Waiting for the return of Mr Beta

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Well it has been nearly three weeks since we arrived in Neiafu with our bung motor. So where are we at? Well it was 3 weeks when I started writing this blog then I lost the urge and it is now 8 and a half weeks. So back to it my boy or it well never happen, A.



Firstly and saddest, it was no longer “we”. Adam and Anna have headed off to Nukualofa and the continuation of their travels. They were great crew and a joy to have around. Luckily they were able to go out on other yachts while here, stay in a lovely cabin on a tropical island and get a great day’s snorkelling in. I wish them well, knowing that they will enjoy life for years to come.



You guys remember you are welcome back now, you hear.



The main issue was the repairs to the motor (Mr Beta). One of the local mechanics came out to Hakura to have a quick look. It was saltwater in the oil. This was very bad and based on the fact that the oil was still a white froth after over a week since the motor was last run. If it had been freshwater in the oil, then the mixture would have separated. Also the coolant was still as full as it usually was and it is the only sauce of freshwater in the motor.



This meant that the motor needed to be removed, dis-assembled, cleaned, re-oiled and re-assembled. A job for the workshop not on board Hakura. So, during the second week in Neiafu, the mechanic, a helper and I took Hakura over to the Fisheries Wharf, they then disconnected the motor and winched her out. We then return the engineless Hakura to her mooring. This took most of the day and while I did not do the technical stuff, I was stuffed at the end.



The next day, I had relaxed so much that a virus that had been showing signs of taking over me finally stuck. I spent the Wednesday on board in a mixture of sleep, cups of tea and listening to the iPod. A week later and I was still getting over the virus though it never came to much, just the usual aches in my neck and shoulder muscles.



I then had the issue of how I was getting power on board Hakura. Well, I was maintaining a very limited power usage – water pump and gas solenoid only. Lights have been via head touches and music via iPod through portable speakers. I have to go ashore to recharge the iPod, laptop, mobile phones and handheld VHF radio. This lead to daily visits to various cafes around Vava’u to charge my stuff whilst drinking fresh fruit smoothies and iced tea.



So how do I get the batteries recharged – I took them to the mechanic and he charges them, this lead to one of those U-tube events. I was taking the big house battery (about 3 to 4 times the size of a car battery and thus 3 or 4 times the weight). I got it into the tender and motored over to the wharf. But how was I going to lift it up?



I then saw a boat ramp next to where the ferry docks. That’s the place. In I go and get out. The next question that occurred to me was, why am I now floating back out into the harbour next to the tender? Yep, that brown stuff on the ramp is a thick slippery layer. It was so slippery that I could only get up by going to the wall on my bum and pulling myself up the wall. I was now wet and dirty and still to get the tender ashore. I had already lowered the back wheels and was able to pull EII up the ramp.



Now I discovered that I had forgotten my shoes. Oh bugger, I will just have to manage. I went looking for help and this Tongan guy came. He actually gave me his jandals and picked the battery up by himself. He had the check to call me old as well.



When the battery was recharged, the mechanic dropped it off at the nearby café’s wharf and Adam and Anna brought it out.



How have I been filling in my days during this period?



My daily retune goes something like wake up at 7:30 (usually before and wait for the alarm to go off), listen to the 8:30 Cruisers Net on channel 26 each morning. About 12 I would go ashore to visit one of the cafes for lunch and access to the Internet. I usually ended up at the Aquarium Café for fresh fruit smoothy and iced tea.



The network was how we made contact with “Maunie” as we came in. Local events and business advertise on the net and visiting yachts can make contact with each other. Most mornings not a lot happens but every now and then somebody brings up a local issue, such as speed limits for boats within the Harbour at Neiafu. International and most national maritime laws require 5 knots or less within 50 meters of stationary vessels including those at anchor or on moorings. This limit applies to tenders though some people seem to love blatting around the place, hence the issue.



I have not been blatting around as I trend to row most places. I enjoy it, it is cheaper and it is exercise. One evening, I was rowing back to Hakura (she was on one of the outer moorings as they are easier to get at under tow) and I could hear another tender motoring towards me. I looked and sure enough they were heading straight at me. I turned on my head touch though I did not point it behind me (which would have been in the direction I was rowing). Next moment we hit (at a very slow speed thankfully). I did congratulate them on being such good shots as I was the only other tender in the harbour at the time. Afterwards I came up with the idea of wearing the head touch, on flash, pointing towards the front of EII. Since then nobody has come near me while I am rowing.



Another faction of the Cruisers’ Net is for priority and emergency traffic. One mooring there was a Mayday from a Tongan fishing boat. After 6 hours of searching all round the islands, a game fishing boat found the boat and its crew about 30 n miles to the west drifting towards Fiji. Great work all round. Since then several yachts have called for assistance getting into the Harbour, like Hakura, and there has been another search, though this time they have not found the 3 missing fishermen and their boat.



Before Adam and Anna left, we went on a commercial snorkelling trip with Don. It was great fun and we dived Swallows’ Cave (it is open above and below the water) Mariner’s Cave (it is only open below the surface) and did long dives on the Coral Gardens area. The diving was OK, nice coral but few fish and those there were small. The place is heavily over fished in my opinion.



The other weekly activity was watching the All Blacks beat the English and then some of the Super 15. A local English Bar owner offered free Rum Punch if the ABs won. It cost him three weeks in a row though I am sure his bar did well out of those weeks.



As Hakura did not have a motor, the only way I could get around was via sail and using EII as a tugboat. This was ok with a crew though a lot harder by myself. I did go out to Port Maumelle (one of the local anchorages near to Neiafu) and luckily another kiwi yachty was able to tow me onto one of the moorings. I stayed there for 5 days – a great relaxing time swimming snorkelling. I even managed some maintained.



To get crew, I had put notices up in the cafes offering to take backpackers out for shared expenses. The first takers were Tom, an Irish doctor working in New Zealand, and Sam, an English guy who’s partner was a medical student working at the local Hospital. Tom was a fun loving guy who would give anything a go. Sam was more reserved. We meet at the local veggie market to get the food for the single night. Tom was there but not Sam. He had somehow locked his gear in his room and his partner had taken the key. There was no backup key at the desk so we talked him into come with just the cloths he was wearing. Tom and I thought this was ok though I think it was a strain for Sam.



Again we went to Port Maurelle and had a great time. Next morning another yacht was going to tow us back but in the end the guys got a ride of the yacht and I stayed another night.



The next guys to crew were three kiwis, Aaron (a physic teacher named after the sound of the Universe), Jono (a red headed livewire from Wellington who worked for Weta Workshop making films) and Hadley (an Auckland who was a film Tec in the advertising industry). These guys were as made as meat axes and I fitted right in. They had a clicker for recording when someone did or said something silly. It was about 60 when they arrived and I achieved the honour of being given the 100th and 200th clicks (the latter at our final dinner ashore). I am not sure that I did not have a different idea to them. The guys seemed to not go out of their way to get clicks, while me on the other hand saw it as a challenge to get as many as possible.

We had four days out together and visited Port Maurelle, then Tapana Island and back to Neiafu. It was great to have such young keen lads to do all the hard pulling on the boat. After a while we started get better coordinated at tacking, which we had to do a lot of as the wind was head on for the final approach to Port Maurelle and also for us to get through the narrows between Kapa and Taunga Islands. Also as we neared the anchorage at Tapuna Island the heavens opened and the wind stopped. One of the guys jumped into EII and powered us onto a mooring. Unfortunately the owner of the mooring came over and said the mooring was booked. I then pointed out that we had no motor and so moving was difficult. He did not seem to get it and kept asking when the motor would be fixed. This was while I was bringing the mooring lines aboard, even asking him to pass one to me. I did say I would move if the other yacht arrived. He seemed to accept that a boat on the mooring was better than one out on the seas. In the end the other yacht did arrive and didn’t know that the mooring was being held for them. We stayed the night.



In the morning we sailed around the outer islands and saw several whales and one sailfish that jumped 3 times just in front of us. A great trip all round.



Whatever their aim, I really enjoyed their company and did not end up as the ruling Asshole (i.e. the person who lost at a particular game), though I did lose the plot at the final dinner when we had ridged the cards while one of the guys was at the toilet only to play the wrong card (not bad as we only had two cards to play) in the first trick. I was unable to talk for several minutes, as I could not stop laughing at my mistake.





So ended my first five weeks in Vava’u Tonga. During the next week, Mr Beta returned to Hakura, but more of that in the next blog.

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Photos

Aaron about to click someone
- most likely he will get chicked for being too clicker happy.