Arriving in Tonga

It was a long last night with the sea rough and the wind strong. We ran down to the Vava'U group at six knots with just a little jib up. Around four in the morning we were five miles off and we approached the islands using the radar. As we came around to the west of the island the seas started to calm down and after four days the boat became still. We slowed down and waited for na little light of dawn at 6:30 before entering into the passage between the islands. On our way in we were met by a pod of humpback whales so we motored around with them for a while. What a great experience. There were about 8 adults and a calf. One very large one came right up to our stern. They then move off out towards the sea and us in to the bays. Half a mile further, we came to another pod and switch the motor off and drifted along watching them. Finally we got going again and headed up the bays to Nieiafu where we tied alongside to clear customs and immigration. This took a while but everyone was so friendly and helpful that if seemed effortless. Once cleared - three hours later - we took up a buoy off the town happy to be in some still anchorage at the end of the trip. It took us ten days and we covered just on 1300nm.

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