"There Comes a Time"

Ships Log

Lat 18 degrees 42 minutes S

Lon 174 degrees 01 minutes W



Ships Log

Lat 18 degrees 42 minutes S

Lon 174 degrees 01 minutes W

Here we are sitting in a beautiful little bay near Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga... Terrwyn sitting pretty on still turquoise waters where we can see the bottom through 20 feet of water as though it were only 1 foot deep!! Fishes swim around our boat as though we were just another large ocean organism and they accept us as a friend. We are going to explore a cave, Swallows Cave, at the entrance of the bay tomorrow morning with some cruising friends of ours and that, along with a bit of snorkelling near the boat will be the total of our expended energy for the day! Each day seems to meld into the others leaving us with a sense of languor not felt very often back home! Wonderful! However this too shall end, unfortunately and this end is coming very soon as we are planning to leave Tonga for NZ within the next few days (the blog explains why).

love to all and Happy Thanksgiving (a wee bit late)

Cathy

..and now here's from Billy:

It just happened, a Paradigm Shift... the tide has turned...

We are too comfortable, almost relaxed. Even complaints are raised if a shirt to cover up after 8pm and a temp. less than 80 degrees is sensed. The turquoise waters (bath temperature) and tropical birds from the jungle seem just natural and normal. Days of the month are as immaterial as the days of the week have been since goodness knows when...

We had set aside October to explore Tonga but now will clear immagration in a couple of days and set sail S S by W for NZ.

It's time to get Terrwyn to her new home away from home. A combination of lost Sailmail, fridge conking out, spotty engine control panel, sincs all fut gone, and a prop shaft underwater line tangle have all contributed to a sooner rather than later Tongan departure. Terrwyn needs to be hauled and NZ here we come. Out with the Ocean Passages book, NZ charts and route decisions. Tonga is paradise and we would love to gunk-hole about but life is not fair. Our young crew may explore Tonga on foot and fly home however Terrwyn needs major pit stop ASAP.Unless Sailmail reappears this may be our last entry before NZ. We apologize for no replies as we've not received any email via Sailmail for many weeks at sea. Time marches on and we must as well.

Fair winds from Terrwyn

Billy