So here we are

Well we've been in Vava-u, the Northern Islands of Tonga, for several weeks now I think, to be honest though I've totally lost track of time and wouldn't be surprised if I've accidentally been here several years, which seems to happen to alot of people here, most of the people that own bars anyway, maybe it's the pace of life here, maybe it's the local beer.....
Anyway, the Islands are incredibly beautiful and grouped really close together which makes it really easy to pootle out and about on Lilly then pootle back to Niafu (the main town) pick up a few green peppers (the only vegetable currently available in Tonga) and then pootle off again. We found an incredible anchorage on the far east coast with amazing azure lagoons on one side of the islands and the crashing waves of the pacific on the other. The Islands were made of unbelievably spiky rock built to destroy feet and seriously injure anyone stupid enough to fall on them, clearly my balance is impeccable and only the new scar on my knee would suggest otherwise.
The other exciting thing about this Island apart from the blowholes and the sharks circling the boat (seriously, they can smell pirate blood from 50,000 miles away) was that I walked up a hill for the first time in months, it's amazing how much I've missed height having spent so long at sea level and it felt pretty exciting to walk UP for once!

Here's a picture of Lilly looking pretty low when we reached our top speed so far of 9 knots....woohooooooooo!!!!!!



We've just recovered from a crew changeover, dried our tears and put everything back where it should be, and would like to say a very sad but very fond farewell to Pirate Pedro, the secret vegetarian, and all his failed fish spearing missions...

And to Harry, the Pirate with a blond moustache, whose cooking skills and general ability to make anything out of anything will be sadly missed


We now have two Lahndeners on board, Pete and Chris, and life is good. The sea air is just so good for your hair and skin you know.