We arrived in the Kingdom of Tonga first thing in the morning and spent the last few miles making water to wash the boat. Nothing feels so good as having a salt-free boat as we drop anchor in a new spot after a passage. For those curious, this boat came with an almost new Rainmaker AC powered unit installed. It pumps out just shy of 40 gallons an hour.

It was Sunday, so instead of getting cleared in we raised the Q flag and anchored a few miles outside of town. We couldn’t go ashore, but we could swim and sleep.

Monday morning we were on the Customs dock where we waited a couple of hours for someone to amble on over to see us. It was an easy process. Customs and immigration were easy. They didn’t seem to care much at all about what we had on the boat. We did let them know we had Georgie the hamster onboard. They didn’t know what a hamster was so she asked to go over to the boat and have a look. We held the cage up for her to look in and she exclaimed, “Oh, we don’t have those in Tonga. What sort of animal is he, a rat, or a rabbit or something?”

We shrugged and said, “Some sort of rabbit, yeah.”

Honestly, she couldn’t have cared less. So long as we aren’t strapping a leash on it and bringing it ashore we’re good to go.

This scruffy gal got fed once, then twice, then three times before she finally went and laid underneath a nearby car for a nap.

It didn’t take long to see why Vava’u is such a popular cruiser’s spot. A bar with decent food and a dinghy dock is always welcome. Not nearly enough of these in the South Pacific.

The waters around here are deep. The bay is filled with moorings sitting in a hundred feet of water. Twenty Tongan a night ($8 USD). Fair enough, so long as they hold.

Only takes a few minutes of walking to cover main street. Incredibly thin pickings for groceries here, but plenty of good places to eat.

We hung out around town for a few days, then headed out to bounce around the islands a bit. First stop was our friend Chip’s birthday party.

Fun group, and even a world-record holding sailor in our midst. Jeanne Socrates is the world’s oldest female circumnavigator, and the oldest person to sail around the world via the five capes. She did it at 77 and is now on her way around again at 81. This time she’s taking the relaxing route the rest of us mere mortals sail. Incredibly, this is her fifth circumnavigation.

From up in the sky it isn’t hard to see why the Vava’u group of islands is such a fantastic cruising ground.