From the helm

I am back to chilly Christchurch after spending a couple of weeks up in Tonga and Fiji with our Pacific Rally group. There were many highlights on this trip and you can check out some of the photos of what we got up to later in the newsletter.

It was my first visit to Vava'u in Tonga and it certainly lived up to being all you'd expect from a cruisers paradise It reminded me of the Marlborough Sounds - numerous secluded bays, steep bush covered hills rising straight up from the deep blue ocean. The sea is teeming with life and one of the highlights for me was doing a whale swim with Beluga dive. We got up close to a couple of incredible humpback whales These enormous mammals were looking us in the eye, seemingly as interested in us as we were in them. An incredible experience and one not to be missed when you next visit.

While in Tonga we teamed up with VEPA to arrange a beach clean and about 45 people turned up to help which was amazing! We collected heaps of rubbish of a beach an awesome effort.

We were also so very warmly welcomed to Vava'u by our Port Officer Greg Just at Café Tropicana, and the teams at the Kraken Bar and Mango Cafe where we hosted a number of great events.

Another highlight was a visit to the Ene'io Botanical gardens where we enjoyed a tour of the garden, followed by a fabulous Tongan feast and some great entertainment that had us all up dancing. We also had a really interesting demonstration of all the plants and their uses from making Kava to producing food and weaving houses

My short time in Tonga was packed full of incredible experiences and I'd highly recommend a visit to Tonga if you haven't already been before.

But Fiji beckoned and with a perfect weather window opening up, 36 rally boats cleared out of Vava'u bound for Lomaloma in Vanua Balavu in the Lau group - South Eastern Fiji

This is not a normal port of entry, but I'd arranged with our agent in Fiji - Yacht Help, to fly the officials out for the week to facilitate the special clearance for rally participants

This is a massive logistical exercise, but it is fantastic for the yachts as otherwise they'd have to sail straight past the stunning Lau group and sail for another 120NM to Savusavu for clearance and then hang around there to wait for a suitable weather window to get south again to this amazing and remote place.

Once we'd cleared in we had a night at Mbatavu Harbour and met Tony the owner of the Plantation and Vuda and CopraShed marinas Then round to Daliconi village for our sevusevu before exploring the stunning Bay of Islands.

Susui Village in the south of the island put on a fabulous event for the rally participants where they got to experience village life From collecting and preparing food, visiting the school, learning how to weave and exploring the historical sites.

The rally participants also got stuck in and attempted to help repair the village generator and Oscar from Laura Dawn fixed the school computers

Thanks to Jacob from Susui village for coordinating the fantastic village event!

Also special thanks to David & Karen on In Recess for having me on board for a week for the crossing from Tonga to Fiji and then exploring the area I had a wonderful time with them and cruising with the rest of the rally for a few days

Just as the weather started to pack up, I caught the once a week flight out with the Officials back to Nadi where I enjoyed a day out at Cloud 9 to catch up with some of the rally participants over that side, before heading for home.

I am now in the process of setting up the 2024 rally and it is shaping up to be an awesome event! I've got a couple of launches coming up which I'd love you to attend and there will also be a session online. Check out the details later in the newsletter.

I am also about to launch the Rally to NZ for international boats wanting some extra support for their trip to New Zealand and also the South Island Rally this summer! So heaps of awesome sailing adventures coming up

If you are planning on joining us in 2024, it is worth joining the rally early to take advantage of all the fantastic pre-departure inclusions and discounts from our sponsors. Also now is a great time to be getting all the big jobs done on your boat before the influx of sailors from the tropics arrive in October/November.

Happy sailing!