The trip that wasn't
The trip to Tonga – That wasn’t.
Some of my regular readers have asked - “What was the trip to Tonga Like?” Answer - I don’t know.
Due to a number of factors way beyond my control I did not go.
On the 26th April I went to Auckland all packed and ready to sail. During the weekend prior the skipper had phoned to say that we would not be sailing on the Tuesday as planned. As Lorna was going up for work on Tuesday I went with ther expecting to leave later in the week. I did not enjoy messing about in the big city, although I was able to spend some quality granchild time.
There were a number of things not ready on the boat including a vandalised life raft which had been stabbed – most likely before Dave bought the boat. There was also no SSB radio, which is the main means of communication way out in the ocean.
By the end of the week it was obvious we would not be sailing for a couple of weeks so we came home. I was able to paint and install some bookshelves we had bought before I left for my trip. Because of the delay we would not be able to meet our return flights from the Vavau group to Tonga, so Lorna’s trip was cancelled, with a loss of $120 on the air fares.
A week or so later I went to Auckland all set to sail on the Tuesday, only to be told it would be towards the end of the week. I stupidly left my bags in the car parked on the side of the road. Naturally it got broken into and my small bag (Carry on luggage) was taken. This had my passport in it. Damn! I spent Wednesday organising insurance, replacement of a broken sidelight and an emergency passport. That evening one of the neighbours phoned to say he had picked up my bag and belongings while walking his dog that morning.
Next morning I cancelled the insurance claim and we came home. I had lost a pair of thermal gloves, (I had bought two pairs) and a beanie. The robbers had left an umbrella in the car so apart from the $300 for an emergency passport the loss was not too great. The plan at that stage was for me to pick up the new passport on Monday morning and hop on the boat at the Admiralty steps whereupon we would sail off into the wild blue yonder.
On Sunday Dave phoned to say that we would not be leaving early so we did not go to Auckland until Monday morning (another night in my own bed!). A call later in the day informed me that there was trouble with the electrics and we would meet in town in the morning. The skipper thought he would take the boat to Westhaven for the night to get an early start.
Tuesday morniing I had a hearty breakfast, dressed in my thermal underwear and sailing clothes and was heading towards the car when I had a phone call to say that the electrics were still not fixed and there would be further delay.
At this point I decided that the trip was off for me. We went out to the boat and it was in greater disarray than I expected. The SSB radio was still not installed! I sold Dave the Pa’anga I had bough the day before and we came home.
We had rebookeded our return flights in the islands again and when we received the refund the exchange rates had improved and we recouped most of the penalty we had been charged.
The next couple of weeks were spent explaining why I was in town.
Some of my regular readers have asked - “What was the trip to Tonga Like?” Answer - I don’t know.
Due to a number of factors way beyond my control I did not go.
On the 26th April I went to Auckland all packed and ready to sail. During the weekend prior the skipper had phoned to say that we would not be sailing on the Tuesday as planned. As Lorna was going up for work on Tuesday I went with ther expecting to leave later in the week. I did not enjoy messing about in the big city, although I was able to spend some quality granchild time.
There were a number of things not ready on the boat including a vandalised life raft which had been stabbed – most likely before Dave bought the boat. There was also no SSB radio, which is the main means of communication way out in the ocean.
By the end of the week it was obvious we would not be sailing for a couple of weeks so we came home. I was able to paint and install some bookshelves we had bought before I left for my trip. Because of the delay we would not be able to meet our return flights from the Vavau group to Tonga, so Lorna’s trip was cancelled, with a loss of $120 on the air fares.
A week or so later I went to Auckland all set to sail on the Tuesday, only to be told it would be towards the end of the week. I stupidly left my bags in the car parked on the side of the road. Naturally it got broken into and my small bag (Carry on luggage) was taken. This had my passport in it. Damn! I spent Wednesday organising insurance, replacement of a broken sidelight and an emergency passport. That evening one of the neighbours phoned to say he had picked up my bag and belongings while walking his dog that morning.
Next morning I cancelled the insurance claim and we came home. I had lost a pair of thermal gloves, (I had bought two pairs) and a beanie. The robbers had left an umbrella in the car so apart from the $300 for an emergency passport the loss was not too great. The plan at that stage was for me to pick up the new passport on Monday morning and hop on the boat at the Admiralty steps whereupon we would sail off into the wild blue yonder.
On Sunday Dave phoned to say that we would not be leaving early so we did not go to Auckland until Monday morning (another night in my own bed!). A call later in the day informed me that there was trouble with the electrics and we would meet in town in the morning. The skipper thought he would take the boat to Westhaven for the night to get an early start.
Tuesday morniing I had a hearty breakfast, dressed in my thermal underwear and sailing clothes and was heading towards the car when I had a phone call to say that the electrics were still not fixed and there would be further delay.
At this point I decided that the trip was off for me. We went out to the boat and it was in greater disarray than I expected. The SSB radio was still not installed! I sold Dave the Pa’anga I had bough the day before and we came home.
We had rebookeded our return flights in the islands again and when we received the refund the exchange rates had improved and we recouped most of the penalty we had been charged.
The next couple of weeks were spent explaining why I was in town.
posted by Mike and Lorna @ 10:17 PM
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