Boat Name: Bamboozle
Home Port: London, England (United Kingdom)
Date of Acceptance: September 6, 2010
Place of Acceptance: Suwarrow (Cook Islands)
Lucy and Jamie of Sailing Yacht Bamboozle
We were delighted to sign the Little Pea Green Book on the crew of the good ship Bamboozle (a 53' Amel Super Maramu Ketch) in Suwarrow (S13°16' W163°06') in the Cook Islands, and then to carry him for the next 580 nautical miles on to Apia (S13°59' W171°45') in Samoa, and then a further couple of hundred miles on to the wonderfully named Niuatoputapu (S15°57'236" W173°46'242") - known by some cruisers who struggle with the pronunciation as New Potatoes! - in the Kingdom of Tonga.
This beautiful and remote island was catastrophically affected by a tsunami nearly a year ago on September 30, 2009 and despite much hard work it is obvious that the islanders are still struggling to recover. Given the scale of the destruction, it is remarkable that only 10 people were killed (out of a total population of just over 1,000) by the huge wave that engulfed much of the island and destroyed many of the buildings and houses, as well as the boats and crops which provided a livelihood for this community based on fishing and farming.
Despite this recent trauma, the locals are tremendously welcoming and friendly and the island remains a very special spot, cut off from the outside world apart from a weekly small aircraft flight from Nukualofa and the very occasional visit of the supply boat. The supply boat is actually out of service at the moment so the island is in need of the few staples they do not catch or grow themselves, which gives the cruising boats a chance to do something worthwhile arriving with extra supplies of flour and tools, and even giving their labour to help with the construction of so many desperately needed new houses.
At the end of our wonderful stay in Niuatoputapu, we sailed on south to the Vava'u Group just in time to join in with a regatta and cruising rendezvous in Neiafu (S138°39' W173°59') which brought together many of the boats and friends we have met over the last few months while crossing from Panama. As the Pea Green Book is fast learning, it doesn't need much of an excuse for cruisers to get together for a celebration and a week of races, fancy dress competitions, pub crawls...and a huge full moon party exhausted even the most dedicated and hardcore revellers.
We still have many islands and bays to explore here in Tonga, but in just 3 or 4 weeks time, we will be heading on towards New Zealand for the summer and to avoid the South Pacific cyclone season. We have had a magical year cruising across the Pacific and it has been a pleasure to have the Pea Green Book aboard for a small part of the trip.
After 6 years, we're not sure when we will be back to the "real world", but for more info, our blog is www.blog.mailasail.com/bamboozle. Enjoy!
