Ahh, boat life!

" So, how long are you planning on cruising?"

"As long as it is fun."

"Is it still fun?"

"Depends. What day is it?"

Swimming with the whales!

Tonga is known for its annual migration of humpback whales coming to mate and calve. Every July to October, they migrate from the Antarctic to Tonga. In July and August new babies are born and if you can time it right and get lucky, you may have an opportunity to swim near a mother and her calf.

I am so confused

Not having a fixed work schedule it is often hard to keep track of the days of the week. That has now been exasperated by crossing the dateline. Most of my contacts are still on the other side of the dateline so I have to keep track of what day it is in North America as well as what day it is here. What days are business days? When are the weekends? My family has a weekly zoom call on Fridays, but now I have to remember to join in on Saturday mornings, Fiji time.

A Visionary Trip to Tonga, Giving the Gift of Sight

 "Malo, Malo 'Aupito!" he said with a smile, adjusting his new glasses and looking around, taking in the details of things he had previously been missing.

Seven years!

 We interrupt your not-so-regularly scheduled blog post to take a few moments to reflect as we celebrate our 7 year splashiversary (the day Rhapsody was splashed into the water as our home). We bought Rhapsody in 2014, but officially moved aboard in November of 2016. As I look back over my pictures to try to decide what to include it is very daunting to try to cull it down to a reasonable number. So much has happened in 7 years, so many adventures, so many friends, so many changes. 

November 2016 Nanny Cay, BVI

Rhapsody meets Cyclone Mal

 "When are you leaving the boatyard?"

This was the question the marina management asked us when we came into the office. "There is bad weather coming"

We were well aware of this as we had been watching the reports for days, watching the growing system and realizing that it was headed in our direction.

The problem is, we are "on the hard" meaning that Rhapsody has been hauled out of the water to have some repairs made and some necessary maintenance done. We currently have no prop shaft and the rudder is laying on a pallet under the boat, making it impossible for us to maneuver in the water if we had to be launched, if we even had someplace safe to go to.

Tonga, a study in contrasts

Five weeks in Tonga and the answer to the question "What is Tonga like?" is not an easy question to answer. For us Tonga was a series of contrasting events.  Let's start with the weather. Tonga was either cloudy and grey, with high wind warnings, or calm and absolutely beautiful.  When the sun was out the contrast between the green hills, the blue skies and the turquoise waters was stunning. 

 

A watercolor I did of our anchorage at Port Maurelle, one of the many anchorages in the Vava'u group of Tonga. Many of the islands have undercut limestone cliffs and caves.