Hazardous Mooring Balls

August 28, 2014

Neiafu is basically a big mooring field. There are places to anchor, but they are further away from the dinghy docks, and the moorings are only $15 Pa’anga (Tongan currency) per night, so we usually just pick up a ball. One of the times when we were leaving our mooring ball, I had a serious lapse in judgement. Normally when departing, after dropping the mooring ball you intentionally drift back a bit in order to clear the ball before moving forward. This time I just plowed forward and all of sudden I hear a “thunk!” and the port engine cuts out and the electrical let’s out the continuous beep you normally hear when you’ve switched power to the engine starter but haven’t started it yet. Tim and I both realized right away what I had done. I was mortified. We moved away from the mooring field and out into the channel under one engine, and then Tim inspected everything to make sure there was no structural damage to the engine or the housing. Out here, you have to keep your wits about you continually. A small lapse in judgement can end up being catastrophic. Luckily, this time it wasn’t.