HAWKEYE HAPPENINGS, May, 2008

HAWKEYE HAPPENINGS, May 2008
The cyclone season in Tonga turned out to be quite benign of which we are thankful. The one scare that we had, was good practice for us. We headed into Nieafu and got on our cyclone mooring and prepared the boat. This means taking off all canvas (dodger, biminy, etc) sails, safety gear, jerry jugs and everything else that we can. Once HAWKEYE was put to bed and her mooring lines secured with anti-chafe gear, we headed to shore with our friends, Matt and Judy. They had gone through the same exercises preparing their boat, ELSEWHERE. After securing our dinghies in a protected spot, we headed to a motel for the rest of the afternoon and night. That evening we watched the wind and rain and played cards and visited. The cyclone never came and the next day, things looked better. DAMION had moved on out to sea and blew itself out. We chalked the experience up to practice in preparedness and discussed what else we should have done. We, on HAWKEYE, had made up a “to do” cyclone preparedness list the year before and we referred to it which was a big help.
Christmas was spent out at beautiful Tapana anchorage with turkey and most of the trimmings. Pumpkin pie was squash pie and there was no celery for the stuffing but we all enjoyed it anyway. Judy and Linda were able to score a very expensive turkey in town but it was worth it and we were able to get several meals from it. New Year’s Eve was spent in the same location and “early” as we are just across the International Date Line and welcomed in the New Year a whole day before you in the states.
In January, several of the yachts that had been in Tonga for over a year, received letters from the Head of Customs stating they must either import their boats and pay a tax of about 20% of their boat’s value or leave the country. This put us all in an uproar with lots of discussion as to what to do. We had been in Tonga over a year but did not receive the letter. Apparently the day they did the survey of boats in the area, we were hauled out painting HAWKEYE’S bottom and doing some other maintenance needed when out of the water. The Customs People neglected to see us on the hard. They did know we were around, however, as our new rigging came in and we spent quite a bit of time trying to get it out of customs. We ended up having to pay duty, which they promised us we would get back before we left Tonga. Yeah, sure! We wrote a letter of complaint to the Head of Customs in the capitol and received a letter back assuring us we would receive the duty paid back when we left Tonga.
A meeting was called in Nieafu of all boats that had received the letter and anyone else interested in the subject. There was a good turnout and the Head of Customs was there. He is a Kiwi that Tonga hired to take over the problems in customs and clean it up. He talked a great length and understood our problem and was eager to work with us. By the end of the day, a document was presented to each boat owner stating that their boat was exempt under the old rules and that these boats could stay in Tonga forever if the owners chose. It was a great relief to all of us.
John spent a week up and down the mast installing the new rigging, roller furling, and then replaced the lifelines. We were finally ready to leave Tonga but it was still cyclone season so we enjoyed the time waiting for a safe weather window to head to Fiji. Linda was able to do some diving of the major dive sites in the area with one of the local dive businesses whenever he had a space on his dive boat. One day was spent with Ben and Lisa the owners of Aquarium Café/Internet and Kart Safaris. We covered several miles of beach, bush, and forest in the Karts. If you ever get to Nieafu, it is a must to do.
The Vava’u area is quite small and word travels quickly. Everyone knew that we were waiting to head to Fiji and one day a small boat used to go between villages came up and a palangi (white person) told us that he and his wife had brought a young Fijian fellow to Tonga with them and that he needed to get back to Fiji as his visa was running out. They told us Tom was an orphan and had lived in a detention center for five years, as there was no facility for orphan boys in Fiji, only orphan girls. They said he was a nice boy and that he would really like the experience of sailing to Fiji and they were hard pressed to come up with the airfare to send him back. We agreed under some trepidation. Tom is 16, had never been to sea, knew nothing about sailing and we had not met him. As the days wore on, we wanted to back out but couldn’t figure a way to get out of it gracefully.
The day before we were to leave, we finally met Tom. There were a number of people there to “witness” the event. We had little time to talk to Tom separately. There was another Fijian man there that had crewed on a boat from Fiji and he did most of the talking. I think he was doing an assessment of us out for Tom. We ended up checking out that day with Tom on our crew list. He seemed like a nice fellow to us and there were so many people concerned about the situation, mostly on Tom’s side that we decided it would be an experience and hopefully a good one. He had a good attitude and a winning smile.
While going through the checking out process, we were told we had 12 hours to leave the country. Our plan had been to check out because our visas were expiring within the next few days and so was Tom’s, spending a day or two getting the boat ready and then head out. It would give us time to get to know Tom and for him to get comfortable on HAWKEYE. Customs finally gave us 24 hours to leave the country. If we had any difficulties, we were to see them and they would decide if they would allow us to stay longer. Our next step was to get back that duty we had paid thinking this might be our excuse, as they would probably give us a voucher, check, or some obscure reason to not give the money back. We went to the Treasury Office under much trepidation. Customs had assured us that Treasury had all the necessary papers. Yeah, sure… The two palangis walk into the Treasury and they immediately said “John Kelly?” John said, “Yes.” The lady walked over to a drawer and handed us a stack of bills. We looked at each other and couldn’t believe it! We were now committed to leave in less than 24 hours.
We had an appointment to get duty free fuel at 3 p.m. and Tom and his friend, Joe, wanted to see the boat so we took them along to the fuel dock with us. The truck was there ready to fill the tanks and asked us for our duty free paper. What duty free paper??? No one told us we needed a special paper….. John sat with the boat, Joe, Tom and the fuel guy in the hot sun and Linda headed off to our favorite Customs Office and explained the situation. She was told that the paper needed to be requested at the time of checking out and to just go pay the duty and leave. Excuse me, but what will it take to get the duty free form? Linda was not leaving without it. Well, there is a new form and an old form and you are the first boat to leave under this new ruling and we don’t know what to do. Give me the two forms and I will fill them both out and then you can use whichever form you choose but we need to get our fuel now and they won’t give it to us unless we have the form. After much staring out to sea by the Customs Agent and Linda sitting looking at him waiting for the forms, the forms were copied and she filled them out. Finally the forms were signed, stamped and examined by others but, after 45 minutes, she had that necessary form in her hand. The Customs agent had told her earlier, “How do I know if the fuel is going to your boat?” “Well, come on down and see them put it in the boat.” It was now close to their quitting time and he finally gave his blessing and Linda went running down the dock with the form. By the time she got there, the guy had already filled the tanks and gerry cans and was about to pull away except Linda had the money to pay the bill. We had turned in all our Tongan money except for the exact amount to pay for the fuel and to have a nice dinner that night. What a fiasco but it turned out o.k. We think that Customs just wanted us out of there and hoped we would never return. HAWKEYE had been the “first boat” under the new rules in everything we did and we were sure tired of hearing it, as were they in trying to figure out what to do.
That evening we had quite a few laughs with our friends Steve and Tess over dinner. We had become good friends over the last 17 months. They run the “Crow’s Nest” restaurant in Nieafu and we ate there quite a bit and bought their wonderful breads, cinnamon rolls and bagels. Tess, who is Indian, gave Linda some cooking classes and Steve taught her how to make Bagels. We had had several meals and get togethers with them over our time in Tonga and we will miss them. We also had a sad goodbye with Larry and Sheri who have the Ark Gallery and Orion Charters in Tapana. Linda would snorkel with Sheri each day and we became good friends.
The next morning Tom was their bright and early. We set out an hour before our deadline of 11 a.m. We were told we could be fined $10,000 p’angas ($5,000 USD) if we were caught in Tonga after our deadline. On the way out, while still within the reef, we decided to keep going instead of going to an anchorage and taking a chance of being caught and fined. John got the wind vane rigged, John and Tom got the dinghy up on deck and we headed out the pass, next stop, Fiji.
We had light winds and calm seas. Tom did great until that evening when he became seasick. Linda gave him a Sturgeron tablet and that seemed to do the trick. Thank goodness. Tom was a delight. He was eager to help in any way but would ask for direction, which was great. We tried to show him the workings of the boat, navigation, safety and as much as he could absorb. Tom was very polite and a joy to be around. His smile was infectious. He LOVED the Ipods and we had to keep one on the charger at all times. He was a little unsure as he saw Tonga fade in the distance and only water and kept saying, “When will we see land again?” He seemed to relax and enjoy the trip but was excited when we saw the first of the islands of Fiji. He talked of his family. His mom had left his father 8 years ago with the two youngest children and he didn’t know where she was. He and two younger sisters lived with the father until he was killed and then the girls went to an orphan facility for girls and he went to the detention facility. He is very close to his sisters and was really looking forward to seeing them again. At 16, he couldn’t stay at the detention facility any longer and it was then that he met Stefan and Heather and they invited him to experience Tonga. He had worked making furniture in Suva and that was where he was headed upon returning to Fiji.
Our 425-mile crossing from Tonga to Fiji was quite pleasant with gentle winds and calm seas until the third day. We could see the island where we were going in the distance and were to be arriving the next morning. We had managed to dodge squalls until then. That afternoon, we had one come up on us that was a large cell. We shortened sail and for about an hour, John took the helm and we surfed down waves under 30-35 knots of wind spotting 3 waterspouts (one was a double). Thank goodness none touched down to the water and were not that close to us. Later, that same day, we had another squall but with no rain. We had to head off in the wrong direction for a while until it finally settled down and then we ran out of wind. We reached the dreaded, very large reef at the Savusavu point an hour before dawn. There was supposed to be a light that could be seen for miles. The light was very faint and we decided to head back out to sea for an hour until daybreak. At first light, we headed around the reef and into Savusavu and picked up a mooring. On the way in, we saw a ferry leaving. It was the ferry Tom was supposed to catch for Suva. He was very disappointed to have missed it as we had heard there was only one ferry a week.
After Quarantine, Customs and Immigration, and Agriculture all came out to the boat and checked us in (all very friendly), the guy from Agriculture told us there was another ferry going that evening and took Tom down to the ferry office to get his ticket. Before he left that evening, we went to shore and had a wonderful curry meal and said our goodbyes to Tom. John also made up a certificate for him and Linda got his e-mail address and sent him pictures of the trip. Having Tom aboard for the crossing turned out to be a wonderful experience for all of us. Would we do it again? Probably not; we were lucky and don’t want to push our luck!
We will be returning to the states on May 22 in time to see granddaughters graduate from high school and to spend some quality time with family and friends. Our return to Fiji is scheduled for August 14.
In the meantime, we are exploring the different anchorages along the southeast coast of Vanua Levu. Right now we are in the company of two other boats. A few days ago, we visited a small village and presented savusavu (kava) and asked for permission to walk up the creek to the hot springs. We had an enjoyable hike through the rainforest and a nice sit in the warm pools and the creek when it got too hot. We met people in the village (all with the last name of Pickering) and were invited back. While walking back to through the village, we met a fellow walking up the gravel road who had been to a funeral in another village. Linda’s camera had quit working after a snorkel earlier in the day and she missed a great photo opportunity as the fellow had two taro roots in one hand a cow leg over his shoulder (including fur and hoof). He told us that gifts of food are given to those people who attend the funeral and feast in honor of the person who died. He was bringing it home for his mother to cook.
Yesterday was spent on another boat swapping software, information on anchorages, and waypoints and tracks of where each boat had been. The reefs are many and treacherous in Fiji and we all try to help each other out. There are always new things to share in the cruising world.
Linda & John
P.S. We got up to Viani Bay and met some of the Fisher family. Jack Fisher took us out to the famour Rainbow Reef for snorkeling and on an inland hike to a small settlement. We look forward to our return to Fiji so that we can dive the White Wall, The Purple Wall and The Zoo. Our time in Fiji is limited by the government, which is now run by the military since last year’s coup. There is so much to see and do here and so little time! We may end up sailing to the country of Fortuna, which is a two-day trip over, and two days back just to be able to stay in Fiji longer.