Arrival in Vava'u, Tonga

Entering islands of Vava'u - looks more like Lake of the Wood with Palm trees!

             (We've added some pictures to the last several blogs - those posted since leaving Bora Bora)

Arrival in Vava'u, Tonga

Crossing the International Dateline

Tues. June 22, 2015

We arrived yesterday, Mon am, having completely missed Father's Day by crossing the dateline from Sat night to Mon morning. The time of day is still the same as Niue,

-11 UTC. But here it is +13 UTC. It is 7 hours later in Toronto but a day earlier. Or more correctly it is 17 hours earlier. On the clock we are 6 hours earlier than Wpg, and 5 earlier than Calgary. I won't try Kuwait, Wittstocks.  Fiji and NZ are + 12. The dateline should be at 180 degrees but it is moved 800 km east to go around Tonga, and 3600 km around Kiribati. That is because these countries are affiliated with NZ and Fiji. But one of the smaller island groups had the boundary moved in 1999 so they could be the first to enter the new century!

The wind didn't die off much the last day of travel, about 25 kn. We shortened watches from 5 to 3 hours for the last few days. Enjoyed a long sleep last night. To check in here you need tie up at the customs dock. Close to approach I put the engine in neutral and then back to forward for a bit more momentum into the wind. The transmission cable didn't work to get the engine into forward. Fortunately Rob did a great job throwing a line to Kjell on the dock. Bow thruster and reverse both worked ok so no damage this time.

There is a mechanic here, Ian, who is from Vancouver. He was free to spend the afternoon with us doing repairs. The cable wasn't moving enough to engage first gear properly. He adjusted that and the throttle cable so that it is working even better than it had been previously. We feel very lucky that the problem happened when and where it did and that it was easily solved. We are now on a mooring ball and can enjoy the visit.

We are starting the stay with a relaxing morning of cleaning up and drinking 2 pots of coffee. The scenery is beautiful and the anchorage so well protected there are no waves. It reminds us of a Canadian scene with scattered islands and hills with trees, except they are palms. Last night we had a dinner out with No Regrets. Good food and much cheaper than Tahiti. This afternoon we need to get ashore for Tongan cash, food, alcohol, and doing laundry. I tried yesterday during repairs but found out that my debit card expired the end of May. Another challenge to tackle.