bella Donna, I go through the side of the road routine with children in
school cloths, lava lavas. They keep coming back with more friends for another posed photo.

I found John on his way to Mariner's to meet everyone else. We instead find them all in
the internet building next door. We hang at Mariner's for lunch and then go back to Bella
Donna for a departure to Nuku'alofa.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Thursday October 18, 2007
We left Vava'u Island group after dark and sailed back out in the South Pacific Ocean.
Immediately Bella Donna started to roll with the swells. We are too seasoned to become
seasick, but just taking a step takes preparation. I just crashed into bed and let Bella
Donna rock and roll all night. Getting up to use the restroom during the night posed a
serious journey each time. It was definitely something you do not want to do half asleep.
You could end up on your face, ouch.

The winds blew 18 knots, but we slowed Bella Donna down by not putting out all the sail
and throttling the engines back; we need to go only 70 miles. We do not want to enter
Pangai in the Ha'apai Island Group until just before 9AM tomorrow. There are reefs and
shoals that aren't on the electronic chart or at least if they are charted, they are not
where the electronic chart says they are. The last thing you want to do is go bump in the
night. The angle of the sun at 9AM allows you to see danger by the color of the water; the
darker the blue the better, lighter blue is caution and green, black or brown means danger.

We arrive before 10AM and do a med docking, stern to. This is the first time we have been
on a dock since the Panama Canal; we have anchored throughout the Pacific. As soon as we
dock the town's people start coming out on the dock to look at Bella Donna. We are told
Bella Donna is the largest yacht that has ever docked in their town. All the children and
the adults speak very good English. All education is performed in English; all subjects
are taught in English. The children are also taught Tongan and Tongan is spoken at home.
Throughout the rest of the day and into the evening the locals come by the dock to stand
and stair into the cockpit and salon of Bella Donna. We consider putting up the privacy
screen, but then it would seem we be walling us off from contact with these beautiful
people that are getting so much out of just seeing us enjoy our yacht.

We quickly walk ashore to check-in and check out what is here. The wharf area is very
quiet; the next cargo ship is not due until next Wednesday; it comes once a week. This is
a big event that everyone comes out to the wharf to celebrate and take a look at items
coming into the local stores. The buildings near the wharf are quaint old wooden
buildings. Behind them is the main road through town. Between these buildings and the
ocean is what looks like huge Banyan trees that provide a huge amount of very cool shade.
Standing in the sun it is very warm and you perspire a lot; standing under the trees as
locals are doing it is very pleasant. We walk from one end of town to the other in about
5 minutes. There is one store of every expected type; however, each store has general
merchandise items. For example, in the hardware store you can buy pastries and bread even
though there is a bakery just a few blocks away. The school boys are playing touch rugby
which is somewhat like touch football as there is no contact, just a lot of non-stop
running. Some of the town's people are chopping down trees, raking the ground and burning
the little pieces, but taking all the large pieces of wood to their homes. We learn that
the King has inspectors come by every few weeks to inspect how the town is taking care to
kept things clean and tidy. All the homes are like farm homes built small and simple with
some kind of shed or barn structure. A local get ¼ acre of land in town and 3 acres
outside of town to grow food on and/or raise animals on. I have seen horses, cows and
goats, but not in town. Just as in Vava'u the pigs and chickens are open ranging from
house to house liberally using the streets just as much as people, bikes and cars do.

We find one tavern in town, The Mariner's Inn, which caters to non-locals and is owned by
a South African man and his long time Polish girlfriend. We stop by for beer and French
fries before returning to Bella Donna for dinner and a movie in the salon. We can tolerate
the locals watching us from the dock as it is dark and we can't see them there. Eating in
the cockpit would be hard to do; we would have to invite them in to share and there are
too many of them.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Wednesday October 17, 2007
On the radio net at 8:30 we hear the first airplanes carrying the South Pacific Forum
visitors have been spotted landing. This means the motorcade will pass through town in
about an hour. We rush with breakfast and dress better than usual to join in the
festivities in town. When we arrive on the dock the fresh paint, flowers, flags and
balloons have transformed the town. Tents by the dock have been set up to shade tables
full of fruits and other foods for the Forum attendees to snack on.

We walk up to the main road which is lined with locals. Many of the children are waving
small Tongan flags. People are hanging over balconies and out of second story windows
above the street. The sidewalks and storefronts are standing room only. We stand in the
hot sun for nearly an hour waiting for the motorcade. We meet a nice Kiwi woman who offers
us insect repellant; it turns out she is from the New Zealand town where Bella Donna is to
be hauled out. An Australian TV channel is filming in the street. We overhear the
newswoman's comments, "As you can see the many happy people in the streets are in sharp
contrast to the disagreements among South Pacific leaders attending the Forum". The Tongan
soldiers are stationed here and there up and down the street armed with real weapons and
large colorful water guns. I never understood what the water guns were for; I assume they
are to have fun while waiting.

Just before the heat becomes unbearable the motorcade passes through. Lead by the King of
Tonga the Forum attendees make their way to the hotel. The last vehicle is a bicycle; the
man on the bike is wearing a backpack with a colorful tree or plant sticking out of it. A
sign on his backpack in Tongan must have said something like, "That's All Folks"; anyway
the local crowd laughed. We make a beeline to The Tropicana, our favorite hangout in town;
I have a cappuccino and Afghan Biscuit. Deborah and Ant have a fruit smoothie. John worked
out and skipped breakfast to join us so he has a meat pie and a lemon mar rang pie.

After lunch we say good bye to town and head south. On the way out we answer a distress
call from friends whose dinghy has run out of fuel. Ant takes one of them back to the fuel
dock in our dinghy for a jerry can of fuel. After towing their dinghy from a lee shore to
good shallow anchorage to wait for Ant we sail a few miles south to anchor in front of a
resort that Lisa at Tropicana recommended we stop at for sundowner drinks on our way
south. The resort's beaches and dock are uncommonly unique. Up on a cliff the bar has a
beach sand patio with hot tub overlooking the dock and beach below. Lisa told us that an
American owns the restaurant. The bar is empty and the bartender explains this is a slow
month and they only have 5 guests.

We meet a guest, a Kiwi woman, who turns out to be the mother of the owner's girlfriend.
Her daughter has a business in Tonga filming DVDs of her customers swimming with whales.
She says her daughter is filming the Forum and the owner is the sound system expert for
the Forum event. Another Kiwi woman shows up who is traveling by herself because her
friend was Israeli and Tonga decided recently to require a visa from Israelis. She turns
out to be a Pediatrician and spent the day touring Tongan hospitals. I will just say that
what she said make me think I would get to New Zealand if I need a hospital.

After sunset we weigh anchor and head south back out into the Pacific Ocean.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Tuesday October 16, 2007
It is now definite, the weather window is not going to open in time for us to make passage
to New Zealand before we leave on the 28th. In fact the weather router, Commanders, that
route a lot of the large racing yachts sent an email starting their report with, "DO NOT
GO". They are predicting 40 knot winds and 15 foot seas on the nose. This would be a no
win situation, so we are going to hang out in Vava'u for a couple of days and then start
hopping south through the islands ending up in Nukualofa for a flight to Auckland New
Zealand on the 25th.

Today we plan to return to Port of Refuge. We arrive as the town is preparing for the 13
state South Pacific Forum. A 500 yard zone has been cleared in front of the big new hotel
where the Forum attendees are staying. Large wooden arches are being constructed over the
main streets entering and leaving town to hold a banner. The arches are decorated with
ferns, flowers, flags and balloons. Many of the businesses are busy putting a fresh coat
of paint on their buildings. Several power washers are being used to remove the layers of
dirt accumulated on the sidewalks and streets since the last big state meeting that
required cleaning the town.

We walk a few blocks off the shore to use the best and least expensive, $1 per hour,
internet connection in town. We are able to reach our wives in a hotel room in Bridgeport,
Connecticut. A very unreliable video-voice connection is made but just seeing a few still
shots and hearing their voices thousands of miles away means a lot to us. This is probably
the last inexpensive internet for a while; we are leaving to head south tomorrow.

We walk to the other end of town; Tongans are busy everywhere getting ready for the
special state event. We stop at the Aquarium to have a few sun downer beers with the crew
of Vent d'est, an over 100 foot mono hull that just arrived from Tahiti where we last saw
them. One of the female crew is a young South African the same age as Ant and in fact went
to the same school as Ant and lived very near when John lived in South Africa. We also met
a fellow we last saw in the Canary Islands 2 years ago. He and his girlfriend are on their
second circumnavigation. After that much time on a small boat together the relationship
must be more serious.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Monday October 15, 2007
Today is a sailing day. We scratch the morning walk and in stead we break anchor early and head west to The Blue Lagoon near where the girls are practicing for the kite board contest. The winds are advertised to be 10 to 15 knots, but we are hoping for 15 to 20 knots. Bella Donna does not disappoint and soon accelerates to 10 to 11 knots in flat seas on winds 16 to 17 knots. We sail from blue water, to blue water, to blue water weaving our way from one lush green tropical island with perfect beaches to another. The light blue to green colored water marks shallow water reefs and shoals. Many reefs are visible with white water breaking over them. This place is the picture perfect South Pacific. It is a great place for a cruising vacation with guests who want to experience high performance sailing in tropical paradise without once feeling sea sick. The GPS electronic charts are very inaccurate; we have been sailing right over islands off and on all morning. You definitely do not want to sail at night; in fact you must sail from 9AM to 3PM to see the dangerous places by the color of the water.

We decide to stop short of The Blue Lagoon to have lunch and watch the kite board girls practice for their event. The 35 girls have rented an entire island resort plus some are sleeping in tents and others have chartered Moorings yachts. Ant went to shore to see if we could come on the beach to watch and maybe have a drink in the resort bar. He is told that he should not be on the island while the girls are there. We are not welcome while the girls are in town.

John and Ant go to scout The Blue Lagoon anchorage in the dinghy. They return to report that the anchorage is too windy for anchoring over night. We settle for sundowners in the fly bridge and watch professionals filming the kite board girls doing flips in the shallows that run between their island and another small island.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Sunday October 14, 2007
Another bright sunny day here, we decide to take in a little walk. Last night at the feast
we noticed cars and trucks driving down to the beach. The island rises up quickly to a
hill with widely separated palm trees on what appears from a distance as a lush green golf
course, but surely there is no golf played here. All land belongs to the king, if you are
pure Tongan you may be granted land for your family to use forever as long as the king
approves. You may lease land for a period say 25 years to a non Tongan. I do not think a
golf resort would invest under these circumstances.

Getting ashore was our first almost acrobatic landing since arriving in Tonga. Keeping
yourself dry meant lunging from dinghy to rock on shore. The road left the beach into
thick jungle but quickly climbed a steep grade to the green hill top that looked like a
golf course from Bella Donna. From there the road continued for less than 2 miles to a
little village. It is Sunday and the church services are in full swing. A lot of chanting
and singing, not everyone was in church. Women could be seen doing wash and children could
be seen at play. There were the usual pigs and chickens roaming the streets of the town.
The condition of the housing showed just how poor the people are. Homes were little more
than a tin roof shed with a dirt floor; a place more suited to farm animals. Many of the
roofs were in such need of repair that plastic tarps were used to keep the rains out. It
is amazing how contented these people are with their simple life.

We decide to stay another night in this anchorage and eat at the La Paella restaurant on
another island near by. We radio La Paella and set reservations for the fixed menu Spanish
meal at 7PM; only one other party has booked, a slow night, the other party is a couple on
their honeymoon. We are told they are out of red wine and feel free to bring our own. They
do not have a dock so we must make a wet beach landing. The restaurant is the building on
the hill with the Spanish flag flying over it. The little cottage near the beach is rented
by the just married couple. Other yachties that we know recommended La Paella. They talk
about it is unique with a horny goat, friendly dog, good food and a wonderful
entertainment. The cost is fixed, 60 Tongan or $30 American per person.

We elect to go early to have a drink and watch the sunset; however, as we approach we
realize the sun will set on the other side of the island. When we arrive we are greeted by
the horny goat and friendly dog, a female golden retriever. The goat is clearly male and
equipped with horns that he is not shy about using to get your attention; this is our
first guess why he is called the horny goat. It is not until his aggressive affection for
the golden retriever reveals the real basis for the comment that we understand our
friends' comments. The golden retriever is quite the lady embarrassed by the goat's
advances and simply sits down leaving the goat standing there with his tongue hanging out.

The restaurant is run by 3 people, a couple which are both Spanish and a very large
muscular Tongan man. The woman warmly greets us at the door to a very rustic open air, one
room, wooden floor room with 4 or 5 tables that look out over the bay; the entire front
and side walls of the room opened up with raised shutters supported with tree limbs. The
entire back side of the room is a kitchen with a rock oven/grill with a wood burning fire.
The ambiance is like being invited into the Spanish couple's home for dinner. Even the
horny goat and golden retriever join in and hang out under foot under our table all
evening. At one point the goat rumbles the table and is disciplined by the large Tongan
man. A gentle sea breeze carries just a hint of smoke from a small circular fire built on
the ground outside. We are told this is to repel any mosquitoes that many try to bother us.

The meal is served in 4 courses including fresh baked bread, garlic gazpacho, cheese
crockets, Spanish enchilada and chicken/oyster paella. Following the meal the barefoot
Spanish man who looks like a Tennessee mountain man, some say like Charles Manson, with
full beard sings a series of classical Spanish songs playing guitar and chest mounted
harmonica at the same time. His bare foot pats the wooden floor so soundly that items
start to fall from a nearby table. The Spanish woman and the Tongan man join in with
accompanying musical instruments. The way the Spanish woman looks adoringly at the Spanish
man passionately performing for us says they have a special relationship. Her feet are
dancing to his song even though she is sitting down. All three of these people are unique
and 100% genuine.

Looking around on the walls of the restaurant are mementoes of their past in Spain. She
was a professional dancer and there are pictures of her at 7 years old dancing in Spain.
They tell us about their dreams for their restaurant and of the last hurricane in 2001.
The Spanish man says the rain was blowing through the floor boards of this restaurant
reaching the ceiling and falling again. We leave with good byes like we were leaving
someone's home. What an interesting evening; we will remember it for some time.

God Bless Bella Donna.

post

Saturday October 13, 2007
From Ant's report of Friday night in town, we did not miss much. The bars were quiet
compared to last week and many closed earlier than normal. On the radio net at 8:30 AM
they announce the delay of the women's kite board contest on Sunday, now it is going to be
held Monday if the wind blows.

Town is extremely active on Saturday morning, the businesses are open until noon then they
close until Monday morning. The locals take advantage of Saturday morning to do major
shopping. The streets are full of locals and yachties mixing as they hurry from
destination to destination. Locals sit or stand in front of businesses either catching up
on the local gossip or just people watching. The Bella Donna crew met at Tropical Treats
for smoothies, cappuccinos and muffins; John had his favorite, pie alamode. It's back to
Bella Donna and we prepare to depart.

Since it is our plan to sail today, we use the engines to lift anchor, but immediately
raise the main and Genoa. Under sail we accelerate to 8 knots down the Port of Refuge. We
must look good from shore as we generate considerably more speed than the boat that won
the race last night. We raise all sails in a cutter configuration as we glide down island
at between 9 and 10 knots. The water is very flat and the winds are out of the southeast
at 15 knots. These are some of the best sailing conditions we have had since the Bahamas.
Bella Donna is about as heavy as she gets with a full fuel load and provisions for the
coming passage. If we could lighten her up and with a few more knots of wind we may hit or
exceed the speed we saw in the Ionian on our way to Greece of 11 to 12 knots in seas that
were not flat. What amazes me is how seldom the conditions are just right for the perfect
sail as you spend your time sailing around the world. I will have to say this about Vava'u
Tonga, the sailing and anchorages here have to rank with the best in the world. They blow
away the Caribbean. The islands are more beautiful and the people are way friendlier.

After a three and a half hour sail we drop anchor near Ano Beach where we are to attend a
Tongan Feast at 6PM. At exactly 6 we make our way through coral heads in our dinghy to the
beach. Local craftsmen have laid out their handicraft; lots of mats, quilts, bowls, shell
jewelry and carved wooden things. Lots of Tongan children look like children the world
over throwing themselves head over heels into the water and swimming. The women are busy
cooking the feast in a brightly colored yellow tent. The men are warming up their musical
instruments circled around a large traditional kava serving bowl.

Slowly the music and the dancing become more organized, the sun sets and a lone flood
light aluminates an area in the middle of the circled feast guests. Young girls and boys
come out and line up ready to dance. A Tonga basket is placed in front of the dancers for
donations. The dancing is performed as one boy's dance followed by one girl's dance over
and over ending in a single dance by boys and girls. The girl's dances involve a lot of
very expressive hand movements with little motion of hips; it is very different from
Tahitian and Hawaiian dancing. The most talented of the 4 girls who probably was the
youngest had a smile that spread from ear to ear. You really got that she loved to perform
the dance. The boy's dance was war like and involved precision aggressive movements with a
wooden sword. Again the best dancer was also the youngest. At the end the men played music
everyone could dance to and locals came to invite each feast guest to dance.

Following the dancing we were asked to sit and enjoy Tongan food eating with just the
hands from food in bowls made from fruit and vegetable pods. First there was a slaw like
dish that had bits of shrimp and fish, very tasty. Little bundles tied with a bow like a
present were really roasted pig meat in taro leaves wrapped and steamed like presents.
Larger bulkier bundles wrapped in banana leaves were steamed dumplings. Thin slices of
fried fish were served on a large green leaf. Cross sections of Octopus were served in a
tasty sauce in a carved out melon. Finally something that looked like a cross between a
banana and a bread stick that also tasted like just that was served as bread and/or
"fork/spoon". All said and done the meal was good and was not too filling.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Friday October 12, 2007
As forecasted, bright sunshine greets us and is promised to last all day without rain.
This is the first full nice day since we got here 2 weeks ago. The plan is to go ashore
tonight and take in the Friday night activities. The kite board girls' competition is here
for an event on Sunday afternoon and many of the girls have arrived in town. Ant has had
the binoculars out. There is the regular Friday sailboat race put on by the Mermaid
Restaurant.

My plan is to first ride my bike south of town to explore the caves and pools at the south
end of the island. Then ride to the north end of the island to a lookout point to get a
picture of Bella Donna, the anchorage and town. The ride south goes quickly covering
familiar ground until the turn off where an unfamiliar road begins. First a paved road
passes through a neighborhood but soon turns to rock and dirt; a sign says caves and pools
are straight ahead. The road veers steeply upwards and becomes rockier. Soon no amount of
reasonable downshifting can make the pedaling easier. I get off my bike and push it as a
burden up the hill. I pass a rural house and a big Tongan man in just a lava lava without
a shirt says hello to me. At the top of the hill is a cemetery with recent looking
burials. A concrete wall is constructed behind a few of the sites each with a large
brightly covered quilt draped over it. This seems to be the Tongan custom.

Just beyond the cemetery a sharp cliff overlooks a gorgeous tidal pool some 100 feet
below. Much to my surprise a sign pointing over the cliff says cave and pools below. A
very poorly defined path zigzags down the cliff. Since I have come this far I negotiate
the first turns down the side of the cliff. I can hear young boys' voices echoing as if
coming from a cave below. I can see where they have discarded some things before
continuing on. To continue you must use foot and hand holds on a vertical section of
hillside. This is where my cave adventure ended. Obviously some local knowledge is
required to safely reach the cave.

Returning to my bicycle I ride through town north towards Mount Talau, a flat toped over
300 foot hill with almost vertical slopes. Again the paved street becomes little more than
a dirt and rock trail. Soon even the bright sun is lost in the jungle canopy. Many tall
palm trees do a good job of hiding the sky; large dense green growth fills in under and
between the palms to a height well above eye level. The heat and humidity are intense; the
insect populations thrive in this place. I forgot my mosquito repellant.

The path is flat now, but because of the heavy rains we have had for days it is very
muddy. I dismount the bike electing to walk on thick green ground cover to buffer my feet
and bike tires from the mud. The vertical slopes of Mount Talau rise just a few yards from
the right side of the trail. Blending well almost reclaimed by the jungle is a sign,
"Mount Talau Park and Nature Walk", just what I was looking for. I chain my bike to a palm
tree and start making my way up a steep trail up the vertical slope with my camera to try
for the perfect shot. All goes well for 5 or 10 minutes; the trail then starts a long
steep muddy climb up to a point I can only imagine. There is a very long skid mark on the
muddy slope where a previous hiker took a slide. The skid tracks disappear into thick
jungle canopy below. The guide book did say beware of the climb after a rain. So I hate to
report failure to accomplish both my adventure goals; there was some satisfaction attached
with the try.

Bed time happened early, 8PM. No energy for the big Friday night in town.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Thursday October 11, 2007
Today it is supposed to stop raining, yea. We have checked with the routers concerning our passage from Tonga to New Zealand and the lows are continuing to create the dreaded southwest winds that would mean bashing into the sea. There are no weather windows possible into next week, so we wait, but the flight home forces a departure from Tonga by October 19 or we will fly home from Tonga through Auckland and John will make the passage first chance after our departure. We decide to spend the time waiting for weather window in Vava'u as it has the best facilities for yachties.

We break anchor at 9AM and head back to Port of Refuge to top off our fuel tanks so we will be ready to leave if the weather window suddenly opens up. We decide to put out a fishing line on our way back as the waters have churned with feeding tuna. For days we have seen large flocks of birds swirling around the feedings to gather the bits of flesh floating in the water. As soon as we put out fishing lines out, we see nothing but calm water. Later in the day we do see some signs of fish, but sadly no catch.

The fueling people radioed us to see if we were on time. We assured them that we would be at the dock on time for the fuel truck to deliver to us. We arrive half an hour early and tie up at the dock and transfer fuel from port to starboard tank until the starboard tank is full. This way we only have to fill the port tank which is next to the dock. At 1PM the truck did not show. John found the fuel truck driver waiting asleep in his truck for someone to open the gate so he could approach Bella Donna.

We are once again close to town so I decide to take a long hike south of town. I climbed from the Moorings dock to the main road. I noticed that bright red and white banners lined the sides of the road. Houses and Businesses were sporting ribbons, bows and flowers. Obviously this was a special day, maybe a holiday. As I walked up the first hill, students from the University of the Pacific were walking in the opposite direction into town sporting very light blue lava lavas, both the men and the women. It turns out a Royal Princess visited the town today.

I walked past the University of the Pacific and followed more students in light blue lava lavas as they made their daily journey to their homes south of town. I walk about 2 miles thinking the students must live closer to their school; they do not, some are still walking as I turn around. I walk through a little village, Toula, the only business in the village is a refreshment stand on the side of the road. There are a couple of resorts which look more like a Tongan bed and breakfast. A man is selling tee-shirts and wood carvings in front of one of these resorts. The only other tourist I saw was a Scottish university aged lass touring Tonga with a camera who asked me how far it was to town.

Little children the ages of my grandchildren are playing near the side of the road. They all seem curious what an old strange looking man is doing so far from town. They wave and say bye. I think bye must be a Tongan greeting of some sort, but I have not found out what it means.

On the morning radio net we heard an advertisement for Chao, an Italian restaurant owned by Franco. Peter and Virginia from Sail Dance tried Chao and recommended it to us one night. It is a beautiful starry night in Tonga as crew takes the night out in town.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Tuesday October 9, 2007
Early morning we weigh anchor and head off south to an anchorage documented by Moorings to
be near some interesting sights. It is nice being near the second largest town, but it is
time to venture out and experience what Tongan life is like without so much outside
influence. I would have to say so far we are surprised by the beauty of Tonga; actually we
are told we should refer to this as The Kingdom of Tonga. Referring to just Tonga you are
thought to be talking about a place in Africa.

Tonga is made up of 4 island groupings from north to south covering about 300+ miles. They
are Niuas, Vava'u, Ha'apai and Tongatapu where the capital, airport and largest city,
Nuku'alofa, is located. Most yachts use Vava'u to check in and that is what we did. The
charter company Moorings is located here; the best cruising and anchorages are here. We
all believe this area to be one of the best cruising areas we have seen. There are a few
large islands and many small islands many rounded rock with a lip like shore covered in
lush green vegetation. Each little island resembles a green frosted cup cake floating with
bottom half submerged.

We anchored off the island of Kapa. The crystal clear water is boiling with schools of
fish as sea birds are feeding on anything left floating in the water. Skin divers are out
with spear guns gathering fish for dinner. In the dinghy we set out for adventure. First
we located Swallows Cave. Locating the entrance on the rock wall shore of Kapa Island,
John carefully drives the dinghy inside. It would be dark inside if it were not for a beam
of sunlight entering through a big round 10 foot in diameter hole in the top of the cave.
Beyond the light the cave continues towards the interior of the island in complete
darkness. White "Swallows", actually they are white rumped swiftlets, sleeping in the dark
hanging to the roof of the cave come flying out and over us. The only thing that tarnishes
this experience is a little graffiti thoughtlessly left by a visitor.

Next we took the dinghy to a village on Kapa Island. On a beautiful beach lined bay a
crude concrete dock and a flag pole mark the village. We follow a muddy dirt path that
meandered through several very basic houses, barns and pastures with pigs, chickens and
horses. Tongans share all they have and produce, so these farm animals probably support
all who live in the village. Along the way we meet several teenage children who
immediately take an interest in us; it is probably not often that strangers like us visit.
They speak pretty good English telling us their name and asking us for ours. They also
want to know where we are from. We ask permission to walk through their village. I am not
sure they completely understand our question, but they do answer yes. Deep into the
village the path climbs a hill and passes what is clearly a community meeting place. It is
a large one room white building with a Sky Pacific satellite dish on the roof. There is a
large screen TV inside and several locals are sitting on the floor watching rugby
highlights. When an older man steps out, John asks permission again to walk through their
village. We get another yes. When the man learns from John that we too like to watch rugby
and that John is South African, the man beams a smile from ear to ear. In the background
you can hear a generator running to power the TV, and then we notice that each house has a
solar panel that probably charges a battery so they can have light at night.

We hurry back to Bella Donna; it is about to rain again.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Monday October 8, 2007
Sunshine, dark clouds then a 15 minute downpour over and over again is the experience of
the day. Our goal for today is to complete some housekeeping chores around Bella Donna and
attend an informal gathering at the Aquarium of skippers and crews of the sailing vessels
headed for New Zealand at 3PM in the afternoon. The radio net mentioned that someone who
made the passage last year and who now is a New Zealand resident wants to answer any
questions we have.

One of the best chores to do on the boat on a day like today is scrub her down. If you are
lucky you can scrub an area and the periodic rain will wash away the soap suds with the
dirt leaving a clean surface when the sun dries up all the rain. I feel like singing the
kids song, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider Crawled Up The Water Spout".

Time flies and it is 3PM before we know it. The man answering our questions turns out to
be an American from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was the store manager for West Marine
there. He and his wife took off in their sail boat making it through the Panama Canal,
down South America and across the South Pacific to Tonga then New Zealand last year. As
many cruising yachties do, they decided to stay in New Zealand and work for a while.

The yacht crews at the meetings represent a wide spectrum. The smallest sailing yacht is a
22 foot sloop that two young men sailed from Denmark. The yacht with the least equipment
is a small German mono hull with a VHF radio and charts. Almost without saying Bella Donna
is at the high end of the spectrum. The crossing of the South Pacific to this point has
been easy for everyone; the fair winds are very predicable and dependable. Seldom if ever
has anyone had to sail to weather which is uncomfortable in any yacht. The conditions from
Tonga to New Zealand change as highs and lows roll out of the Tasman Sea; pushed by the
southern hemisphere jet stream they dominate the weather we will face. The idea is to use
a weather router who tells you when to leave and what route to take. We are using 2 of the
best routers. The other thing that helps us is we are motor sailing the less than 1200
miles and should complete the passage in 6 days. Some of the smaller yachts could easily
take 10 days or more as they can not motor sail very far.

It is spring in New Zealand; the summer sailing season is about to start. It starts slow,
most of the locals start their vacations in mid December for Christmas then high season
lasts into late January. There will be some great cruising in Bella Donna's future.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Sunday October 7, 2007
Yesterday I rested to let my body throw off a bad cold. I was hard because the day was
outstanding. In fact the sun almost never hid behind a cloud; the afternoon was very warm,
too warm; however, at sunset it quickly cooled off.

Today we left the Bella Donna at 7:30 AM to go into town and watch the big Rugby match
between New Zealand and France. Many people in the anchorage are passionate about rugby
and there are sure to be numbers of them routing for one team or the other. Many of the
yachts are owned by New Zealanders on their way home. In smaller numbers, but still
noteworthy, are the French yachts that are summering in New Zealand having wintered in
French Polynesia.

The Mango Restaurant, a covered deck on the Moorings Harbor, is offering breakfast and the
game starting at 8 AM for 20 Tongan Dollars, $10 American. John sits us down in Bella
Donna's salon with coffee at 7 AM to educate us on how the game of rugby is played. It has
been several years since I watched a rugby match. We get to Mangos just before the match
starts and the fans already have their game face on.

A New Zealand group in front of us are praising their team and extolling the strengths of
its key players. In fact in the first half, the New Zealand team jumps out to a 13 to 0
lead. The French start the game with bottles of Champagne and glasses for everyone. They
have a kind of quiet relaxed confidence in their team. However, when the French finally
score, some young French lasses stand on their chairs making French body movements to
celebrate showing intense French support for their team. In the end the French won 20 to
18. Thanks to John's quick rugby lesson the game was enjoyable. In querying some in the
crowd about understanding American football, I think they should get a lesson before
watching the game. The typical comment was, "I think I saw the Supper Bowl once but I did
not understand it".

It is Sunday and the town is almost completely shut down. The few businesses that are open
are owned and run by expatriates from USA, New Zealand or Australia. However, the Aquarium
run by San Franciscans Lisa and Ben is closed. We sit on a bench on their deck and use
their internet service.

Back to Bella Donna for lunch we put my bike together. I had broken it down, packed it and
put it on the plane with me from Hawaii. To my surprise it takes only minutes to assemble
it. Later we venture into town for bike ride and walk. Still recovering from whatever
illness I have I took an easy ride 30 minutes south of town while the others walked. There
are a surprising number of English speaking retired folks from other countries living in
Tonga; you see them living in the countryside outside of town. The cost of living is
relatively low, the local people are very friendly and the pace of life is slow. However,
outsiders are not allowed to own property, no real estate investing here.

There are Tongans taking a Sunday walk along the way. Many make eye contact and say hello
to you as you pass; they seem to be even friendlier on Sunday. Back in town, the church
music and song can be heard as another of the many Sunday activities has begun.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Friday October 5, 2007
A sunny day finds lots of boats in Port of Refuge. Many of our cruising friends whose paths have crossed ours since Panama have shown up. This is probably the peak week for yachties waiting for a weather window to New Zealand. We get daily reports and the winter storm weather still lingers there. One friend used to sail on the USA east coast and says this bunching up of yachties reminds him of May in the Bahamas. Crews sit around discussing the weather and selecting the right time to cross the Gulf Stream on their way to the north for the summer. Some wildcat will go for it only to radio back that he is hammered by big steep seas caused by northerly current combined with a stiff southerly wind. It is kind of like the Donner Party huddled in their covered wagons waiting to cross the Sierra Nevada, but they didn't have weather satellites in the 1800s.

At around 8:30 every morning on VHF radio channel 16 Port of Refuge conducts the NET for yachties and port businesses to share information and advertisements. Each morning a different business controls who gets to talk; this morning it is Lisa from the Aquarium. Friday in Tonga is much like Friday in an American city. The work week is over and its time to let loose, relax and have fun; it's time to party. Lisa says The Aquarium will have belly dancers courtesy of a visiting female yacht crew. Every Friday night they have a "beer can yacht race" starting and ending in front of the Mermaid Bar and Restaurant. The race starts with a captains meeting at the Mermaid at 4 PM.

This being the first sunny good weather, John and Ant set out to repair the outrigger canoe John bought in Tahiti. It was lashed down to tight to the deck on passage. The fiberglass hull is almost paper thin and it suffered a hairline crack on passage. A trip to shore for sand paper is called for so I prepared to go ashore to get Tonga Dollars, go to the pharmacy for my cold, buy a Tongan tee-shirt and eventually have lunch. On the way we stop to talk to a friend who is sailing around the world with his two young, 5-8, daughters. His wife had died in a tragic boat accident two years ago. He decided to home school his girls himself and continue to sail. Other families and friends will join him to help on passages.

The town is buzzing with activity. The farmers market is in full swing. So many cruiser friends stop us to talk it seems to take us for ever to get the one block up the hill to the bank. The Tongan locals are extremely friendly. You have to spend time with them to see the friendliness. They seem to ignore you as they never look you in the eye and talk in their native tong among themselves. They don't look you in the eye because to a Tongan you only look into the eyes of another person when you want to show aggression. If a Tongan wants to talk to you he will stand near to you and wait patiently until you have time to address him. The Tongan speaks very good English as it is taught in school and often spoken as a second language. They are extremely polite and warm in how they address you. Little children say younger than 6 or 7 are quick to wave, look you in the eye and greet you often with a hello; they haven't picked up the adult ways yet. As you talk more to a Tongan you feel like you have almost an intimate relationship that normally takes a lot of time - days, weeks or months - to develop in our culture. The Tongan can accomplish this without becoming vulnerable. I think their deeply religious nature and traditions make this possible.

God Bless Bella Donna

POST

Thursday October 4, 2007
I did not write an entry for yesterday; it was like a lazy Sunday even though it was
Wednesday. It rained all day and we never saw the sun. Everyone had their project to work
on. John and Ant worked on Bella Donna who is aging a little bit. Just as you finish one
oil change, filter change, cleaning or repair there are new chores on your list. John says
it is like the Golden Gate Bridge; just as you finish cleaning and painting at one end you
must start on the other end. Today they were cleaning the engines and the engine rooms. We
missed the weather report this morning, but caught the report this morning. The problem is
the convergence zone that always exists near the equator where warm moist air meets much
cooler air resulting in clouds and rain. The seasons determine where you are likely to
find it. In our case the jet stream placed it right over us. The weather people say it
will move out of our area tomorrow. Actually it reminds me very much of the weather we
left last week in Hawaii. Anyway it looks like the weather today will be cloudy and rainy
as well. In the afternoon the rain subsides a little, just a mist.

Today we will not let the rain stop us. It is off to town we go in search of exercise,
shopping and just any adventure we can find. Since mobile phones do not work I take a VHF
handheld radio as Deborah takes me to the Aquarium dock next to the Moorings charter boat
company. My goal is to start at the east end of town and walk west to near Mount Talau,
west of town. From town it is supposed to take 2.5 hours round trip to the top, about a
thousand feet. I will not go to the top because of the guides' advice against it in the
rain; there are flat rocks that become slippery. The waterfront street from Moorings to
Saint Josephs Cathedral is know as Hala Lupe, the 'Way of Doves', as female prisoners were
forced to build the road their sighs sounded like doves. Saint Josephs Cathedral is large
for a poor modest town; sitting high above the street above the Port of Refuge and near
the Moorings, it is often used by returning yachties. The waterfront is made up of time
and weather worn structures like most places. Most of the restaurant-bars are on the water
side, most of the churches and businesses are on the inland side. There is a Kava Room
serving kava juice and cheap beer. Kava is a tea like drink made from a local plant that
is a member of the pepper family it numbs the lips and tongue first and then slows down
the rest of the body including the brain and especially speech. Men sit and drink large
quantities of kava then talk for hours about what they had for lunch yesterday. Kava is
not a narcotic and is not controlled by law. I wonder about driving under the influence.

The town is teaming with activities. Yachties are wondering around shopping, locals are
scurrying around making what they have available for sale and school children are
everywhere as school has just let out. The school children are neat and clean. The girls
wear the same dress, obviously a school uniform. The boys mostly wear the lava lava all of
the same cloth and color as the girls' dresses. A few boys wear a ta'ovala, a pandanus
mat, around their waist so that it looks like a mini skirt over whatever else they are
wearing. The ta'ovala is worn by men going to work, church and all formal occasions
especially when meeting nobility. It is the Tongan equivalent to a man's tie. Maybe the
few school boys wearing one do so to make social acceptable the lack of a clean lava lava.

The businesses and the activity soon end as we walk west. Suddenly there is rural acreage
with modest weather worn homes on it. Large pigs roam freely into the street. Sprinkled
near each home is the family burial plot, a custom we also noted in Samoa. Soon the paved
road ends as we pass the Tonga Defense Force, some kind of military site. The road is now
hard packed wet slippery dirt. In the middle of the street a group of school girls still
in uniform dresses are playing some game I did not recognize. Across the street was the
town rugby field identified in the guides but overgrown knee high; I can't believe they
have played a serious ruby match here for some time. A group of school boys are playing
rugby. Except for an over inflated looking ball and passing that goes backwards the boys
looked like American boys playing football.

I walk until the return trip will take 40 minutes or so and turn around. The dirt road has
gone from two lanes to one and then to just a path one could hardly call a road. The
packed dirt was softer and the rains meant slipping, sliding and getting muddy. On the way
back I walked on the right side of the road as Tongans drive on the left and I could see
cars coming on my side of the road. I noticed a car approaching me and I stood to the side
to let it by. The car slowed and paused oddly just as it came close and then very
precisely like a surgeon with a sharp knife passed just next to me. As I looked down into
the window I saw two very young little girls by themselves in the front seat. The driver
had to be less than 7 years old. Both girls had a look on their face like I had caught
them sneaking candy. They drove expertly on as I stood stunned. No wonder the guide book
said bikes are better than a rent car as many drivers in Tonga are untrained.

I had timed my walk perfectly; it started to rain harder just as I reached the Aquarium
where I stopped for socializing and a double cappuccino. I offered to take everyone out to
dinner but the wind and the unsettled weather meant someone had to stay on board. Deborah
stayed having an evening to herself while the guys went out in the darkness, light rain
and wind to search for adventure, drinks and dinner. We walked along the shore through a
network of crudely attached restaurant-bar seaside covered decks to an adequate fish
dinner. We engaged in meaningless conversation after consuming not kava, but our
controlled substance of choice.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Tuesday October 2, 2007
Monday only lasted until 9:30 AM and then suddenly it was Tuesday. We feel like we have
robbed of 24 hours although we will get it back when we fly home from New Zealand on
October 28th.

The morning started as the day before. Bella Donna is rocking from side to side slipping
over the swells as they come at our port side. It is raining; bad weather has set in. Sure
enough the weather forecast says there is a big storm between Tonga and New Zealand.

We pull into Vava'u to a place called Rescue Bay. This is a large very well protected bay.
As we make our way into the bay the sea state becomes flat. For the first time since we
left on Saturday Bella Donna is planted firmly in a horizontal position. However, it will
be several hours before our bodies quit swaying and the affects of almost seasickness
subsides. A radio call to authorities tells us we are to go to the town dock for customs
and agricultural check in. In no time at all there are Tongan officials aboard Bella
Donna. They usually confiscate all fruit and vegetables, but we don't have much and they
let us keep the small amount that we do have. We are told we can go anchor and dinghy into
town to show our passports to immigration.

The bay is deep, over 100 feet in most places. It takes us a lot of time to find a good
spot shallow enough to anchor safely. With a storm on its way, the last thing we want to
have happen is to drag the anchor in the middle of the night. There are several boats in
the anchorage and tied to moorings. Many of them we have seen along the way starting in
Panama where we met the crew on Vivid. Another boat, Southern Cross, is planning to go for
New Zealand about the same time we are. John met some of their temporary crew when he went
to New Zealand to fetch our new prop.

Rescue Bay is well protected and even provides 11 cyclone moorings that are used during
the feared cyclone, hurricane, during the summer months starting in November. In 1777
captain James Cook landed in the middle of the Tongan Island group, Ha'apai, looking for a
protected harbor. Chief Finau told Captain Cook that there were no protected anchorages to
the north in Vava'u. Cook sailed south through difficult convoluted reefs. Upon reaching
Tongatapu in the south Cook learned he was deceived and Vava'u had the best anchorage in
the kingdom.

We went ashore to find a lazy typical Tongan Village. One main road makes its way along
the shoreline. The village looks a lot like the Caribbean. The Moorings has a base here
where they charter sailboats mostly to New Zealanders, but you do meet people from several
different countries. We spent most of our time near Moorings at a couple of bars/coffee
shops/cafe that also serve food, seems most if not all bars in Tonga are also restaurants.
Like I said the bars are very colorful and simple like in the Caribbean. They have names
like Aquarium, Mango, Mana'ia, Mermaid, Ciao, Salesi's, Tropicana, Tongan Bob's, Dancing
Rooster, Sovereign Residence, Pangai Villa, Tongan Beach, Mala Island, Mounu Island, Blue
Lagoon, Treasure Island, La Paella, Ika Lahi, Crow's Nest, La Vela, Paradise Hotel,
Puataukanave, and Compass Rose.

We had cappuccino at the Aquarium owned by Ben and Lisa. After leaving San Francisco
aboard s/v Waking Dream in 2002, owners Ben & Lisa saw many pacific ports between North
America and Tonga, but fell in love with Vava'u and have been here since 2004. Having a
pretty good idea of what the cruising community likes to do while in port, they've set up
a few small businesses. The Aquarium Cafe and Internet is at the southern end of the town.
Aquarium has awesome espresso coffees (While in Central America they found some great
coffee, 100% Costa Rican Arabica!) They also have thick & yummy milkshakes, fresh
smoothies, great meals and more. Be sure to ask about their new Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

Following veggie appetizers in the fly bridge, we sat down to grilled ribs with a glass of
good southern Australian Shiraz, and then enjoyed the movie Fracture.

God Bless Bella Donna.

POST

Sunday September 30, 2007
There is not a lot to say about today. The seas are still 6 to 8 feet and coming right on
our port beam. We have had showers, squalls and cloudy sunshine. The temperature has
dropped so that at times I have worn a light rain jacket. The wind is 20 to 28 knots out
of the east and our SOG, speed over ground, is 7 to 8 knots with port engine at 1800 RPM
and reefed Genoa on a port tack. We will be in Vavau tomorrow morning, Tuesday, about 9:30
AM; we will miss Monday except for the time it takes us to anchor.

We have not seen any whales yet. One small one came up to the stern of the Bella Donna
before we arrived. And a large whale jumped several times near Bella Donna in Tongan
waters. The fishing here is terrific thus the tuna factories in Pago Pago. The sea is too
rough to fish, but we do pass a patch of ocean about 200 yards in diameter that is
"boiling" with a large school of large tuna feeding on a large school of smaller fish. I
momentarily wish I had put at least one tuna line out.

God Bless Bella Donna.