The dream is alive...sailing in the South Pacific.

Started by Kiwi25, May 15, 2008, 07:20:44 AM

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Kiwi25

   No I don't get up early to post.  It is 10.30 pm in NZ and I am sitting in front of a heater as it is Fall here.

I read CapnK's post .."You can get there from here"..and this is a similar post as my dream is to sail in the South Pacific too.. but I am a lot closer than he is.. :).   I am 60 years old this year so I figure I had better get started soon..as the window of good health might be closing.

  I could tell a long rambling story of my life so far..but to cut to the chase I have a Hartley 18 (or two ) which I intend to ship to Vava'u in Tonga..arguably the greatest small boat sailing destination in the world ( IMO.. ;) ).
   In the southern winter it is warm.. but not too hot..the waters are sheltered and deep.. the trade winds blow..and there are hundreds of islands ..mostly uninhabited.  The great advantage of a small sailboat..as everyone on this site knows.. it the ease of sailing..of just going cf a big blue water boat.  And with a lifting keel you can safely sail in reef waters.. and run your boat up into the shallows or even beach her.
   The diving is fantastic and the fishing equally so.    I like to do both..and see the boat as a means of transport to get me around..cheaply by sail..and not just as an activity on it's own.   An 18ft is big enough to carry a load and to "camp" in if necessary.  If I get confident I could sail to the other Tonga "groups" which are about 100miles max apart.  No problem on a good day.
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   I can get an 18ft boat in a 20 ft shipping container  and pack a bunch of other stuff..sailing dingys etc  around her.   I have bought my Hartley 18s for $1000NZ and  $1300NZ ( has a diesel motor in it!)  so they are really dirt cheap (  When I bought the $1000 one the exchange rate was $1NZ =50c US). On trailers..with sails etc.

  I went up to Vava'u last winter ( I was there a couple of times in the 70s) with my daughter and I "bought" the lease on a house lot.   Tonga is only a 2hr flight from here.   So My foot is in the door.  As my daughter observed.. we "own" some coconut palms..overlooking a secluded lagoon which could make a perfect boat harbor..if I can widen a small boat  channel thru the reef.   Humpback whales in the deep channel beyond the reef!
  I'm not 100% on the rest of the plan.. but the dream is alive... ;D...even tho there will be a frost tonite.

Ian

Manannan

#1
Hello Kiwi !! and welcome again on board

Let's plan to meet in Vava'u. As I like to quote : the act of dreaming is important in itself. I lived most of my dreams so I take it seriously. You may own a few cocunuts palms but imagine what you can do with it as Moitessier did  in Ahe atoll in the Tuamotus.
..Without a stick of furniture, we lived the way you do in Asia, on mats and cushions, with mattresses on the floor. You have lots of room in a small place, coolness, with a roof of woven coconuts fronds, extremely low walls so you can see out while sitting down, very large windows all around the faré so you can open everything up and have the impression of being inside and outside at the same time : inside to be in the cool shade, outside for the view and contact with your surroundings and the lagoon...
By the time we get there (seriously..) you will have your faré and we can have a fantastic party  :D :D
You have a wonderful plan ahead of you.
bonne chance !

Leaving always represents the same challenge to one's self : that of daring...

Delezynski

Ian,

What's the Lat/Lon of your palm trees?

We are heading that way and want to join the party. May take a couple of years.....

Greg
Greg & Jll Delezynski
Nor'Sea27 Guenevere
http://www.svguenevere.com

Kiwi25

Hi Greg,  I tried to post a google earth photo that I have, but it is an attachment to an e mail and I can't seem to do it.  The co ords on the pic are 18deg 40min 42.72 S   and 173 159 00.56W .  I think this is close.  If you can do google earth the lake like lagoon is obvious at the bottom of the Toula (pronounced Towel-Ah) penninsula which runs south of Nieafu.  The subdivision is just across the road from the lagoon ( small boat harbour to be...).

   I don't know for sure when I will be their either  (all I can say is that the dream lives.....).  I am not going to rush into building.  Unfortunately I can't just build a "fale" or some kind of shack..there are rules...for "palagis".  I may consider renting something for a while until I get the feel of the  place. 

  Tonga is a strange mixture of first world and 3rd world..and tho a Monarchy..really a feudal system...it is a kind of Banana republic where even the banana trade has collapsed.  I believe the vanilla price has crashed too leaving only tourism as a viable industry.  This is sort of why they have opened up to land leases.. to try and inject some $ into the economy.   I can actually draw my NZ govt retirement in Tonga.. one of the few places where they allow this..which is a big plus for me in the future.

   There are some /many spots around the harbour and south, that it is much quicker to take a boat to town than to go the long way round by road.  The price of gas is high already, and bound to go higher, but there are essentially no small to medium sailboats in use..it is all outboards.  When I was there in the 70s there were still rope rigged sailboats in use.    I have a feeling that the small sailboat may make a comeback with rising costs and declining incomes.

  The big charter yachts used by Moorings Charters in Vava'u are really quite unsuited for exploring the islands of Vaua'u.  Great for luxury accomodation and big Gin cabinet capacity, but the distances to sail are so small that most just motor, and the boats are too valuable to take any chances sailing in shoal waters.   An English yachtswoman I spoke to when I was there said that  Tonga reminded her of the British Virgin Islands.. except that instead of 100 yachts in each anchorage there were 2, 3 or even 0 others.

   Ian
   

CapnK

Kiwi -

Welcome aboard, even if I am jealous of your proximity to where I'd rather be. ;D

I grabbed a quick screencap of where I think your lot is:

http://sailfar.net
Please Buy My Boats. ;)

Kiwi25

  Excellent work CapnK   :)..The lagoon is dead center.  On the left across the road there are two houses which show as white splashes.. my lot is just behind the northern-most house and is elevated enough to see right over his roof.  Since that Google E image there have been two more houses built.

  On the eastern side is a channel which is 40 fathoms deep..to the island of OFU.. and then to more islands on the barrier reef which blocks the swells from the open ocean..so it is all sheltered sailing.  On the western side of the peninsula is the lower "Port of Refuge" harbor.  You can spot a few yachts.. most are anchored or moored a bit furthur up.   Thats where all yachties dream to end up one day... ;)..

  The lagoon is big enough that kids could learn to sail in there quite safely.  Right now there is a tidal exit that you could walk or row a dingy out at high tide.   With a bit of crowbar and pick axe work I hope to be able to open up a channel that a Hartley 18..1ft draft, keel up... could negotiate.  It is coral cement...of which the whole island is made.  In most countries it would take years and $$$ to get permission to do such a thing.  In Vava'u  you talk to the right people..and just "do it"...   The lagoon has a name, and in times past was used as a holding pen for turtles before a feast.

  I will try and post a report I wrote for my friends about my trip to buy the land..in stories section.  It is minimally about sailing.. but will give you the flavor of Vava'u and it's famous humpback whales.  Something to look forward to... 

Antioch

I miss the South Pacific too, Kiwi.  I grew up in Australiain a town called Beaumaris, near Melbourne.  It must have been when I was eight or nine that I really knew I had a passion for that part of the world... I guess the sea in general, but since I grew up there, it has always seemed like home.  I used to follow the adventures of Alby Mangles as he sailed his boat all around to remote islands large and small.. seems like where I want to be.. RIGHT NOW.

A couple of weekends ago, on the BBC World Service, I caught their "From Our Own Correspondent" programme, which is one I catch every week. They said that the South Pacific is being flooded with Chinese immigrants, and while you might have once found small villages with local foods, now you're more likely to find a chinese restaurant with a hardware store with a guy selling everything you could want behind bars..  Anyway... one of these days soon... I'll be back..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7380375.stm

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Kiwi25

Hi Robin,  Funny ,I never consider NZ to be in the South Pacific.  To me the words South Pacific are associated with coconut palms... :)..as in the Musical of the same name.  I believe Bloody Mary is based on Aggie Grey of Apia, Samoa fame.

  I had the good fortune to live in Samoa first in 1966 as a volunteer ( think Peace Corp) and then I went back in 1970 and lived in both Samoas for 8 more years..mostly in American Samoa.  The famous Pago Pago harbour.   I am married to a US citizen who I met there.   If you shield your eye from the trash pile on the right, and the junk car on the left..straight ahead is paradise...and if you stick your head under the water it is just as spectacular.

  There is a Chinese presence in Vava'u..not dominant.. but obvious in the business sector.  I believe the Chinese shops were targeted when there were riots in Nukualofa.  There is resentment..but you have to give the Chinese credit for being hard working , good business people, and producing cheap stuff.

  Ian

Antioch

Of course when I lived in Australia, they would be very offended if you called them part of Asia or even suggested the country have anything to do with their northern neighbouring continent.. Very worried about the red Chinese...Now things have changed.. I don't know if it's for the best... losing your identity as a nation because of political correctness could have dire consequences down the road.

... but I should keep my fat, pommy mounth shut. LOL
Robin

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Kiwi25

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4562783a12.htmlhttp://www.stuff.co.nz/4562773a12.html.

  Here are two links from todays NZ news source stuff.co.nz.   Sorry about the drift from sailing.. :-\....but this is to warn you of the reality in the South Pacific paradise of today.   One refers to crime.. and deported gang members from the USA.  This applies to American Samoa as well as Tonga.  The reference to gang members from Utah relates to the strong Tongan /Morman church tie. 

  And the story about the Tongan king.. ::) ::)...is mind boggling really given that many Tongans live in tin shacks.   It also mentions the dubious relationship with China. 

   Luckily Vava'u is isolated from the excesses of Nukualofa by distance and "benign neglect".  But you have to be aware of such issues in the Pacific today.  The land I leased was very cheap.. but there are reasons for that....