We had a glorious day sail from Kelefesia in the Ha’apai group down to the island group of Tongatapu, which is the southern-most island group in Tonga and also where the capital city of Nuku’alofa is located. We arrived at Big Mama’s Yacht Club on the small island of Pangaimotu on a Thursday, and our plan was to clear out of Tonga the following Thursday at the latest because our visas would expire on that Saturday. We met that goal of being ready to leave, but the weather smacked us down and reminded us that we will leave when mother nature says it’s time. We ended up staying 16 days at Big Mama’s, reanchoring twice: once to move in closer to get out of the wind so Tim could go up the mast and once after returning from the fuel dock. We finally left Tonga on Saturday, 15 November, with an entire fleet of southbound boats. After a two-day passage we spent three absolutely magical days at Minerva Reef before embarking on the dreaded passage to New Zealand. That passage turned out to be one of our easiest, and we pulled onto the quarantine dock in Opua just before midnight on Wednesday, 26 November.
Gresham Family Exodus 