password]8Tarnhows
[position]21 07.5s 175 09.8w
[weather]moderate ene winds, smooth seas, clear sky, 26 degrees Celsius.
[status]welcome back sports fans,
how sweet it is to be back communicating with you all and highlighting details of this amazing voyage.
Last Wednesday after a brief rest at Atata Island we entered Nuku?alofa harbour (flying the yellow quarantine pennant) and commenced the clearance procedures.
Overall the whole process went well, with us being tied up at the Customs wharf. We stayed on that wharf until Friday when our Dutch friends aboard NOK entered and needed our position to do their clearances.
Ambler moved to a nearby wharf where we sat out the continuous rain and wind.
Saturday night we farewelled Steve and Tim and welcomed Pete and Bob.
On Sunday the weather slowly improved and as forecast, on Monday we made final preparations (shopping and matters bureaucratic) for our journey north, leaving today to sail among the islands of Tonga.
Well may you wonder, ?how far did these adventurous fellows make??
The answer is about 3nm! Again, the wind is not quite as listed in the brochure and so we are having a very pleasant day at anchor in the lee of a lovely island in the outer Nuku?alofa Bay area rather than motoring or beating into wind.
A couple of highlights from our stay in Nuku?alofa:
One, the Waterfront Lodge and Restaurant, where we spent considerable time - excellent food, service, internet and other facilities (read toilets).
The second was having NOK rafted up to us with Heinze and Anne close handy. They were an affable couple who left Holland a couple of years ago and Heinze gave us a few tips from his experience. Those tips ranged from navigation through mechanics to rigging advice; all well received and in some cases implemented.
That is about our lot as we sit here anticipating tomorrow?s adventures.
Fondest regards ,
Jim, Bill (scribe) Pete and Bob

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