Here's the latest report from Larry and Carol Rick aboard the Nordhavn 40 Done Dreamin' with URLs added: #66 NOW July 22, 2005 0645 Zone Time UTC +13 hours (Tonga Time) Neiafu, Vava’u Islands, Tonga (S18’39.7 W173’59.0) Temp. 72.9 (Wonderful) Back again, It is nice to be back online after having the Stratosnet (satellite e-mail) system down for several days. Fortunately, voice communications still worked, and we were able to keep family informed that we had not fallen off the edge of the world. Niuatoputapu, (New Potato) is a place of remote beauty. When we arrived, the supply ship was in port. It services the island every three months or so. This was a big event and many of the islanders were down at the wharf to see friends and relatives arriving and departing. All supplies for the island arrive at this time. If what you ordered was not on the ship, you had a long wait. There is an airport; however, they told me it had been six months since a plane had landed there. http://www.taufonua.com/niuatoputapu.html This is a very poor island, with a population of about 1000. Most live in shacks with pigs, chickens, and the scrawniest dogs I have ever seen wandering all over the place. A few simple wooden homes have been built with corrugated roofs that drain into a cistern. These appear to have been built with some outside help, such as Habitats for Humanity. There is no electricity, TV, or radio. Nine churches were scattered around the island and religion is a big part of their life. We were able to give away some children’s clothing, which was greatly appreciated. Prior to leaving this island, a man brought us five big papayas, some coconuts, and a huge stalk of bananas. We are eating bananas, drinking banana shakes, and enjoying chocolate covered bananas, fried bananas, Nutella bananas; peanut butter covered bananas, as well as banana popsicles. Do you have any fresh ideas for bananas; we still have over forty left. The papayas are just now getting ripe. We shell see how many ways Carol has of fixing papaya. We left Niuatoputapu around 9:30 in the morning. Once we cleared the island, we were back in the same trade winds on our Port Bow. It was 174 miles down to the Vava’u Island Group and we made it in 30 hours. It was a real surprise to see the difference 174 miles of ocean can make. This group of islands reminds me of the San Juan Islands, except the hills are covered with coconut and banana trees. The islands have many bays and inlets, which will be great to explore over the next week or so. We pulled into a large bay and picked up a mooring buoy next to the town of Neiafu. Some 30-40 yachts from all over the world are anchored or moored here. In addition, a cruise ship from New Zealand is anchored further out. Tourism has made this a prosperous little city. The Moorings Charter boat company has set up a base here making this a world-class cruising center. http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Tonga/Neiafu We are enjoying the restaurants, internet, ATM’s, and grocery stores. However, our plan is to get underway and visit some of the outer islands in this group. With cooler temperatures, calm inland seas, and a full moon to enjoy, this should be cruising at its leisurely best. Perhaps by next Friday, we will head out for Fiji—then again, maybe not. Life is a Cruise, Larry and Carol Rick -- Larry Rick Done Dreamin' Nordhavn 40 #33 Site: http://gricknet.homedns.org/ Email: donedream@pacbell.net