The Rest of Vava’u

[Kyle]After everyone else had left, we once again had Langito’o all to ourselves. We finally had some unstructured time with no “jobs” on that infernal list of ours. That was nice, because it allowed us to get bored enough to start looking for things to do.

Even though I would generally be considered the tidy one, Maryanne got it in her head that she would do a little Spring cleaning. I decided to go overboard and give the bottom paint a wipe down to keep any growth from gaining a foothold.

I had company. Our resident family of squid was hanging out down there. They are so adorable. As I cleaned one hull, they were all lined up under the other one watching me with obvious interest. When I moved to the outside, I would catch them peeking under just far enough to see me.

When I got finished, I decided to spend some time hanging out with them. They clustered around me watching my every move. I tried to communicate with them by going quickly from light to dark like they do. I did this by pulling my dark shirt up and down over my white belly. They just seemed to think that was weird, so I switched to making different shapes with the tentacles on the end of my hands. They really liked that. They would all gather up really close and a brave one or two would reach out with an arm and almost touch me before chickening out when I moved too much. They never went far, though, and always came back for another try. While all of this was going on, they were giving me a great show. They changed from light to dark, spotted to solid, and a couple of them even turned an arm or two blue, presumably to mimic me. I had a blue camera in one hand.

Kyle managed some playtime with our resident group of squid (at Langito'o)

I stayed until my tentacles were good and pruny. I would have loved to invite them up to play at the table, but I don’t think they would have liked that. I went back to my world and left them to theirs.

I was secretly hoping they would find a way to follow us to our next anchorage, although I knew it was best for them to stay in their own neighborhood, where they had all of the good hidey holes scoped out. I hope they are okay without a big boat to hide under.

[Maryanne]On the passage to our next anchorage (Mala) we detoured to Mariners Cave. This is a sealed cave that has an underwater entrance - you swim down, along the short entrance passage and can surface inside the cave itself where there is air again (I was a little nervous about my level of fitness, but practiced ahead of time by swimming under Begonia a few times to make sure I was happy to hold my breath for the time required). While I assume (somehow) fresh air can get in and stale air can get out, there is no obvious opening, and indeed the swell of the water outside actually changes the air pressure inside the cave - so much so that the air condenses and clears as the swell comes and goes. Last time we visited, the weather was so calm that this effect was simply not apparent, this time however, we managed it.. While floating in the cave, it is hard to be sure if your eyesight is going a bit squiffy or a fog has appeared, and just as you process that thought visibility returns to crystal-clear. It is a surreal experience. We each took turns to enter the cave while the other stayed aboard Begonia and hovered around the area. It is a little nerve-wracking watching your loved one dive down to enter a cave, and not see them again for 15 minutes!

Mariners Cave, looking out to the entrance and up to the ceiling

[Kyle]We moved on to Mala Island for a few days, which is conveniently located about halfway between Langito’o and Neiafu. We slept in and snorkeled and generally got ready for our next big sail at a slow, comfortable pace.

[Maryanne]From the Mala anchorage it is about a 1.5nm dinghy ride to Swallows cave. We'd visited here previously, but wanted a repeat visit to this spectacular cave. We'd since learned that there was access by foot to an inner cave, deeper in. We came prepared with underwater lights, headlamps, and good shoes. You can actually take your dinghy inside Swallows cave, we did, and with our electric motor there is no issue with engine fumes either. This year we saw no birds swooping in and out (Swifts nest here, despite the cave name). Inside the water is really clear, and you can see down to the distant floor and the amazing rock formations in the walls look cathedral like (both above and below the water). Kyle kept attempting to dive down to the bottom (which looked so close) but never made it. There are also large schools of small fish that you can enjoy their displays (and even swim through) while backlit with the afternoon sun. Swimming around with my underwater flashlight I found some large shrimp in one corner (they were very shy). Kyle climbed out of the water and went off and explored the inner passages and additional chambers on foot. The story has it that feasts were held in the dry cave, but Kyle suggested there may not have been so many birds back then, since now the floor was covered with guano and he definitely appreciated his flashlight to avoid the extra slippery locations. While we were enjoying snorkelling and exploring the main cave, a local boat arrived with a tourist family so we retreated into one corner to give them their time.

Swallows Cave - impressive rock formations AND schools of fish

There is another smaller cave just to the left of swallows cave - so we dinghied and swam in there too!

We found time for some snorkelling around Mala too (not the best but we always seem to find something to impress us

[Kyle]Back at the anchorage a few other boats came and went for a night each. Most kept to themselves, making us on waving terms. We did spend some time with Phil and his young daughter Hannah from Muse, while they were waiting for the wind to start in earnest before leaving leaving for Fiji. We'd met before via VHF when we were both headed to Tonga from New Zealand this year. Hannah decided to interview us for her project (video!) and made it a fun job by presenting us with freshly baked bread to get us in the mood.

We visited Malafakalava Island in the hopes of finding a cocktail and maybe even a meal at Lava Bar and Grill but found it closed down.. oh well..

Kind gifts and beautiful sunsets at Mala anchorage

We beat them out of the anchorage the next day and headed into Neiafu for our outbound clearance as well as a bunch of other “city” stuff. We got there just in time. Boats were streaming into Neiafu. Most were arriving from Niue with the World ARC Rally. They all leave and arrive as a group, so it only took a few days for Neiafu to go from being eerily deserted to being chock-a-block full.

We managed to get the second to last transient mooring ball in the harbor while the two boats in front of us headed to the government wharf for their inbound clearance. Then more and more arrived until there was a queue of boats hovering by the government dock waiting for space. All day long, there was the constant activity of boats leaving the dock for the mooring field while the next one pulled up to take their space. Then a brand new arrival would hover/anchor in their spot. Once the mooring after ours was taken, the newly cleared boats would spend longer and longer loitering around looking for one for themselves. They would each take turns picking up increasingly dodgy private moorings until they either got kicked off by the owners or grew to realize the mooring wasn’t stout enough for their boat (ARC boats tend to be much larger than average) or that they didn’t have the swinging room to keep from hitting adjacent boats or even the shore.

The boats surrounding us were all separated appropriately, but just. We could probably reach our two nearest neighbors by dinghy without having to paddle – just a big push would do the job. The boat right behind us is a giant, shiny new catamaran that looms over Begonia in a way that makes it seem like they are nearer to us than they actually are. I wouldn’t mind so much, but they run their noisy generator pretty much the entire time they aren’t actually sleeping. That used to be considered inconsiderate, but is increasingly less so as surrounding boats also have their generators running and are sealed up tight in air conditioned, hermetically sealed cabins. Those of us in the “fresh air in the cockpit” crowd are being increasingly marginalized, looked down upon as undeserving have-nots. The noise creates the subconscious feeling that there is someone constantly bearing down on us. Perhaps there is, but the noise is being masked by that damn generator. It keeps us from ever really relaxing. I have scanned for another available mooring ball, but there won’t be any. We need to cling to the one we have. It’s nice to be able to go to cafes and restaurants and to meet some of the other cruisers, but Neiafu is getting too crowded, as if it were Cruise Ship Day. I’m already looking forward to the solitude of the open sea.

We got intel from one of the ARC boats that they aren’t allowed to leave until well after we’ll be long gone. They’ll overtake us again, but they’re on a tight schedule, so it won’t be for too long. I’m hoping that makes for just the right mix of socializing and solitude.

Amazingly we were reunited with our Machete cover - which we'd lost while bushwhacking in Kenutu Island. Somehow it had found its way to a completely different island and delivered to the boater friendly Tropicana in Vavau 'just in case'. A big thank you to all involved!