So, on the morning of 15th of May I finally left Huahine to Vava’u, Tonga (after talking about it for two weeks or so). The weather was beautiful, fresh winds expected all the way to Bora Bora turning to strong winds after that. Anyway, I decided to pass through Raiatea because I like it so much and I wanted to see my favourite places one last time. I spent so much good time there during the last year or so.

Entering the reef of Raiatea was one final bit of fun! 2.5 meters of swell crashing at the reef entrance… Brrrr…

After that it was easy sail to Bora Bora (the contours of Bora Bora visible in the background) under 12-15 knots of wind coming from SE. Anyway, after that the fun started!

Since the swell was forecasted to be rough (around 3.5-4 meters) if I followed the direct line from Raiatea to Vava’u I decided to go NW to try and avoid the big swell. While it was a good strategy, it seems that it have added around 100-150 miles to my passage (not a big deal) but maybe it made my life easier. The first night was really bad for me maybe because my “sea legs” have become softer during my time in French Polynesia (not much sailing there) or maybe just because it was really rough seas mixed with several squalls. After the first night I turned almost completely west and then it became even worse. Up until that moment the swell and the wind were coming almost down my course, so it was bad but it was OK. After I turned west, the swell and wind were coming from a much more uncomfortable angle for me and for the boat. Also, every 30-60 minutes there was a squall coming and with it there was a big wave caused by the veered wind and of course – rain. At least the rainbows were really strong coloured and beautiful.

Something to enjoy :).

Me, at the beginning of the passage. Still looking brave.

The first four days were really bad, becoming easier at the end of this period. The waves were coming like a big water wall rushing from behind and I was expecting any minute that one of these walls will come crashing on me. Thankfully it did not happen. I was running only on deeply reefed jib and I did not sleep much during these four days. The good thing is that I had connection to my friends during that time (thanks, Starlink) and I was also able to download updated forecasts. It seemed the forecast was changing almost daily which was strange.

After the first night I was so tired, I tripped in the cockpit and I broke my glasses. Thankfully I had spares.

Cooking was also fun! I had to tie myself to the stove if I wanted to stay put. It’s good that the French designers of the boat have thought of everything :)!

The days…

And the nights… were beautiful.

As always, when the bad weather passes, the wind goes down and since it’s almost behind me, it becomes difficult to sail without a spinnaker. It happened to me with some 500 miles to Tonga. I started the endless game of jibing down the wind (almost 2 times a day, imagine the excitement! In the meantime I was trying to arrange my arrival at Niue (a small island before Tonga), unfortunately for me all the moorings were occupied by ARC regatta and I was denied entry. Bummer.

One of the many fascinating sunsets (or sunrises) over there…

During that few days in the beginning, to take my mind off the sailing a bit, I decided to derive the formula for the True Wind from the Apparent Wind. It seemed to me it would be a fun task but apparently (pun intended) it was more or less a trivial task.

Just a note to my future visitors who decide to join me on such a longer journey. On this boat I enforce “No shaving until the passage is over” policy. So, be aware!

And just like that, around 200 miles from Tonga, the wind died completely. I present to you – The Grand Pacific Lake! Of course, I had to motor for around 12-14 hours, I don’t remember exactly. Good thing I repaired my engine last year in Mexico, thank you JoJo!

The wind picked up nicely around 2 pm on my last day of the passage and I stopped the engine! Only around 90-100 miles to Tonga.

Land Ho!!!

Tonga is clearly visible, no lights from this side though… Only one dark mass. Ive always wondered how did the ancient navigators manage to find such isolated islands 1000-2000 years ago. When I was approaching from the open ocean and no land was visible except water all around me, I was thinking that even with six (at least) GPS devices on my boat I was not sure if I’m at the right track – imagine how skilful were the old sailors.

Approaching Tonga at the first daylight.

The final stage of “No shaving…” stupidity :).

Of course, immediately after checking in with Tongan authorities I rushed to find an ice cream! The best ice cream lady in town!

I intend to stay in this quiet and protected bay for a while and explore the island a little bit.

Well, time for a recap. I was really upset and worried at the beginning of this passage because the longest solo passage I’ve done before was 3 days in the Caribbean. All in all it went very well, 10 days exactly, the boat behave well except that my fridge stopped working but it happens. My first impressions of Tongan people are that they’re very friendly, they accept us kindly and I think I’ll spend some fantastic time here. Today I even bought some bananas and papayas from the local market :).