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Date of post: September 2007 Courtesy of Giff Hammar of Green Cove Springs, FL sailing Tonga aboard S/V Phoenix Tongatapu 1. The best place to get mail or shipments from overseas is in Tongatapu. Express package service to Ha'apai or Vava'u comes into Nuku'alofa and then travels by the weekly ferry to the outlying islands. It may take over a week for packages to arrive in the northern islands from the time it arrives in Nuku'alofa. 2. Pg 26. Map of Faua Harbor. The quarantine building is just across the street (south) of the Customs building. 3. Pg 27. Chart of VHF radio frequencies. Hardly anyone in Tongatapu monitors a VHF radio. We were only able to contact the pilot, so it may be better to say that these entities may monitor the radio. Cruiser traffic is low in Tongatapu so they don't really expect to be called. 4. Pg 27, para 4. The Kinikinilau is the Foodland. It has a better selection than most of the other stores. Molisi's burned down and is no longer across from the market. It is now on the right on Tupoulahi Rd, just past the traffic circle at Salote Rd. The other place to get food is the TCF on Fatafehi Rd. 5. Pg 28. There is a BP gas station next to #30. 6. Pg 32. The Pangaimotu Island Resort was very welcoming to us and the other yachts that were there with us. They usually make their dinner menu between 1600 and 1630, but you can order a meal from the lunch menu, too (remember to specify when you would like the meal served). The meals are very good and reasonably priced. Maximum price was $T24.00. 'Ana is very interested in helping provide school supplies to the children in Tonga and readily accepts donations. 7. Pg 34. The anchor symbol should be moved up between the reef and 10m contour line to more accurately reflect the position given. The people at the Fafa resort weren't particularly helpful when we visited, but they were friendly. There isn't much to see there. 8. Pg 36. The red mark going into the east anchorage off 'Atata is not there. 9. Pg 38. Anchorage details chart. There are two buoys inside the reef. One is a square orange float and the other is a round brown float and may be the two inner red marks. The mooring buoy is not there. We would only recommend this anchorage in settled conditions less than about 12 kts of wind. The fixed green day mark on the reef is very hard to see. The people at the Royal Sunset Resort were quite welcoming. They spent time telling us about the flying foxes (there are a few in the plantation) and the World War II ruins. The dinner menu isn't usually prepared until about 1600. Since the reef dries at low tide, the west anchorage isn't ideal if you plan to have dinner at the resort. 10. Pg 40. Diving was very good anywhere along the ocean side of the reef. The variety of colors was very good. 11. Pg 44. Molisi's burned down and is no longer across from the market. Ha'apai 1. In May 2006, a magnitude 8.0 undersea earthquake was centered about 20NM east of Nomuka. The quake caused the islands in the group to subside between 23 and 46 cm. As a result, the reefs don't provide the same protection that they did before. 2. Pg 52. Pangai Village map. The hardware store does not provide propane, it is now at the propane depot near the harbormasters office. They were not able to fill tanks with US fittings. The market is next to the south end of the dock. 3. Pg 60. Papayas were readily available by the prison ruins. We did not see any mango trees. 4. Pg 61. The anchorage position that we used for the west side of Nomuka'iki was 20-16.7S 174-48.9W and the approach position was 20-17.5S 174-49.4W. The light on the beacon NW of Nomuka'iki does not work. There is a path from the NW corner of the prison across the island to the west side. 5. Pg 75. Uonukuhihifo chart. The positions for the anchorage off the sandbar are good, but we did not verify the positons off Tofanga. Whales were breaching and spyhopping in the Ava Mata Mata Veka pass. 6. Pg 82. The southern anchorage at Uoleva is much better than the northern one. The northern anchorage also gets swell from the gap between Uoleva and Lifuka. Whales frequent the area to the west of the southern anchorage and the Ava Auhanga Mea. The pass is a great drift dive along the north side. 7. Pg 86. There is room for two boats in the anchorage. The spot just to the northwest of the mushroom rock has more sand. A stern anchor is recommended to limit swinging. Vava'u 1. Pg 98. Add Aquarium Cafe 16 & Tonga Bob 16 to the VHF radio chart. Remove Popao Resort and Blue Lagoon. Businesses in Vava'u monitor the radio and respond quickly. Trash disposal is not correct now. Trash is picked up at Aquarium Cafe every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 0830 and 0915. Depending upon the person who collects the trash, the price is $T1-2 per bag. Use sturdy bags. Updates are available on the cruiser net on VHF-06 at 0830 Monday through Saturday. 2. Pg 99. On the map. Replace Sunsail Yacht Charters with Up from TVB on the other side of the road: Pete the Meat/Laundry 3. Pg 101. On the map. 4. Pg 111. The Blue Lagoon Resort is decidedly unfriendly to cruisers. They refused to serve a couple of different boats who came into the anchorage. 5. Pg 115. The white mark south of Kulo Island is no longer there. There is a black mooring ball to the west of Lape on the track to the entrance to Vaka'eitu. The approximate position is 18-43S 174-05.3W. 6. Pg 116. The Popao Resort has been closed for about a year. Some of the structures still exist, but are in sad shape. There are some fruit trees around the old resort, but are not being tended and some have been destroyed by aggressive gathering. 7. Pg 130. The beacons are buoys. I would also add that they are only about 15 inches (37 cm) in diameter and very difficult to see when the waves are more than about 1 foot (30 cm). 8. Pg 135. The easterly position on the approach to Kenutu is shown as 18-42.1403S 173-56.200W. We used 18-42.143S 173-56.200W and it worked fine. The description of the cave on 'Umuna could be a bit better. The path to the cave is about 1/3 of the way up from the south end of the island. There are two palm trees at the water's edge that are next to the trail. The cave has a brackish water layer on top of salt water. 9. Pg 123. A good approach position is 18-44.62S 174-02.43W. The anchorage position is 18-45.2S 174-02.3W in sand and coral. The sand is not very deep, so holding can be poor. The mooring (18-45.24S 174-02.37W) is only for small boats. The one that is described in the book was dragged out to sea and lost a couple of years ago. For the trail, about five meters in from the beach, take an immediate left and go up over the rocks. The cut in the rocks should be obvious. <<BACK |
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