The Adventures of Tintin

Nicki here again, One of the recommended 'things to do' in the Bay of Islands at sundown is to visit a small inlet which is home to many thousands of bats, who hang in the trees during the day and then all fly off to feed as the sun sets.  We took a drink with us in the dinghy and in the company of Jean-Francois and Marie of Cassiopee and the crew of Charm we watched the spectacle. Unfortunately afterwards as I stepped back onto Tintin in the dark I lost my footing and fell in - usually no drama in the warm water but unfortunately I still had my camera around my neck! Unsurprisingly, the salt water damage appears to be terminal…..  We spent a relaxing couple of days in the Bay of Islands, paddle boarding and snorkelling over coral gardens, socialising and having afternoon naps when we felt like it! Our departure was rather more exciting than we wanted due to an overheating engine which required Rob to again work his magic replacing the impeller while underway, with assistance f

From Little Bay, navigating carefully around the NW side of the island we made our way to the Bay of Islands, with small rocky outcrops dotted everywhere, lots of bays to chose from although with mostly rather deep water we anchored and pulled the stern into the shore with ropes, tying round rocks and tree-trunks.

The following morning we departed LomaLoma at 9am and motored N, picking our way through the coral patches.  Enroute we ran the water-maker, only to have the hose leak, causing the boat's instrumentation to indicate that the engine was overheating.  So while Rob investigated the rest of us set the sails and sailed close hauled with a look-out positioned on the bow - fortunately Rob quickly identified problem was the water-maker high pressure hose (aaarrrh!) and we were soon motoring again - and were able to enter into Little Bay through a very narrow passage to a beautiful tranquil anchorage.  We all went in the dinghy through to the next inlet which was surrounded by mangroves - indeed the mosquitos were quite ferocious that night.     

Hello, Nicki here, Tintin arrived into Fiji a week ago clearing into the beautiful Lau Group of islands; since I now have good communications I am catching up with some images from the last several days (and filling time while it is raining heavily at our mooring here in SavuSavu!) We had a lovely downwind sail from Vava'u, Tonga to the 'Tongan Passage', a pass through the fringing coral reef which surrounds Vanua Balavu.  We had an uneventful landfall, however one of the other WARC boats Aurora B had a problem with their engine just outside the reef, and so they sailed through the pass and to the anchorage, with a number of other boats accompanying them in case of any problem. Fortunately visibility was good which made navigating through the reef straightforward, and 2 dinghies helped them to nose the bow into the wind for anchoring.  While awaiting Customs clearance in LomaLoma Rob graciously moved out of Tintin's forward cabin allowing Richard and me to have more spa

Last night, I came up on watch at 1:00am to be congratulated by Pim on a significant milestone - we're now in the eastern hemisphere. Practically, it's un-important (although some navigational software struggles with routes that cross the 180deg line). The significance is psychological- until now I've thought of home and the UK as being behind me, now it's ahead. In fact, the shortest route home is directly north from here, but that's difficult to get your head around. Before we left the bay of Islands, I cleaned the engine water inlet of leaves, seaweed etc. As we were approaching the pass in the reef, the engine overheat alarm went off - I'd forgotten to open the inlet again and the impeller had overheated and stripped. Doh! Nicki and Pim sailed back and forth while Richard and I struggled in the overheated engine room to change the impeller. 30 mins later we were on our way again - there are times when and experienced crew really helps!

After clearing into Fiji at Lomoomo in Vanua Mbalavu, we've had the chance to slow down for a few days. We moved north to a small bay, co-incidentally callen 'Small Bay'. A narrow entrance led to a steep-sided bay about 200 in diameter with a further, narrower channel leading to a larger inner bay. It would be possible to get to the inner bay at high tide, but we contented ourselves in the outer bit. Echoing around the bay were what sounded like monkeys, but actually are oriental barking doves - making a big noise for such a small bird. We met another english family there, anchored in their aluminium lighting centreboard boat. They are approaching the end of a 3 year voyage and planning to return to the UK so their 2 sons can start secondary school. While their we were approached by Tui, 'caretaker' of the local land. He asked that we do Sewu Sewu. For the those unfamiliar with Fijian custom (i.e. most of us) whenever you anchor in a new area, i

The fleet has set sail from Tonga to Fiji. About 1/2 of the boats left on Tuesday, but we left on yesterday morning with the rest. Jo has now flown home, so there are only 4 of us onboard. It will be strange for me to carry on sailing without her after such an amazing 9 month voyage together, but I won't be far behind. Some time ago - before Bora Bora, in fact, the high pressure hose on our watermaker burst. My brother Steve quickly sourced a new one and sent it ahead of us. You wouldn't believe the hassle involved in actually getting package delivered. After arriving in Tonga from Fiji on 6th June, it took a further 2 weeks, innumerable phone calls and emails, 2 trips to the airport and some more money before I finally got my hands on it on Tuesday. Perhaps I appreciate it more because of the effort involved in getting it. Anyway, it's fitted now, and we're all happy that daily showers are now allowed - perhaps even encouraged! We're now a

Moonrise over Vava'u with Jupiter above and large fruit bats in the trees

After church a bunch of about 40 of us set off to walk up Mount Talau, a really happy way for me to celebrate my birthday with ARC friends and families. Here I am with Lara from Charm and the view we had looking east across Vava'u to the ocean beyond

Tonga is traditionally very religious and on Sunday most people attend church, then relax and have a family feast. We went to St Joseph's Cathedral this morning and witnessed the most beautiful uplifting harmonic singing from the congregation. Everyone is dressed in their formal finery. For men this is a colourful shirt and a long skirt with a rush mat tied around the waist. The women were in smart dresses and wore decorative rush belts, with beautifully braided hair and flowers behind one ear.

Nicki here, Today we had a visit to the 'Botanical Gardens' - actually privately owned, with a tour by the gentleman who had planted most of the garden over many years. Very colourful with some very large spiders. His 'safety briefing' started with the instruction not to stand under palm trees in case of falling coconuts! The walk ended at a restaurant at the beach where locals were collecting seafood at low water (cockles/ clams I thought) and we were invited to try kava, given lunch and then a demonstration of Tongan style dancing by some of the young people of the village. Curiously, Tongan dance moves for women typically require the girls feet to stay in the same spot, involving lots of gentle hand movements and swaying but no actual movement below the knees. The boys appeared to have much more fun, and clearly all the Tongans watching really enjoyed the show. Photos to follow...

We've had several grey rainy squally days here in Tonga but yesterday the sky cleared for long enough for us to find a beautiful anchorage at Avalau Island.  Swimming from Tintin to the beach we found a clown fish family (like Nemo) and a couple of lion fish taking cover under a coral head. In the shallows was an inquisitive black and white striped sea snake.  In the brief window of sun we flew the drone above the white beach, palm trees and azure water. For memories when back in the UK winter! Today the fleet has gathered from around this archipelago back at Neiafu, for the ARC prize giving dinner, our first full get together since the Marquesas in March. It will be bittersweet for many as several boats will be leaving the ARC once in Fiji. Personally I'll be sad to say goodbye to many wonderful friends, but at be same time I'm very excited to be returning home in just a few days to be around when Bridget and James return from university.  Pim will be leaving Tintin in Fij

We're currently on a mooring buoy in a small anchorage off a desserted islet in the Vava'u group of islands. The weather is grey, damp and relatively cool and we're having a very quiet morning hoping that the weather will clear so that we get good visibility for snorkelling and diving this afternoon. After our arrival in Tonga, we had a happy evening meeting up with most of the WARC fleet. Some of them we hadn't seen since Tahiti, so it was good to chat and share a beer or 2. On Tuesday, we left the town of Naifu and went to an anchorage called Port Maurelle - no visible signs of habitation ashore, but quite a few non-WARC boats. Generalising hugely, I think that Pacific islands east of here are generally visited by yachts heading west across the Pacific whereas Tonga and islands eastwards are often visited by boats coming up from NZ for a season and the most common flag for yachts around here is NZ. Yesterday, we visited 2 caves - both spectacular

Nicki here from Neiafu, the port of entry into Tonga's Vava'u group of islands. We are currently sitting at anchor opposite the wharf waiting for our turn to go alongside and receive the Tongan immigration officials for clearance into the Kingdom of Tonga - unfortunately there is a long queue as many of the World ARC boats have recently arrived; sometimes travelling with so many boats on the rally has disadvantages. We had a good sail from Nuie ~ 250 nautical miles pretty much along the rhumbline with a decent sailing breeze most of the way, largely forward of the beam so we used plain sails rather than our downwind sails. After a glorious starry night departing Nuie we had mainly cloudy skies thereafter - with occasional torrential downpours (notably usually when I was on watch!) On passage we enjoyed watching whales blowing and broaching, with the juvenile whales leaping spectacularly high out of the water; Rob was the eagle-eyed whale spotter on both occasions. Pim re

En route to Tonga we will cross the date line, even though we haven't reached 180 degrees west yet. Tonga has chosen to lie west of the date line so there is a bit of a kink in the line to accommodate this! So at midnight tonight we will be fast forwarding from Friday June 7th to Sunday June 9th, with no mention of Saturday 8th of June in our log book. Tintin is romping along through the seas, well behaved in the gusty winds with a reef in the main and the wind just forward of the beam. It has been a great day. This afternoon Rob spotted a whale ahead, and we saw a humpback whale breaching the sea three times, about half a mile off. The whale came up vertically out of the water to its full length, then crashed back with a huge splash. Sorry no photo! We have been treated to a spectacular sunset so here is a photo of that instead.

We're currently on passage from Nuie bound for Vava'u in Tonga. It's 240nm - so relatively short by Pacific standards, but still we're having to work for it. Nuie is a slighly odd island. One of the smallest nations in the world, it is still feeling the effects of a 2005 cyclone. Many of the islanders were evacuated to New Zealand at the time, and thousands chose to stay. As we drove around the island, at least 1/2 the house were desserted and in various states of disrepair. Also along the roadside were hundreds of well-tended graves - including one chap who dies in 1994 who fathered 23 children. So they keep busy. The anchorage in Nuie is completely open to the west, and the wind - albeit light - was due to back from North to South overnight. We therefore left last night just after sunset. It was a quiet night of gentle sailing and motoring, but today the wind has filled in from the SW, and we're bashing into it. Considering there is no l

Niue is a big sheer sided rock in the Pacific and there is no easy way to land the dinghy here due to the ocean swell. So there is a crane on the dock, which has a huge hook swinging down. The way to get your dinghy ashore is to manouevre the dinghy under the hook, hook up to strips on the dinghy and get someone ashore to press the up button! Easier said than done when the swell is big, but our technique is improving