Actual Date of Events: End of October
The passage from Rarotonga, Cook Islands to Vavau, Tonga was a very slow monotonous journey. With just over 800 miles of distance to travel and very little wind in the forecast we spent several days motoring trying to make headway. Motoring allows for a top speed of just fewer than 5 knots and is a very expensive way to sail, especially with the price of diesel very high in these remote islands. However it was necessary at times and made this particular passage very slow.
There is some beauty however to the appearance of the sea when there is no wind. It looks as though it could be an endless lake and made me wish that we could crank up the speed and throw a line behind the boat with a board. That way you could surf the wake, while also chumming some big fish…
The most frustrating point during this passage was when we motored past the small rural island of Nuie midway between the Cooks and Tonga. Marina, Josh and I had spent long hours trying to convince Dirty Dave that we should stop and visit this island till the wind picked up; however it was obvious that he would have none of it, insisting that there was no safe anchorage inside of the exposed harbour.
Although this may have been partially true many boats stop and visit this beautiful small island, a true gem in the Pacific. The people here are known to be extremely friendly to travelers since they do not see many outsiders aside from sailors. Marina had been to this island before on a previous Pacific passage and told us how they had taken her into their homes as if she was family. Also since we were motoring two days prior and would continue to motor for another two days, I assured DD that weather was surely not an issue. Nonetheless we motored past the beautiful island after having spent roughly 5 or 6 days at sea (can’t remember precisely).
Time goes so slowly at sea, especially when you have no weather. Though bad weather is certainly troubling and makes the voyage rather difficult, I do feel that time passes by quicker during storms. I’m more alert, my energy is higher and I feel a little rush of adrenaline, all of which makes me feel as if time has sped up. This voyage was quite the opposite. With very few squalls or any weather for that matter, my time was spent reading and learning the few songs I printed up for my newly purchased “piece of shit” guitar. By the time we reached Tonga I think the crew was ready to throw my guitar or myself overboard, either way one had to go (neither did though).
What I also found funny was the crew’s relationships while at sea compared to while docked and onshore. You’d think that we would get along better once aground and anchored off an island, but it was quite the contrary. While docked everyone had their own agenda, different from that of Dirty Dave’s thus causing conflict constantly to arise. Dave never was happy that the other three of us were always together off exploring while he stayed behind moping on the boat. I think he wanted to be a part of the group, but with his attitude nobody wanted to be around him. I do feel rather sorry for his inability to enjoy anything in life, and I don’t know if with his personality he’ll ever really be happy.
At sea however, the crew’s relationship was quite the contrary, everyone got along for the most part. Since there is nowhere for anyone to escape, we were all forced to enjoy each other’s presence. Dave was happy because he had company, and the rest of us were happy with our adventures and each other. Life at sea was rather enjoyable. After we all fell into a routine of our watch hours and our own personal routines it worked out rather well to still be able to escape to a quiet corner and read or just be alone.
Other than the basic routines, there always seemed to be ongoing jokes aboard. Josh writes, “The main joke of the ship seemed to be the virgin Josh who would be presented to the king of Tonga for a suitable princess and show off his great dishwashing skills as proof of his honor”! This was a rather amusing ongoing joke and was the topic of many discussions. Unfortunately we were never able to present Josh to the princess.
Other times we would amuse each other by singing in our lowest voices through the dinghy pump or I’d do a goofy dance on the stern deck, which never really seemed to get old. Having to wake Marina up at 6am for her watch, I would always try to wake her up in a different voice or mannerism. Usually it was through the voice of god using the dinghy pump and a sultry low voice that she had the privilege of waking up to.
One day Dave asked me, much to my dismay to give him a haircut on deck. It was probably one of my most disturbing moments and can be seen through my face expression that Marina happened to catch on camera. Not something I’d recommend to future crew (I mean really, look at his man boobs. DD needed a mankini)…
Well not much more to say about this passage other than it was a long, endless passage. I think it took us approximately 10 days to travel the roughly 800 miles to Tonga. That is averaging 80 miles a day, which is not a very impressive number. Imagine driving 80 miles at a speed of 3 mph, that is what it feels like and it can drive one crazy rather quickly. Nonetheless, we made it to our next destination Tonga, where we would spend the next two weeks.
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