[password]8Tarnhows
[position]18 39.755s 173 58.892w
[weather]light and variable winds, thunder and some heavy showers, low cloud.
[status]Hello Sportsfans,
welcome back to the adventures of Ambler II.
We are still hard at it in northern Tonga, sailing and exploring the Vava?u group with occasional sorties into the capital, Neiafu, and The Mango Bar and Restaurant.
The last correspondence was from our arrival in Port Maurelle on 04 June. Since then we ventured to Kenutu island which involved a touch of expertise in boat handling and navigation. Kenutu is about the most easterly anchorage in the group and from there, beyond the fringing reef, is the open ocean and French Polynesia.
On Thursday 06 June we decided to enter Neiafu, pay a courtesy visit to Customs and check out the scene. Wow, what a scene. The Mango, The Tropicana, The floating Gin Barge/floating fish and chip shop/late night boozer is about it; save for the fresh produce market and a couple of general stores.
We agreed The Mango was more our style and we have frequented the establishment on the odd occasion (good wifi).
Peter and Bob left us on Saturday 08 June and Simon and Kai replaced them; so after a day of introductions to Neiafu and The Mango we departed that location for more thrill seeking.
Our first port of call was an island lagoon at the south west tip of Vava?u which required us to enter via a surging rock entrance no wider than three boat widths. Captain Jim steered us into a magnificent lagoon where two other yachts were anchored including, believe it or not, a large South African flagged yacht which was crewed by a couple of.....wait for it ......nudists!!!! We kid you not. Two suntanned blondes who simply went about their chores with no special regard for our presence.
Sorry, I didn?t mention a couple, as in man and woman. Nevertheless, they did attract some modest attention.
After ?Nudist Lagoon? we headed east again to another fabulously sheltered bay where we spent last night. As we headed east we crossed the path of a large contingent of the Island Cruising Rally from New Zealand who are travelling together as far as Noumea and returning to NZ before the cyclone season.
Today, Tuesday, we ventured to Swallow Cave and while Kai and I circled the entrance in Ambler, Jim and Simon explored the cave in the tender. However, we did not hang about because the endless traffic heading to Neiafu continued and we feared not getting a mooring/anchorage within a reasonable tender distance of The Mango.
Now here we sit at anchor in the rain hoping it stops soon because we have booked our table for dinner at The Mango. Neiafu harbour and surrounds is chockablock full of yachts and catamarans from around the world.
We await good winds at the moment and we are likely to leave on Friday for Fiji. When we have made that decision we will of course advise you all, until then take care and, as always, our thoughts are with you.
Regards,
Jim, Simon, Kai and Bill

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