Taking Another Tack

“hark, now hear the sailors cry, 

smell the sea, and feel the sky 
let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic...” 
― Van Morrison

WE DID IT!!!

...We hadn't quite crossed the Pacific... We hadn't made it to Australia or even to New Zealand.

...We hadn't set any records or claimed any new territory. (But at least our mums were proud)

...But we also hadn't died... Or sunk...  Or had to cannibalise each other.

No, we hadn't quite accomplished what we had set out to do; but we had however sailed 8023.6 nautical miles (14 859.7072 km - straight line) in a 27 foot boat (8m)

And instead of abandoning our fair [and somewhat broken] Yoldia, we'd steered her to a safe haven for the cyclone season.

With some of the easiest sailing we had had in a long time; we arrived in Tonga.

While the joys of land and new adventures stirred; a sorrow crept in as we moored for the last time.

The little vessel that kept going even when we couldn't, that had taken us to some of the most remarkable places on earth, through the biggest ocean on the planet was finally getting some rest (And hopefully some paint and a clean)

And so it was that I finished the longest hitch hike of my life. It was, if you remember, only meant to be a 2 week trip. 

It was a massive milestone for the captain too - He had sailed more than half way around the world in the little bath tub.

 And while it was a hard decision, he was ready for a new adventure; and so it was that Karl-Oskar stepped down from his fascist dictatorship and handed over the captaincy. 

A new era for Yoldia - Karl taking a step back and Jonas taking over.

With salt still pumping through our veins, and tears still streaming down our cheeks, we boarded the ferry and set off for the capital, Nukualofa.

I have never seen so many people throwing up as I did that day... even Karl (a viking at heart) joined in on the funtivities. 

Tired and smelly and heavily burdened with life belongings; we dragged ourselves into a small B&B where we had our first hot shower in 8 months.

Where 6 months ago, without propane or cereal,  we had endured bread crumbs and water for breakfast - we now feasted on three course meals served to our table. And we didn't even have to wash up.

But in less than 24 hours, we were experiencing Severe Boat Withdrawal Symptoms (SBWS) and headed down to the docks where we were happy to bump into old friends!

Please note the facial expressions associated with SBWS)

The friends came in handy too because Karl woke up one morning with shrek-sized feet and lovely doctor Tom got to spend a morning squirting pussy gooyness all over Jerry's cockpit. 

At least Pepe enjoyed cleaning it up

While we waited for our Australian visas to come through, we became "regte-egte" tourists for a bit

We visited the blow holes in Tongatapu.

We took a ferry out to Pangalau Island to visit big mama

We marveled at cyclone damage and were quite glad that we wouldn't be sailing in one

We chilled on the beach

And we drank too much beer

And then finally we grew tired of waiting for our visas. 

The rest of the world looked forward to the holidays while we, after a year and a half of sailing, looked forward to work.

Thinking they [the visas] would be approved at any moment, we put the sailing world completely behind us, booked our flights and set off to New Zealand.

We were only going to be there a couple of days...

Normally I'm against flying but did you know that in 3 hours of air time we covered a distance that would have taken us three weeks?
We were also given soft seats, served a meal and wine (while we watched the hobbit) and we didn't  get wet, or have to steer or navigate...
I might need to reconsider this flying thing a bit!

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.

[Remarks at the Dinner for the America's Cup Crews, September 14 1962]” 
― John F. Kennedy

Tahiti to Tonga - A Gypsies Tale by Adeena SomethingSomething

By looking back at pictures from the last few months I think I'm starting to realize why so many people have mistaken us for hippies - but in  fact we´re gypsies - there is a difference!!!´I shave my legs and beard sometimes...

While we had learned to overcome far too many adversities, and managed to keep the boat afloat (just),

I think the sea air finally started getting to us!

Still the ocean lured us on to new adventures. You´d imagine that there is a limit to the amount of beautiful places a person can visit in their lifetime, but each island group of the Pacific proved that wrong!

Tahiti was the exception, but at least there were other things to get us through:

Very few people in the Pacific still have functional outboard engines, those that have always lend a friendly tow!

Tahiti was full of good people

Karl´s chilling up the mast to construct our fourth, and hopefully final, new mast head thanks to the help of all our friendly neighbours

Good food:

The Swedes were happier than ever with their Knuckelbrood and pickled herring!

There was good beer (Albeit crazy expensive)

No, Tahiti was not nearly as nice as the rest of the Pacific, but it was an important stop.

Like so many others who have completed the 3600 mile landless ocean crossing, it's a bit of a shock coming to actual civilization. And for those who have had troubles on the way - either with the boat or worse, with the crew- its the first place you can dump either and I'm not going to pretend like we weren't thinking of leaving Yoldia behind....

The captain was getting tired of sailing

And the first mate was getting scared of it

But the more we spoke to other yachties, the more we believed we could and should carry on

And so the four of us continued into the unknown.

This time we were fortunate enough to have all our rigging, propane, and four helmsmen!

We did have a few minor problems (Shackles disappearing, halyards coming loose, sails getting ripped...) but this was all easily solved with duct tape, WD40 and fishing line - what more could you possibly need??

It took only 11 days days before we saw land again and the boys were stoked!

But with the sun setting, we heaved to and enjoyed a kask (Vodka and coffee) or few while we waited for the morning light.

Aittutaki (Cook Islands) in the distance

We're glad we waited too because the channel was the narrowest and shallowest yet!!

After licking land hello and meeting several friendly and bizarre immigration officers, we ventured off to explore

There had been far too many run ins with mangy mutts, so Karl was happy enough to find that there were no dogs at all on the island. They were banished after one of them ate a kings child back in a decade long gone

The other amazing thing about Aittutaki was their primary belief in the wrongness of Sunday flights.

And while we could understand some of their non communicable diseases, we're still trying to work out how physical activity can be bad for you.

The island was full of other beautiful surprises too

Apart from the $64 pp departure tax, it was a great visit and we were sad to leave.

But the ocean was kind to us once more

And while our diets got better, our hairstyles got worser.

The islands got closer together and it took only six days (7 vomits) of sailing to get to Niue and only three days to check in after arrival.

Duty free liquor was available too and the boys made the most of it.

We enjoyed other things about Niue too, even with the no nudity rules.

After our first few days, the seas turned crazy and, unable to dinghy back, we were forced to spend nights ashore - the first since October last year - man is it weird sleeping on solid ground!

While we were the only yacht about (apart from the one just confiscated after the owner was deported to the states for kidnapping his own son) we may have been a little too close to the supply ship that suddenly arrived in the middle of the night.... 

I love the size contrast of both the vessels and their tenders...

With the hurricane season upon us we had yet another serious crew meeting. The boat needed a rest, some paint, some waterproofing and some serious TLC. The crew were all tired of being mistaken as hippies. They needed showers, clean cloths and a psychiatrist or two. 

And so it was decided that Tonga would be the last destination for this year.

We set the sails one last time and ventured off into the abyss.