South Pacific Secret

If you've decided to read this story, chances are the photos caught your attention. There's something undeniably appealing about tropical panoramas; cobalt seas, palm-fringed islets, white-sand beaches and endless, brilliant skies - especially to you yachties. But I'll wager you couldn't immediately guess where the photos were taken.

Think tropical and subtropical sailing destinations and the obvious ones spring to mind - the Whitsundays; or further afield, perhaps. There's the Bahamas, the Seychelles, or even Malaysia. But you're still way off.

You are in fact looking at the tiny South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga - home, as it turns out, to one of Sunsail's lesser-known yacht-charter bases.

This serendipitous discovery was made by Trade-A-Boat's editor Geoff Middleton some months ago upon hearing that I'd booked my honeymoon there. Never one to miss a trick, Middo promptly searched the internet for charter companies operating out of Tonga and proposed a working leg to my holiday.

While the word "work" is about as welcome on one's honeymoon as the word "influenza", the pictures on the Sunsail website were as hard to resist as the ones on these pages. Needless to say, the decision to accept the assignment wasn't too difficult. Convincing the wife-to-be was even easier.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Some 2400km north-east of New Zealand lies the Kingdom of Tonga - an archipelago comprising 171 remarkably diverse islands, only 36 of which are inhabited.

Three main island groups make up the kingdom: Tongatapu, home to the country's capital Nuku'alofa; Ha'apai, a haven for divers and sportsfishermen; and Vava'u which, apart from boasting all of the above, is where Sunsail is based - amid some of the world's finest cruising grounds, no less.

Tonga's islands are spread over roughly 700,000 square kilometres of ocean, yet the total land area could fit two and a half times into either Sydney or Melbourne. And with around 110,000 people calling the islands home, even Hobart has a greater population.

The Kingdom of Tonga is the only constitutional monarchy in Polynesia, and the current ruler, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, is best known throughout the rest of the world for the dubious honour of having once been the world's heaviest monarch.

The 1976 Guinness Book of World Records listed him at a whopping 201kg, but nowadays the king - who enjoys as close to unanimous respect and support from his subjects as a present-day monarch could expect - has slimmed down with the help of a good diet and regular exercise. He is now relatively fit, reportedly active, and well into his 80s.

Finally, the word Tonga itself means "south", and the country lies far enough from the equator to enjoy a more comfortable climate than Samoa or the Solomons. But the climate isn't the only pleasant thing in Tonga - Capt James Cook visited the islands in 1773 and 1777 and dubbed them "the Friendly Islands" because of the charming nature of the people he encountered.

And then there's the scenery...

IN AND OUT
There's only one international airport in Tonga and it's on the main island of Tongatapu, around 30 minutes from the capital Nuku'alofa by taxi.

At the time of writing, moves are afoot to upgrade the security of the airport in Vava'u to enable direct international flights; but as it stands, the only way to reach Vava'u is by domestic flight or ferry.

It's not hard to kill a day or two around Nuku'alofa if your inter-island transfer is delayed - which it almost certainly will be if you choose to travel by sea - but you'll be twiddling your thumbs and cursing your luck if you have to stay any longer. To be fair, there are a number of interesting sights and activities around Tongatapu, but generally anything you might do in the area - sailing, gamefishing, hiking, general luxuriating - can be done better in Vava'u. Get there as soon as you can.

Two ferries ply the often wild Pacific waters between Tongatapu and Vava'u, and quite frankly you'd be mad to take either one of them. The trip can take between 16 and 26 hours - depending on which ferry you choose - and the departure schedule is about as regular as an 75-year-old man who's eaten nothing but red meat all his life. And half as reliable.

The domestic flights are thoroughly pleasant and duly recommended. Royal Tongan Airlines went belly up a few weeks before our arrival, which complicated travel arrangements somewhat - but the good news is that two excellent airlines have now emerged in its wake. 'Ea Peau is the better of the two: it offers two flights per day, and the trip will take around one hour in a delightful little DC 3. A taxi into the capital Neiafu will then take only 15 minutes. 

GIMME SHELTER
Whichever way you reach Neiafu, your first glimpse of the Port of Refuge will give you heart palpitations. The quaint little town is built on a natural, sheltered harbour, and just about every vantage point therein affords spectacular views.

Whatever you're into, be it fishing, diving or boozing in the sun, you'll know immediately that you've come to the right place. But make no mistake: Vava'u is, first and foremost, a yachtie's domain - as the huge number of sailing vessels from all over the world will attest.

If you've timed your yacht charter just so, you'll be whisked straight to the base by the company's free transfer service. But if you've arrived under your own steam, you'll surely need a drink. Head to the Bounty Bar - which, like just about everything else in Neiafu, is on Fatafehi Road.

Here you can quaff an ice-cold Ikale (Tonga's local beer); or if that doesn't tickle your fancy - which, alas, it probably won't - try a "Vava'u juice". This is the name given to the ubiquitous papaya, banana and lemon juice served fresh throughout the region, and it's absolutely delicious.

There are several good resorts around Neiafu and a couple of decent hotels. These, together with the great selection of restaurants, bars and other activities, make Vava'u a perfect place to bide your time until your yacht charter is due to begin. But all those sails in the harbour are gonna give you awfully itchy feet... you're much better off hanging around after you've sailed.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST
The Sunsail base is a five-minute stroll down Fatafehi Road and is right beside two Vava'u institutions: the Mermaid Cafe, and Ana's Cafe and Blue Turtle Bar.

Both are constantly bustling with expats of various nations, raucous sailors, tourists, and theme nights including karaoke, trivia and darts. Don't be distracted - there's plenty of time to join in after your trip!

Sunsail has a deserved reputation for excellent customer service, and this is the very first thing you'll notice when you pop in. The women who run the reception - like most Tongans you'll meet, it must be said - are friendly, helpful, perpetually smiling and utterly enchanting.

And then it's on to the briefing, where the sense of friendliness and joviality continues, making an essentially dreary task bearable.

Our host Ray, for instance, frightened the hell out of my wife by telling us - completely deadpan - that alcohol was not permitted on boats, before going on immediately to chastise me for the relatively small amount of beer I'd lugged onboard. And to our question about the likelihood of encountering sharks while snorkelling, possibly the best reply I've ever heard: "Ah, don't worry about it. You're in the Friendly Islands - even the sharks are friendly."

For the inexperienced sailor - or someone with only a few days onboard - the vast number of islands in the Vava'u group can be overwhelming. The briefing therefore takes into account how long you'll be sailing, what your main interests are, and then helps you plot an itinerary as rough or as detailed as you want. Bravo.

MORNING HAS BROKEN
At the time of writing, Sunsail Tonga was in the process of increasing its fleet from eight boats to 12. Most of these are Beneteaus, and they range in size from 28 to 51ft. There are also a couple of catamarans.

We boarded our Beneteau Oceanis 411 Morning Light on a Friday afternoon with instructions to return "whatever time we liked" on Monday - the best kind of deadline as far as this terminally late journo is concerned. We'd decided to provision the boat ourselves, seeing that we had a couple of days before our charter to do so - but like most charterers, provisioning is available if you need it.

Not wanting to tax ourselves too much, we motored to our first night's anchorage at Port Maurelle - a wonderfully sheltered cove named after the Spanish navigator who in 1781 became the first European to make landfall in Vava'u. Maurelle's ship La Princesa, incidentally, was raided by locals for iron not long after he anchored there.

Fearing for Sunsail's supply of cutlery, we took the dinghy to shore to assess the likelihood of being pillaged - but all we found was a gorgeous beach, a stunning black-and-white-banded sea snake swimming about, and a charming English trio who invited us aboard their halfway-round-the-world yacht for sundowners.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
With the steady 15–20kt south-easterly trade wind blowing, we set sail the next morning for the tiny island of Nuku (main pic on opening spread) - favoured as a day anchorage for its white-sand beach to die for and it's easy snorkelling for beginners.

The beach was indeed exceptionally beautiful, but the big surprise was the snorkelling. What we'd thought would be a fairly uneventful swim turned into an exhilarating encounter with a large ray, who may or may not have been chasing me, and a school of squid tickling my stomach on the way to wherever it is squid go.

Excited by the swim, we set sail for our second night's anchorage - yet another sheltered lagoon at Vaka'eitu - which would give us access to the famed Coral Garden snorkelling site the next morning.

We woke to another perfectly sunny day aboard the good ship Morning Light, with which we were rapidly falling in love. The only thing amiss at this point was the lack of tea onboard - the one thing I'd neglected to provision. I'd never realised how addicted I was to the damned stuff, but by Sunday morning I was quite deranged with longing.

Desperation being the mother of invention, I prepared an improvised hot drink consisting of milk, mashed bananas and Kahlua. We downed this concoction intrepidly with breakfast, and I must say that for a first attempt and with very limited supplies, it was surprisingly awful.

Anyway, once it had reached high tide - which is the only way you can swim over the Coral Garden - we took the dinghy around and jumped in. Unfortunately much of the coral was killed by a cyclone in 1990, but it has been recovering well and still made for some lovely sights. 

BLUE HEAVEN
What's a sailing trip to the tropics without a "blue lagoon"? Luckily our guide book indicated that we'd find one nearby, so we set sail soon after for the cove between the islands of Foeata and Foelifuka.

It was around this time that we remembered we hadn't yet used our fishing equipment. We promptly threw a lure off the back of the boat and started daydreaming about wahoo, blue marlin, or any other species we'd been told we might catch.

When we arrived at the blue lagoon and anchored, it became apparent that our anchor chain had bitten our lure. After a brief fight, which was arduous work on stand-up tackle, we retrieved the lure and tagged the chain, releasing it unharmed to fight another day. The stupidity of some marine creatures will never cease to amaze me...

The blue lagoon was nothing if not blue. Astoundingly so. In comparison, Frank Sinatra would be more accurately remembered as Ol' Kind-Of-Bluey-Grey Eyes. And it was as pleasant to swim in and bask beside as it was to gaze upon.

It was a fitting way to spend our final afternoon, and we reluctantly set sail - as the blue lagoon is not a suitable overnight anchorage - to a spot between two inhabited islands. We'd been told that Tongan villagers often row out to yachts at anchor and sell handicrafts, and we were keen for some contact.

But perhaps they sensed that - as it was our last night - we were endeavouring to plough our way through the Ikale we hadn't yet imbibed, and were becoming increasingly boisterous. Whatever the reason, they left us alone.

BETWEEN THE LINES
Deep in the fine print of the contract you sign when you charter a boat is a clause that says you must hand back the boat at the end of your trip without reservation. As I recall, the clause actually uses the word "peacefully".

While I thought this was rather amusing during our pre-charter briefing, I came to understand by the Monday - as we sailed home towards Neiafu on a broad reach - exactly why the clause was worded that way. Sunsail's 41ft Morning Light had been so well appointed, so comfortable, and had made us feel so at home that it was only my lack of a tame parrot that stopped me hoisting the skull and crossbones and sailing off into the sunset.

In three days of sailing, we barely scratched the surface of the wonders of cruising Vava'u. As it says in Sailingbird's Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga - an indispensable book of charts and relevant information: "On average, for every nautical mile a vessel travels - in any direction - there are 4.8 picturesque islands."

Of the 60 or so islands in the Vava'u group, we may have seen about 25 of them. And with each island comes new adventures like diving, caving, participating in traditional Tongan feasts and dancing - all of which we simply didn't have the time to explore.

Sailing in Tonga offers a unique look at South Pacific life, and a bareboat charter provides the ultimate way to experience it. Best of all, with competitive charter prices, a favourable exchange rate, and at a manageable distance from Australia - with comparable airfares to, say, FNQ - a Sunsail Tongan getaway offers the perfect alternative to the same ol' same ol'.

Where are you going for your next holiday?

When to go
Vava'u enjoys temperatures between 21 and 33°C. Most rainfall generally occurs between early January and late April.

December is peak charter season, but July to November is a great time to sail as sightings of humpback whales with their newly born offspring are common.

International airfares
Between $700 and $1000 for return fares depending on airline and time of travel.

Transfers to Vava'u
Ferry: 110 pa'anga (about $AU76) return contact Taufonua Travel in Nuku'alofa, tel +1 (676) 23 052 or visit www.taufonua.com

Plane: $NZ285 (about $AU258) return (booked through Sunsail Australia)

CHARTER bookings & INFO
Tongan reservations are handled by Sunsail's Australian office. For charter costs and more information, tel 1800 803 988 or visit www.sunsail.com.au.

PREPARING TO CHARTER
Yacht chartering can be daunting for the uninitiated, but companies like Yachtmaster in Melbourne can smooth out the doubts and lead to a more enjoyable holiday.

Experienced yachties in the Whitsundays and abroad share a private game, I'm told. They sit for hours at anchor, quaffing chilled articles and guffawing at the countless young honeymooners embarking on bareboat adventures.

"Darling, pull that sheet," hubby will shout. "No, that's a sail... I mean that rope down there. Yes, I know it looks more like a sheet than a rope does... just pull the rope. Pull. Pull it!

"Alright, alright, you take the wheel. With that hand. That hand. No, don't let the sheet go! Oh for the love of God - just take the damned wheel..."

On it goes, couple after couple; and I'm told it doesn't get any less hilarious.

Well, yo ho ho and a bottle of Captain Morgan. The very height of nautical humour it may well be, but when this novice sailor got wind of the cruel pastime a few months before his sailing honeymoon in Tonga, he got a little nervous. But what to do?

MASTER CLASSES
While the thought of participating in a sailing course had crossed my mind, I hadn't made any serious enquiries. You see, I had no need to learn the basics of sailing, yet an intermediate or advanced course would be beyond my capabilities and requirements.

Problem was, a sailing novice who wanted to charter a boat without the assistance of experienced yachties was - apart from being a fool - stuck between the gaps in conventional sailing school programs. Or so it seemed until I shared these concerns with Gordon Syme - proprietor of Melbourne's Yachtmaster Sailing School.

In addition to all the usual courses, Yachtmaster offers one called "Prepare to Charter", which is precisely what a prospective honeymoon charterboat skipper could use. Conducted over two full days, it covers everything you need to know about chartering a yacht confidently and safely.

The course is designed predominantly for people with a moderate amount of sailing experience, although the instructors and lessons are somewhat flexible. Our instructor, for instance, tweaked the course's running order and content a little to cater for the fact that my classmate and I were closer to beginners than intermediates.

SAFETY FIRST
The course begins, naturally enough, with a series of demonstrations and lectures on safety equipment and procedures. After all, if there's anything more embarrassing than having a bunch of crusty old salts laughing at you as you depart the charter base, it's having to radio them later for assistance.

For the Prepare to Charter course, you'll find yourself aboard the S&S 34 Crystal - an unbreakable boat if ever there was one. And soon enough, once you've demonstrated your understanding of all things safe, you're ready for the fun part.

The first day of the course is likely to take you from Royal Brighton Yacht Club, where Yachtmaster is based, to Williamstown. On the way, you'll practise handling the boat under motor; preparing, hoisting, trimming and reefing the sails; and coping with the inevitable problems that arise - all shorthanded, which is more than likely the way you'll be sailing on a charterboat.

Once you reach the Williamstown Yacht Club, you'll have a chance to put your knowledge of "rules of the road" to work - particularly if you arrive during a Saturday morning race. You'll then have a go at manoeuvring the yacht through tight spots.

After a leisurely lunch, you head back to Brighton, hopefully with fewer problems than you experienced on the way over - and, if you're as lucky as we were, with the opportunity to pole out the headsail for an effortless run home.

GETTING AROUND
The second day's briefing is concerned primarily with navigation and tides - perhaps the most important thing you'll need to understand on a charterboat.

You might head to Sandringham Yacht Club this time, practising everything you mastered on the first day. Again, problems are bound to arise - like running aground - but you'd have to do much worse than that to shatter the nerve of your fearless instructor.

At Sandringham you'll practise docking, and then on the way back out, anchoring - which, instructor David James advises, is the number-one cause of couples getting into blues on charterboats, thereby tarnishing their "cocktail hour". And preserving one's good humour for the cocktail hour should be a key priority, Mr James says.

Touche, Cap'n. I mean, aye.

CONFIDENCE: JUST ADD WATER
Back at Brighton, a thorough debriefing and Q&A session ends the course. You emerge with a certificate to attest to your new knowledge - which Yachtmaster says is recognised by all reputable charter operators - but more importantly, with the absolute confidence to tackle your holiday.

At $395 for two full days of sailing, the cost of the course is negligible - especially when you compare it to the cost of your bareboat charter, and to the hefty bond you'll forfeit should something go "crunch" once you're underway.

More significant than cost, however, is the practical knowledge and support you'll receive through Yachtmaster, which may ultimately determine the difference between the holiday of a lifetime and a disaster.

And the haunting sound of drunken sailors cackling at you.

For more information on this course and the many others run by Yachtmaster Sailing School, tel (03) 9699 9425 or visit www.yachtmaster.com.au