Letter From Atlantia October 2009

It was with great reluctance that we waved goodbye to our offspring and Tahiti. We had had a wonderful time on Tahiti with it's magnificent scenery and helpful people. Everyone had been very friendly although prices were very expensive, caused almost exclusively by the French administration.

We sailed overnight to the adjacent Society island group of Huahini. The scenery was again on the grand scale with soaring volcanic peaks and a surround of coral reefs, leaving a small channel between the two. We anchored in a deep bay unfrequented by other yachts because of the deep water. When we arrived a cruise liner was just raising its anchor to leave. Thus we were left in splendid isolation with only the internet for company. We received this from the only house on the shore for miles around!

We sailed Dipper around Huahini Iti (the smaller of the two islands). It took us ten hours and we eventually arrived back at Atlantia in the dark having slid above numerous coral patches and only just managing to row beneath the small bridge that joins Huahini Iti to Huahini Nui. The mast scraped under the span with a touch of heel to the dinghy.

We had been greeted on the way in to Huahini by two very large humpback whales who seemed to be enjoying playing in the pass through the coral reefs. They were only a representation of the considerable number of whales we saw in the western Pacific. It was exciting to see these huge animals at close quarters. How the Japanese and Norwegians are willing to hunt and kill them is almost beyond belief since modern synthetic materials have replaced all the useful parts whaling used to supply, such as oil, corset stays and collar stiffeners. This excludes the blubber which apparently the Japanese eat. Everyone we have spoken to who has tried this delicacy describes it as 'inedible'. Being an intelligent race perhaps the Japanese will one day see sense.

Fare, on Huahini Nui, was only a small village but had an extremely well stocked supermarket. Many of the shops in the Pacific are run by the Chinese or descendants of Polynesian Chinese mix. This shop was very well run.

Our next island was Raiatia, some ten miles away. A larger island than Huahini it is the cultural centre for this area, with an airport and the base for two charter fleets. It is also the ancient religious and cultural centre of the Polynesians. It was from here, 2000 years ago, that they were blessed and set sail in their large migration catamarans, up to 100 feet long, for Tonga and New Zealand. Some also believe they went to Easter Island and the western American coastline as well.

The Maraes, or gathering places here belong to the very high born nobles from all Polynesia, and soon after we left a new chief was crowned as King of Tahiti on the most important Marae. He is the first king of Tahiti in over a hundred years. This is just another move towards independence from France. Although the Marae are gathering places all over Polynesia and New Zealand, in Raiatia they are very formalised with cobble stones for the gathering, and upright stones for head rests. There are also stones for the ancestors spirits to look from whilst ceremonies are in progress.

Before the missionaries arrived the religion in the islands was that of Ancestor Worship. To a small degree it still, is with the graveyards being in prominent places with well decorated graves.

In Bora Bora we also saw graves with much adornment in the front gardens. The religion now is staunch Christian, and the Sunday singing in the churches, which are sometimes open to the air, is very sweet and plaintive.

Captain Cook witnessed a human sacrifice at a Marae on one of his visits in the 1770's. No doubt the Polynesian chiefs eat the poor chap afterwards as well. They did this when they respected some one! They were apparently fortified by his spirit!! Later Captains' Bligh and Vancouver were officers of Cooks ship on that voyage as well, and there are some interesting reproductions of the young Bligh's excellent paintings showing the sculls that were left out on the stones. Whether they were the skulls of ancestors or of sacrificial victims we never found out.

We sailed up one of the many inlets in Raiatia on the east side. At the head of the loch we anchored and took the dinghy up the river. We rowed as well as motored about two miles beneath beautiful and strange trees and grasses. On two occasions a local man hopped out from behind a bush to speak to us from the bank. On the first occasion he gave us a wild ginger flower and urged us to visit the Botanical Gardens half way up the river. Until then we had been ignorant that these existed. On the second occasion he again urged us to visit the gardens, which we duly did on our return from the river's source. It surprised us somewhat to find that it was the same man who was our guide around the gardens. He spoke three languages and knew all the latin names of the plants as well. James was his name and a very pleasant and intelligent person he turned out to be. He even gave us a huge bunch of bananas as we left. It is the first time we have ever been paid, even in kind, for visiting a botanic garden. There was no charge for entry and the trees fruits and flowers were many and varied.

We visited three more anchorages around Raiatia, all deserted, before sailing on to Bora Bora fifteen miles away for a party. The weather was poor in Bora Bora and the wind blew hard for a week. It also rained steadily for twelve hours on the day previous to the beach barbecue. The party was to honour a Finnish lady's fortieth birthday and Also Derek's 60th.(Derek is English). There were over ten nationalities represented, all yachtsmen on their way across the Pacific.

We met the crew of Giselle, another Scottish boat, who were particularly helpful with issuing weather patterns and forecasts during our trip to Tonga. David had worked for BP Oil designing new plant for Grangemouth oil refinery on the river Forth. His wife Mary came from Ardrishig in Argyll and their daughter Kirsty had been to University in Glasgow, so there were many connections.

We anchored off the restaurant called Bloody Mary's. It was a very traditional Polynesian building with sand on the floor and wooden furniture everywhere.

We left to sail to Suwarrow, or Sumarov, in the Cook Islands. Regrettably we had to return after only a few hours to Bora Bora since the propeller had started to knock against the rudder again. The previous repair had lasted over 1000 miles but since there was still 2000 miles to voyage to New Zealand something better than three jubilee clips was required. Derek from Kalida was very helpful once more and provided additional assistance to Will's vandalising of our redundant stainless steel cover supports to make them into new washers to be inserted between the propeller and the securing nuts. Will and Derek managed the underwater part using nearly empty dive tanks. A race against air. As we write (from New Zealand) the propeller is still firmly in place and has worked well for the last 2000 miles. We set off again for the Cook Islands but due to some particularly nasty weather that we passed through, and also the fact that the weather then became advantageous to go to Tonga, we changed our minds and pointed the bow for Vau Vau, the 2nd most northerly islands in the Tongan group 600 miles away. We changed course a day later than the yacht Mainly which had also been going to Suwarrow, but decided to go to Western Samoa instead. We heard this on Giselle's Pacific High Rise net over the SSB radio. We were very saddened to hear later that Danny from Mainly was drowned during the tsunami in Samoa. One never knows what is around the corner.

Our voyage from Bora Bora took a total of nine days and , although fairly hard with just the two of us, was successfully completed with no damage. We arrived at Vau Vau at the same time as Gannet with John and Nicole on board. They had set out from Bora Bora at the same time as we had on our first attempt.

We spent two days at anchor near the main town during which time we sailed around one of the many islands in Dipper. Not so dramatic as the last time we sailed around Huahini Iti since we arrived back in daylight, just.

We thought we had arrived in Tonga on a Thursday, but discovered that having crossed the dateline we actually arrived late on Friday afternoon. Since the customs, immigration and the man from the ministry of agriculture and fisheries do not work at weekends we had to wait until Monday morning to book in. They were all very pleasant however. One wanted $100 tonga (about £30 ) for the hospital and another wanted a free medical consultation for his son's condition. Margaret ably diagnosed migraine. We heard later that sometimes the odd bottle of rum is requested from visitors but fortunately not from ourselves. Since there was no other entry fee we thought the costs for cruising such beautiful waters were quite reasonable, although port dues are required on the way out, another $100 for when we booked out of southern Tonga.

Tonga is almost 400 miles long from the Nius islands in the north to Tongatapu in the south. There is much ocean in between the four island groups. There are 171 islands which only comprise 688 square kilometres of land, with 102,000 inhabitants. When we arrived we discovered that 74 people had been drowned three weeks earlier when a ferry from Tongatapu on its way north, had capsized. Almost all the dead were women and children who had been sent below for 'safety'. There is presently a Royal enquiry into this very tragic matter. The whole of Tonga is governed by the King who is the grandson of Queen Salote. Queen Salote, who was was 6 foot four inches tall and weighed 20 stone (2metres and 130 kg) endeared herself to the British public in London during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 2nd. She is remembered for being shown on television being pulled by horses in an open landau during the pouring rain that marked the occasion. She commented that the British public wished to see her, and see her they would, rain or no. Will says he remembers it well.

We were greeted at Vau Vau by a breaching whale and in total saw about twenty of them during our time in Tonga. They come to Tonga to calve and mothers can be seen playing with their youngsters all round the islands. There is a well regulated tourist industry 'swimming with whales'.. 'You see a whale or you get your money back'.

The main town in Vau Vau is called Neiafu, and was the temporary home to about 30 seagoing yachts, all on moorings provided, at reasonable cost, by the local boatyards and cafés. This is a safe harbour and a meeting point for yachts coming from New Zealand and travelling to the islands and also the yachts travelling across the Pacific. The 'islands' are generally, Figi, Samoa, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Kiribati islands. Neiafu itself is an old whaling port and has a number of restaurants. They find supplies a bit sparse from the capital in Tongatapu 160 miles south however, and this makes for considerable shortages at times. Last month it was paper, of all kinds! The tsunami, which killed 7 people in northern Tonga, and the ferry tragedy, have also had an affect on the regular supply ships and whilst we were there they ran out of white wine. Some local produce such as water melons, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, zuccini, squash, tarrow and kava are available at the colourful and usually well stocked market.

Also at the market are many locally produced artifacts from whalebone carvings (illegal almost everywhere) to large wooden statues of mermaids swimming with whales.

There are also many baskets and containers of wicker and pantaneus. Margaret went to basket weaving classes and now has two Tongan type baskets to her name. She was taught by Primrose, a gentle giant. In Polynesian society the first born is supposed to take on the role of guardian for the rest of his or her siblings. Consequently, whether male or female, they tend to look and act like mother hens. To meet a chap called Primrose, or similar, is not unusual in Polynesia. They almost always have outgoing personalities and Primrose was no exception, being good at basket weaving as well as teaching and selling. The Tongans have a name for men who act as women, they are called Fakaleiti.

We would like to have spent more time in Vau Vau, with its beautiful islands and happy inhabitants, and its pigs roaming around the beaches,

but the insurance company said we had to be away from the cyclone area, which includes Tonga, by the end of October, and Kevin, who had sailed with us across the Atlantic, was flying in from the USA to Tongatapu to help us take Atlantia down to New Zealand. Thus at the end of September we set sail again to pass through the Ha'apai islands to Nukualofa in Tongatapu.

It took three day sails through some of the most delightful atolls and volcanic islands (one still active and blowing smoke) to reach our destination.

In the 1770's Captain Cook christened the islands 'The Friendly Islands ' and the name has survived. The Kingdom of Tonga is indeed friendly nowadays. The name was given after a considerable exchange of hospitality and gifts to the Captain from the local chiefs. The true story emerged some time later when it became understood that the local chiefs had actually planned to kill and eat all of Captain Cooks crew including himself, but the chiefs couldn't agree whether to attack the ship by day or by night, so they let the matter drop! The name stays however

The coral islands of the Ha'apai group are mostly uninhabited and some villages still have no electricity, although they sometimes have solar power for the sparse number of street lamps. The passages through the reefs are quite difficult as well, especially when the electronic plotter shows a chart deviation of over 50 metres from the actual position. On one occasion Margaret noticed breaking water ahead of us on a reef. The reef swam off, it had been a basking whale. The chart was correct that time with 150 metres of water beneath the keel.

The Kingdom of Tonga was pronounced a British Protectorate in 1900, the same as New Zealand, but in Tonga the only notice of British presence is a broken fountain, and the relief that most people speak reasonable English. The government of Tonga is appointed by the King, and at present there is considerable discontent with the prime minister and various petitions to the King ask to have him removed. Some Tongan ladies are even on hunger strike about it. There are occasional flare-ups between the police and the populace, but during our time there everything was calm and docile and the people very friendly. Regrettably the Tonga yacht club has been a victim of the recession, and their building is up for sale. We hope that the yacht clubs we belong to in Scotland are not so mismanaged.

We took an expensive taxi ride around Tongatapu as tourists. We saw Captain Cooks landing place, the previous Kings tomb and the present ones palace. This was imported from New Zealand in the nineteenth century and had been prefabricated. It is an elegant building. We toured the water spouts and saw the fruit bats hanging upside down in the trees. Although they are nocturnal we saw one or two flying. They appear like large crows with leathery wings and bat like faces. They call them flying foxes in Tonga but they are just very large and interesting bats that are sacred.

We took Atlantia to Big Mamas yacht club about a mile from Nukualofa on the Royal Island of Pangaimotu. There to prepare the boat for our trip to New Zealand. Big Mama was very chatty and she was also collecting for the victims of the Tsunami in the Tongan Nuis islands. We were glad to donate a considerable amount of food together with ground sheets and fishing hooks as well as masks and snorkels for hunting lobsters. They are apparently much in demand there. Atlantia was much lighter going south!

The tsunami occurred whilst we were in Nukualofa. We were the only visiting yacht in the harbour at Faua at the time since the American boat next door had departed after dragging her anchor in the first currents. We were quite safe although the tide went out very quickly with a strong ebb current. It also receded more than usual. It was regrettable that due to the closure of the schools and businesses, because of the tsunami warning, that all the people and children went down to the waterfront to see if there was a big wave coming! It was fortunate it did not materialise. For us as well.

We went to the culture centre to see the museum and to watch them making tapa cloth. This is carried out by stripping the bark off mulberry trees and soaking and beating it so that it becomes soft and pliable. It is then stuck to another cloth, with the fibres at 90 degrees, with a tapioca glue, and finally painted. Large tapa cloths are given as wedding and christening presents and can be used as wall hangings, blankets, ceremonial carpets and table coverings. They were originally also used as clothing, although this is now only for ceremonial use. Tattooing is not so prevalent in Tongatapu as elsewhere in Polynesia, although it can be seen on both men and women there but over a much smaller area of the body.

We went to a Tongan feast at the cultural centre. Actors and actresses wore traditional clothing and performed ancient war dances and love dances. They have a kava ceremony where the elaborately prepared mildly intoxicating but non alcoholic drink made from the kava root is drunk in a special ceremony to all who wish to partake. They require a noble to head the ceremony and to take the first drink. Will was chosen and has thus joined the nobility of Tonga. He will be treated to deference of just below Royal status should he ever return to Tonga. It's tempting! The kava drink? It tastes a bit like milk with mud in it.

It was a most enjoyable evening and the 'feast' included suckling pig, cockles, octopus, chicken, squash, spinach, sweet potato, shrimps and crab. The finale in the dancing was the fire dance. There seemed to be a number of people off-stage brandishing fire extinguishers whilst the two young dancers jumped and whirled with their brands of fire, terrifying the audience in the front row; us.

If you know the Flanders and Swan songs, the word in 'Tongan' for 'no' is actually 'Ikai' sometimes pronounced 'K'. It doesn't seem to be the long word for 'no' used in the song . Confusing if you take K to mean OK! The Tongan maidens from the song are indeed 'lovely' but are generally very large and broad in the beam. They have beautiful smiles though.

It took us eight and a half days to reach New Zealand and the voyage was made much better by the presence of Kevin who took a third watch. He also caught a tuna on the voyage, which added to our fresh food supply for two days.

We also landed a flying fish in the scuppers one night, delicious for breakfast.

We hardly ever kept to the rhum line, sometimes having 30 knots of wind behind us and then 20 knots on the nose with a large and confused sea. As the wind dropped we had to use the motor to sail uphill. The waves were no more than 3 metres high but the wavelength was short at times, We were delighted to be joined by Albert the Royal Albatross who seemed to float effortlessly across the waves.

More of his friends, together with innumerable petrels and shearwaters joined him as we approached New Zealand. A strange fixed wing bird called us on the radio as we crossed the twelve mile limit. It was the coastguard. They were very pleasant and asked our arrival time and required various other details. It was a nice welcome to New Zealand. The various official bodies on shore were pleasant too. There was only one minor issue with our flamboyant tree pods, or shakers, as they are known in the Caribbean. Regrettably we had to part with them although we took the seeds out of one of them which had been painted and given to us as a gift. We were then allowed to keep it, minus the rattle.

The officials were charming and efficient, although we did hear one story about a boat that was required to be hauled out of the water to be x rayed. Apparently they have a new machine to go with the underwater camera they use to make sure we hadn't brought any nasties in from abroad on the hull. Generally the process of booking in was quite painless although there was a lot of writing involved. Our wrists are still sore a week later from the effort. We will write again to you about the wonders of New Zealand. Suffice it to say that it is just like the west coast and lowlands of Scotland in its scenery. It is also cold and rains a lot. 'Summer is a comin in' as they say, and apparently it is much nicer. We hope so although the people are delightful.

The South Seas with its warmth and hospitality was a wonderful place to visit. As time moves on it seems possible that the Polynesians will become a more coherent group, especially in the north as the French move away. It is to be hoped that they will maintain their traditional links with the Maoris in New Zealand. Unlike the French though the British seem to have been more influential on the Polynesian (Maori) way of life. In Tahiti the French are visitors, in Tonga there are really no visitors except for the transitory kind and just a few settlers who have brought more tourism to Vau Vau. So the people are very much Polynesian. Our first impressions of New Zealand however are that the British have had a substantial influence on the previous Polynesian way of life and especially with regard to property ownership. It must be said however that New Zealand appears far richer than the other areas in both material terms as well as culture, having two joined cultures to draw on. We hope to probe further into that as we tour the islands (when it gets warmer!!) We are returning to GB over Christmas and New Year so look forward to seeing you then. Hope you like the pics. ( There may be some of Kevin's in there as well)

Love Atlantia