Clearing In to Tonga

August 8, 2014

Upon arrival in the Neiafu, we located the fishing wharf that we were directed to tie up to in order for the formalities to begin.  This was not the kind of dock you prefer to tie your yacht up to, if you know what I mean. It is a non-floating concrete dock with plenty of sharp spots and pokey things to mark your fiberglass or pop your fenders.  One of our friends actually sustained some damage to their standing rigging while tied up there, but they were there on a particularly bluster day and were blown pretty hard into the dock.  

When we pulled up there wasn’t any room for Exodus, so we stood off until we saw an official looking guy on shore clearly directing us over to the nearby commercial dock.  Now, this dock looked even worse!  It was higher from the waterline and had large tires tied alongside to serve as bumpers for the large ships but would have been no good for Exodus. Best case we get a few large black marks, but worst case our deck actually slides underneath one of the tires and then gets smashed by the surge.  No thanks.  We told the guy, as nicely as we could, that we would just wait for a spot at the other dock.  Then one of the local fishing boats called Whalesong offered to let us side tie to them while we check in.  This was the best we could hope for.  Tying to this boat was WAY better than being up against the dock.  

We had a light lunch while we were waiting our turn in the check-in queue, and soon enough we were boarded by two officials: one from customs and the other from quarantine.  To be polite I put out some cookies and served them tea, and it didn’t take too long for us to realize that there was really no purpose for them to board Exodus other than to eat our cookies and ask us for stuff.  They didn’t search anything, and they weren’t too concerned about what food we were bringing in or how much alcohol we had.  In fact, the alcohol I listed just prompted them to ask us for a bottle of wine.  They made some small talk asking us if we caught any fish along the way, and when we said yes, they asked for some.  They also asked for WD-40.  Now, we’ve been accustomed to trading for things, in fact it was our impression that most people are proud and they aren’t looking for a handout.  They want the trade to be fair, and in a lot of cases they’ve wanted to give US extra things.  There were only a couple times we were flat out asked for stuff, but this was the first time it was by the governmental officials.  Everywhere else we have been they have been extremely professional.  Even Mexico, that has such a bad rep for corruption, had stand-up officials.  

There were fees, not a huge amount, but since we didn’t have Tongan money yet, I had to take a short walk to the ATM in order to complete our check-in.  On the way I was stopped by a man selling bread, and he asked me how many loaves I wanted.  He gave me a price for three loaves, and I offered him 1/3 the price for 2 loaves.  He accepted, and said he would have the bread for me when I walked back, and I was feeling proud of myself for such a good haggle. Then I popped into a store and saw just how cheap bread really was.  When I saw the man on my way back he had 3 loaves of bread and asked me for his original price.  I was fully prepared to honor my deal even though it was WAY overpriced, but here he was trying to really gouge me.  I held firm and paid him what I said I would for two loaves, and politely declined when he asked if I needed any laundry done or any courtesy flags.

After we were done with customs and quarantine, we were told to go ahead and go take a mooring and then later that afternoon to walk to immigration to check in with them.  We learned later that immigration usually comes to the boat too, but since it was lunch hour, they didn’t make it for us.  Immigration check in was easy. The immigration official did not ask for anything, and he was very pleasant.  Afterwards, we walked around town to acclimate ourselves.  We found the duty-free alcohol shop, and their rules there are a bit strange.  Usually, you can purchase duty free alcohol upon checking out of a country, but in Tonga they allowed you to buy duty free up to 24 hours within checking in, based on your passport stamps.  I bought one bottle of Bundaberg rum, but that’s about it.  The selection wasn’t very good, and the prices were still quite high.  However, in Tonga we have found something we haven’t had in a long time: GOOD BEER.