Tallship Sailing Holidays | South Pacific Sailing Adventure

Voyage Log V334 Samoa-Tonga #part 4

Purser Marsha's account of their 16 night tropical trip

"On the morning of July 4th Jaap and I went ashore and walked the 4km in the heat to find the new government buildings. Next to the high school, which is a bit further inland, stood 4 small one room, bare studded buildings. The 2nd one in was customs and immigration. Once again we met with Sia. This is her office and wonderful warm hugs were exchanged. The woman in charge of Customs is also Immigration and she was lovely and very quick. I met up with Rob and Rex at the bank (just next door to Customs) who had hired bicycles for the day from some locals. I wasn’t overly keen to walk back to the wharf in the mid-day sun so Rob drive me back on his bike. With me squealing away on the handle bars and Rob huffing and puffing Rex was singing away beside us with all sorts of tunes about bicycles. After a few close calls with some pigs running here and there we made it to the wharf just in time for the 12.30 boat run. Just after lunch we had a swim call and the permanent crew who were on cooled off before preparing the ship for the evening festivities.

The ship hosted a BBQ on shore Monday night. A few of us remained on board and 1st mate Toby made us a really yummy dinner. The people on shore ate a ton of food I’m sure and socialized with locals, puppies, pigs and horses. After dinner the Kava was brought out and our crew had their first taste of muddy, chalky drink. By 10 everyone was back on board and everyone slept really soundly.
I’d like to thank the people of Niuatoputapu. You’re friendliness is outstanding. You have a beautiful home and you’re strength in survival is incredible.

Another huge thanks to Sia and her family for helping us out and taking care of us all. Thanks for putting up some of the crew for the night. It was really wonderful to have you and your boys onboard for supper on Sunday night. I’m glad they got the chance to explore the ship.
On Tuesday morning we raised anchor and motored out through the pass with all the permanent crew in their same places as when we came in through the pass.
Sia had mentioned that the island of Hihifu, within sight of Niuatoputapu, was an excellent hike and that if we wanted to her father-in-law would guide us through the thick forest to the top of the 600m volcanic cone. On the way to our achorage at Hihifu we spotted a pilot whale and a small minke whale. We didn’t know then it wasn’t the last time we’d see them.

I was the lucky boat driver today and the pass into the beach was a bit dodgy. With a good bow watch and good timing I made 2 boat runs full of eager hikers. A few people decided not to hike and just hangout in the village for the afternoon. The hike to the top took a lot longer than originally thought but everyone who came back down said it was totally worth it. The trees were thick and the climb was steep without much to hold onto but apparently at the top was a super cool crater with awesome mud for sliding in and a rainforest inside.
Those of us who stayed onboard went for a few swims in the 15meter crystal clear turquoise waters. Jaap took his snorkel and tried to get us some lobster but came up empty handed. I made popcorn as a treat for Jaap, Geoff, Liz, John, Chloe and myself. Liz helped Chloe, from Scotland, make a delicious dessert for supper. It was a huge hit.

It was after sunset before we got everyone back onboard. We heaved anchor and sailed off the hook. That means we only used sail power. We didn’t even turn the engine on. We sailed on into the night and soon heard a familiar sound. The same minke whale followed the ship for almost 3.5 hours. Whale watching is tough at the best of times. Try whale watching at night!! We ended up naming him Harold and Jaap, Chloe, Peter, Pete, Judy, Geoff and myself were whistling and calling after him. We just assume it was a him… He would disappear into the darkness then come back into our stern light or slowly criss cross in front of the bow. He was only about 4.5 meters long, we’re pretty sure he was just lonely. He sort of lost interest after the generator was shut off but then came back and stayed near the surface for quite some time. He disappeared into the night as we sailed further away from the island of Niuatoputapu.

We’re now headed for Vava’u. We’re all really looking forward to our new adventures but we’re SO incredibly glad we stopped in on the small island of Niuatoputapu. Hopefully the ship will go there again some day!

Till next time Fair Winds

Marsha Book, Purser

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

Read Part 3

Marsha Book, Purser