18 October 2024 –Tonga -Vava’u Group- Anchor Drag

Before I start I should say thanks to my network but I think I may have found crew for the New Zealand to Sydney leg in early January 2025 -so that is great.

We went to bed and all was quiet but in the night the wind got up and we were quite exposed in our anchorage. Initially we were fine but as the wind got stronger we were not sure whether we were dragging. Our anchor is a good one but it does need to dig in and although we go through certain procedures to check you never quite know. I put the anchor alarm on (which goes off if we move) and in time it went off. It appeared as if we had slipped from the shallow water into the deeper water. This took some time to establish but it became clear that we had dragged and were now in deep water (50m) and our anchor must be just jangling down below us. We had plenty of space behind us so it was not dangerous.  

Once I realised we had dragged I rang the bell and got everyone up. It was 3.30am. We upped the anchor and we had two choices -try again at the same anchorage or go on to Neiafu, which was where we were intending to go anyway in the morning. I thought about it and thought it would be tricky to try again when the holding may not be that good. I  therefore decided we would slowly go back to Neiafu in the dark. Things are very different at night and look different. Luckily we had taken this route in the day so I had tracks on the chart plotter we could follow. We came out of Otua bay and then were on the route toward Neiafu. There was a cruise ship anchored which we could clearly see with the lights lit up on it and we could also see it on the plotter.

There were two sets of buoys we needed to pass between in order to get to Neiafu and I did not know whether they would be lit. As we approached we could see two red lights (one above the other) flashing on the cliffs above which was leading us to the first set of buoys. We followed this and could see the red and green buoys flashing so I knew where to aim for. It can be very deceptive at night so you need to know which one is flashing and where it is.

We came through the first set of buoys and then I looked for the second. I had seen the green starboard light flashing when approaching the first set of buoys but there was no flashing red. I know you do not want to cut the corner to the green due to a shallow patch. We came round leaving the green flashing buoy to our right and entered the bay. Although there appeared to be space on the wharf I thought it will be light enough in 45 minutes to see what we were doing so decided to slowly motor up and down the bay out of trouble. By about 5.45am it was starting to get light and I could see enough to go and anchor where we had before off an old wharf. We motored over to the same spot and anchored. As we did so we heard an American shout – I have seen yachts drag from that point. We anchored anyway.

There was supposed to be a bit of a storm coming through over the next 24-36 hours. We sorted ourselves out and Keith and I anchored. Everyone else had gone to bed other than Sean who stayed with us.

We got settled and all of us had a rest and then a late breakfast. We got the dinghy down and the American shouted could he have a word. I went over to see him and he explained that he almost lost his boat in Hawaii when yachts dragged their anchor. He said he had been here 3 months and had seen yachts drag from where we are as everyone else is on buoys. I said I was going to see if we can find a buoy or other place to anchor.

We went ashore leaving Keith behind to keep an eye on the boat and our anchoring position. The ladies put in a load of washing and we went to Club Tropicana where the CLA HLR rep was based. He told us the best shops to use and I discussed with him about buoys etc. He suggested I spoke to Hap who I had organised to clean Stormbird’s hull. I left all the others here having a coffee etc and did some shopping for some bread, cheese and got some muesli and yoghurt and some bread from Club Tropicana.  I went to see Hap but he had no buoys left and said we should be ok where we were. He said he could come down about 1.00pm and have a look at the anchor before he started cleaning.

I left everyone ashore and returned to Stormbird to put things away and Keith and I had an enjoyable cup of tea and then lunch.  Hap the diver came and he had a look at our anchor and said it was on its side and that there were quite a few rocks etc which should stop us if we dragged. He and his colleague then proceeded to clean Stormbird’s hull which we need clean for New Zealand.

I went ashore after lunch to visit customs but they said come back tomorrow. Keith thought on my return that we may have moved slightly. He and I then snorkelled and tried to see the anchor but it was too murky for us to see where it was on the bottom.

I went to collect the others at about 5.10pm and they had got the washing and so we returned to Stormbird. The odd thing was according to the forecast we were supposed to be having 22-29 kts of wind from the North. However, we did not have this and had sunny very calm conditions. I went to see the American and explained that there were no buoys for us and no other anchorage positions. We would, however, stay on channel 26 on the VHF and would have an anchor watch throughout the night. If he had any concerns then he should call us. He seemed reassured.

We had a nice sundowner and then Carolyn and Erika made what we thought was sweet potato -sort of chips but they were quite hard with tuna steaks and green beans. This was enjoyable and fun. We planned our anchor watch (to check we are not dragging) during the night and this would mean 1.5 hours each and it seemed a bit unnecessary. However, better to be safe than sorry. We wondered when the wind forecast would arrive. The rain did arrive but not the wind so far.

We will see what the night will hold and the conditions tomorrow. The picture of the day is us coming into Neiafu.      

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com