Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga

August 11, 2018

We’ve spent the past month in the Vava’u group of islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. This is a cruisers’ paradise. Unfortunately 17 of those days were spent in the boatyard. The boatyard was by far, the best boatyard I’ve been in. It had green grass, hot showers, a horse, friendly dogs, and the occasional chicken. We repainted the bottom of our boat and raised the waterline a few inches because our beloved SV Beach Flea has added a few extra pounds. After escaping the yard, we spent some time in the eastern outer islands, having near perfect beaches to ourselves or sharing them with just a few other boats. Abby and Luke met up with the Victoria, Johnathan, and Benjamin aboard SV Fluenta. They decided to camp out on their own island one night, building a tradition beach tale, complete with a palm frond roof. They each had a list of survivor essentials, complete with the making for S’mores. While the kids ate sausages and beans roasted over a camp fire, the adults had dinner aboard SV Beach Flea with wine and dessert. It was a great night. The next few days involved beachcombing for shells and finding what we refer to as Tongan puka shells, little round disks with holes in their center. Perfect for a jewelry elective in our boat school. See the photos below.