ix weeks ago Saoirse and her crew got to stretch their legs out once again in pursuit of new adventures. New Zealand, or the “land of the long white cloud” slowly shrank on our southern horizon as we headed north, generally in the direction of Tonga. Usually ocean passages are more specifically in the direction of, but in this case the weather was to play us a different hand. Before our departure I told our crew of three (a Kiwi- Damian, an Aussie- Sarah and a Yank- David) that if we had perfect weather the crossing of 1100 miles would take 6 days, bad weather 10 days. 11 ˝ days later (the crew insisted it was 12, but my ego will not allow for 12 days to go 1100 miles) we sailed into Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga and had covered over 1400 miles of ocean.

Celebrating landfall in Tonga

The extra 300 miles was not anticipated, but neither was crossing the International Date Line 6 times due to what I’d refer to as ‘fickle’ winds. Nowhere else on earth can you gain and lose a day so easily. We even went straight backwards one whole day while being hove to (sailing term for stopping the boat in heavy weather), but luckily the time provided the opportunity to watch the Indiana Jones series in its entirety.

Going for a bite to eat

Other than mostly going the wrong way the passage provided some memories we’ll all take with us. If memory fades, I believe David and Sarah took more than 600 digital pictures documenting every sunrise and sunset we had, every fish we caught (yellowfin tuna X 2, wahoo, bonito), every fish we didn’t catch (a huge- ahem, very huge sailfish, and an octopus) and every imaginable non-complimentary angle of each of us in less than full garb possible. These last pictures will not likely make it onto the website or into our photo albums at home, but they will be a reminder of the simplicity of life out here on the oceans that is so difficult to have on land.

For the past month we’ve wandered the isles of the Kingdom of Tonga. This time of year we’re spoiled with being one of the only yachts in the area- every anchorage feels untouched and unexplored. Each day our only decisions are what to eat (depending if we’ve either caught a fish, speared a fish, or bought a fish), when to eat, and how much sun to get. A typical day aboard sounds about like this: “Good morning. Good morning. Sleep Well? Yes. You? Yes. Want some breakfast? Yes. Want to go snorkeling? Sure. Want some lunch? Yes. Want to go surfing? Sure. Want a snack? Yes. Want a beer? Yes. Want to wander around that beach over there? Sure. Want some dinner? OK. Goodnight. Goodnight.”

Enjoying our stay in Tonga

At some point I’m going to get tired of all this.

Then again maybe not.