Subj: News from High Drama: Preparation for the passage to New Zealand
Date: 10/16/2001 12:00:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Jut a quick note to update you on our crew status to New Zealand. Bob from Misty Dawn said he would love to sail with us to NZ. Bob spent 13 of his 36 years as a professional river raft guide. While some of his experience involved taking passengers hire on rough rivers, he frequently guided expeditions into the bush for companies like National Geographic. He has traveled in 55 countries while in the course of his guide work. He has a great ability to fix stuff, and is a trained EMT. He sails the hell out of his Block Island 40. I think we would have gone without crew except for Ann's sciatic pain, which gets worse on passages, and then she can't sleep, so it hits her harder. Plus, she is nervous about this passage.

The passage from Tonga to New Zealand, a distance of about 1200 miles, takes us out of the tropics and the wintertime (Southern Hemisphere) trade winds. We will be traveling into the less settled Springtime weather of New Zealand. The object is to stay in the tropics (we are still in Northern Tonga) until just before the cyclone season ("hurricanes" in the Northern Hemisphere) starts, but long enough to avoid the springtime gales off the New Zealand coast. The timing is dicey because the highs and lows move through every 5-7 days, so on a 10 day passage, you can expect to get hit once. We expect to leave Vava'u Tonga around November 1.

A few days ago Bob came over and we talked for an hour or so about our philosophy and equipment. We made a list of things to check, and then he went up the mast to inspect the rigging. Shortly after he left, George Lindley, our insurance agent, sent an email saying that our insurance carrier wanted a "written cyclone plan." Since they already know we are headed to NZ to avoid cyclones, they must mean a detailed plan of what to do if the avoidance strategy fails. I have been reviewing books by the Dashews, the Pardeys, and others about heavy weather sailing. While we are still having fun relaxing in a dozen different beautiful anchorages, we are knocking off a few boat projects each day. Within the next two weeks We will sail with our storm sails and test our drogue, a device that you trail off the stern running downwind to keep the boat aligned with the dominant waves so you don't roll or pitchpole. Most cruisers sail for years without setting a drogue or storm sails, but we might as well practice! Preparing and having a third crew member may well work like carrying an umbrella. It won't rain.

Tonga is a beautiful spot and boats from many nations pass through here, with quite a number heading south to New Zealand. There is quite a gathering of friends, many of whom we have not seen since Panama or Ecuador. A few are starting the NZ passage now, but most will wait for the first of November. There is still much to do here including diving and snorkeling. Plus, when we go back into the town of Neiafu for periodic re-supply, there are many organized games, races, and celebrations at the two pubs. Last night we saw the video of Vava'u whales shot by a professional filming for TV. Magnificent, and almost like being in there with them again.

Let us hear how you are doing.

Jeff & Ann
S/V High Drama
Vava'u
Kingdom of Tonga

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Subj: Foul weather and Looking Good
Date: 10/8/2001 1:34:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Although it rarely happens in places as beautiful as this, the wind has piped up and the weather has been quite rainy for the last 10 days. Word of Ann' skills as a jewelry maker and barber spread through the 75 boats pinned down by weather in Neiafu, the largest town in Northern Tonga. She made a delightful small dolphin out of silver with gold inlay for Dianna Simon, for her 50th birthday. The project smoked out a number of other jewelry repair projects. Ann's skills cutting hair sometimes transcends mere barbering and she could fairly be called a makeover artist. This week, however, the women whose hair she cut were blessed with uncommon good looks, and her job was to avoid messing them up. As far as my untrained eye could discern, she succeeded.

Friends from five different boats conspired to give a surprise birthday party for Dianna Simon. Dianna's husband, author Alvah Simon, is back at the Annapolis boat show where he is lecturing and working for Cruising World magazine. A potluck complete with a Tongan quartet unfolded on Elana, a very large catamaran. Gag gifts included an arm extender for help with reading, a bosom lift patterned loosely after a boson's chair, and a do it yourself face lift kit using gray duct tape. Dianna accepted her roasting with grace and dignity.

Last Friday we again entered High Drama in the Moorings "fun" race. I lightened her this week by disposing of five magazines and an old paperback book. However, additional people heard about the post race party last week and asked to sail with us. By the time the race started, we had a crew of 15, which is enough to have 2.8 people for every crew job. Most of the women sailed in the aft cockpit sipping a cool drink. Our goal was to sail well, and at all costs, to look good.

We had an excellent start on the favored end near the starting buoy. (There is only one buoy that marks the start. In this race, two points are NOT required to make a straight line. Actually, the starting "line" is a wedge shaped zone rather than a line, a fact that we used to our advantage. In fact, some people mused that perhaps High Drama may even have started a few seconds early.) In High Drama's 15 seconds of racing fame, she led the fleet to the first mark. Camera shutters snapped all around the harbor! At the mark we saw some very interesting sailing moves. First, a 51 foot charter boat that weighs 20,000 pounds less than we, and had 8 fewer crew members, came down from the windward side, established an overlap, and shot by us as we started around the mark. Dennis Connor could not have done it better, and I admired the skill of the other skipper. However, as we moved into our turn, another boat tried to follow the same course as the boat that had just passed us. "Barging!" my racing crew cried, which I understood to mean that the other boat was committing an egregious foul against us. All I saw was their very pointed bow anchor suddenly bearing down toward High Drama's exposed amidships. During the next instant, I studied their skipper. First, he was driving a rental. Second, he was on the Moorings staff and did not charter the boat. That meant he did not even have the deductible at risk. Third, he was a young guy, brimming with testosterone. Fourth, I did not see how we could make any repairs until New Zealand. After carefully weighing all of these factors, I concluded that we should avoid a collision and decline to exercise our right of way. Of course, the women on our afterdeck turned ugly and hurled all manner of school yard insults at this cheater as she passed us.

While we fell short of an award of a coveted cheeseburger, the prize for fifth overall was a BBQ. But more importantly, we received numerous compliments from spectators at the post race party. Never before had High Drama's sails been in such fine trim. Never before had Had High Drama been quite as well balanced as she traveled in the water. There was good wind, mostly 18-20 knots, so our extra weight was not much of a detriment. The lighter boats had trouble and "rounded up" with some wind puffs that just tickled High Drama's fancy. Everyone came by, shook our hands, and said, "You really looked good!" And with that, we felt that we had accomplished something very important.

We will head out to the more remote anchorages this week if the weather settles down. We are starting to plan for the passage to New Zealand.
As always, we enjoy hearing from you.
Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
Neiafu, Vava'u
Kingdom of Tonga

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Subj: Birth of an Island; Races
Date: 9/30/2001 1:07:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Just fifteen miles to our northwest a new island is bubbling up from the bottom of the sea. Three days ago there was nothing there; today there is an island. It is a volcano that has slowly erupted until it's top broke the surface for about a mile. Passing yachtsmen report very hot water. Fishermen report with considerable excitement seeing the steam and smoke rising above her as she pokes her head up. The Tongan government reports her position as a hazard to navigation, Sailors staying in Tonga all want to visit this new island, just to witness the birth. Tour boat operators want to start daily trips. But so far, the weather has held the rubberneckers back. It has been blowing 25-30 knots in the protected harbors and the wind and sea conditions are too rough to go out for a mere sightseeing trip. We will keep you posted.

Yesterday High Drama raced her maiden race. Peter & Gina from Talisman, Terry and Arieal from Stella, Phil from Capers, Dave from Tsonoqua II, Diana from Roger Henry, gratiously served as crew. And of course, our ringer, Fred from Aldebaran served as navogator/tactician. We sailed well and finished ahead of Argonauta, who sailed into irons at each mark. We were forced to change course to sail way around her at the first mark, and then she skipped the second mark. It turned out that Argonauta was the only boat we beat. High Drama had a good of the sterns of most of the boats in the fleet.

Before the race our tactician concluded that High Drama needed to trim some weight. To offload water we offered free showers on deck to everyone in the anchorage. Similarly, we offered to fill any dinghy with bubble bath. We tried to lend out half a ton of books from our library. We had no takers.

Each boat wins a prize in these Friday races. Ours was a Moorings T shirt (size medium) celebrating the new millenium 18 months ago. A boat that finished ahead of us won a cheeseburger. We will try for that next week, maybe.

There is spirited competition between the cruising boats and those here in charter service. The cruising boats are homes, complete with large water tanks, fuel tanks, extra spare parts, and much other equipment. The charter boats are quite light and usually race with no fuel or water. A cruising boat named Aurora, a Cal 40, has been very competitive in these races. In the race last week Aurora got hit by a charter boat who claimed to have the rules on his side. After Kristen from Moorings lectured everyone about this being a fun race, and not the America's Cup, Aurora vowed to return with a secret weapon. They jumped the start by a full minute and then the crew turned and peeled off their clothes. All crew members donned coconut bras and immodest pareus. They had rubbed something on their skin to make it dark. The men wore heavy lipstick. They shouted and verbally assaulted anyone near them. They provided serious distraction to other boats, and by virtue of their early start, they won.

Like most Americans, the thought of the tragedy in New York never strays far from our thoughts. Our thanks to you for your emails with your views about what is going on at home. Please keep it up.

Annie & Jeff
S/V High Drama
Neiafu Vava'u
Kingdom of Tonga

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Subj: The view from out here
Date: 9/20/2001 1:45:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Our news from home

Cruisers and charters in Tonga received word of the attack on the World
Trade Center via VHF radio at about 4:30 AM Wednesday, September 12. We
crossed the international dateline, so we are 20 hours ahead of Phoenix
time now. Most of us felt a need to gather with other Americans in the
first few days after this tragedy, and all felt a need to do something,
although there is damn little something that can be done. We get quite
limited news on the short wave radio, but it is scratchy and difficult
to understand. Emails from some of you have been very helpful. The
Moorings Charter Company prints out Internet pages of news each day and
summarizes them over the radio. Feelings of anger and frustration
dominate. Our foreign policy challenge will be to fight terrorism but
not destroy villages in order to save them.

While we received news that our relatives and friends in New York were
OK, we know many others did not receive the same news. Our hearts go out
to those in that category.

Hunga, Vava'u

Today I went ashore to meet with Vaha, a man about 50 years old from
Hunga, the remote village where we are anchored. A fisherman as well as
a farmer, Vaha had gone by in his boat and offered to show us his
village. Ann did not feel up to snuff, but I accepted.

About 70 families live in Hunga. The houses are very simple consisting
of concrete wall with sheet steel roofs. Pigs run freely in the town
area, which is enclosed by a fence to keep the pigs from the
"plantations." Each family knows its own pigs and after running all over
the village by day, the pigs come running home at night when called by
name. Each family has it's own plantation, which is leased from the
chief at the annual rate of $0.80. The plantation is a plot in the
tropical forest that is up to several acres. Vaha grows breadfruit,
taro, papaya, tapioca, vanilla, papaya, bananas, and kava. The roots,
fruits, and leaves of these products are eaten, except for kava. Kava
root is chewed up, usually by women, who then spit what they chewed into
a bowl with water. After it has set for a while, the liquid is served in
a communal coconut shell. The kava drink has a mild narcotic effect and
apparently makes your mouth feel numb. A kava ceremony usually
accompanies an important event. Ann and I have not sampled homemade kava
yet.
As we walked back from the plantation, and looking at my salt worn boat
shoes, Vaha noted, "Palangi don't have very strong feet." Palangi is
the Tongan term for white foreigners. Actually, when I stopped and
emptied the reef rocks and plantation dirt from my shoes, my feet worked
much better.
Vaha fishes three times a week. He rises at 3:00AM and trolls two lines
in the ocean outside of the reef until sunrise. He uses a small open
boat with a used outboard that he bought last year in New Zealand. Once
in awhile he catches a marlin, but normally he catches wahoo, mahi mahi,
and yellow fin tuna. I told Vaha that we had been fishing off the reef
at 7:00 AM, which we regarded as quite early. He laughed and allowed how
that was too late, that the fish had already eaten.

As we passed the town hall, Vaha showed me the town's only telephone,
which he described as an international line. Meetings are held monthly
at the town hall and are presided over by the chief. The chief is not
elected, but rather he is the son of the previous chief. Vaha explained
how when the current King dies, he will be succeeded by his son. Vaha
said that he understands that we pick leaders differently in the US.
Vaha told me that Tongans had heard of the attack on America on the
radio from Nuku'alofa and he wondered about how I felt about Mr. Bush.
He then asked if Mr. Bush's father hadn't been one of our presidents
also. Maybe there are some similarities between our countries after all
he said.
Vaha carves dolphin and whales out of beef bone and sells pendants to
help pay for school materials for his three youngest children. I bought
several then gave him a gift of a stone from Arizona, an Apache tear
drop. I explained that Apaches in Arizona were like the Maoris in New
Zealand, a fierce people who fought valiantly but who ultimately lost to
the palangi who settled on their land. He said he would make it into a
necklace for his youngest boy. He accepted my invitation to come to the
boat tomorrow morning to meet Ann and have a cup of "palangi kava." I
hope Starbuck's won't disappoint him.

Ann & Jeff Brooke
S/V High Drama
Hunga, Vava'u
Kingdom of Tonga

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Subj: Niue to Tonga: Speeches and Swimming with Whales,
Date: 9/8/2001 10:31:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Sunday Morning, Sep 9, 2001 5:00 AM

Church bells peel at 5:00 am to awaken the Tongans on their day of rest. In alliance with the churches, every Tongan rooster has taken a vow to insure that no one sleeps through their Sunday religious obligations. Sleeping is impossible for Tongans or yachties. We have been in a fjord-like bay-almost a lake- near the small town of Neiafu in Vava'u, Northern Tonga for a week now. Let me tell you about the last several weeks.

Niue ( www.niueisland.com )

We sailed from Rarotonga to the small island nation of Niue in about 4+ days. This tiny island has now only 1750 inhabitants. It is one of the smallest nations in the world and is affiliated with New Zealand for defense and foreign policy. It also receives $1350 per person aid from NZ. Although we traveled the island hiking her caves and swimming in her crystal waters, we did not go scuba diving. Next time. We spent much of our time gathering gear left behind by our friends a week earlier. There is no harbor at Niue; when the wind shifted to the west and piped up to 40 knots the incoming surf started pushing them toward the rocks. In one boat a family of 4 slept while chafe cut their mooring line. Their boat would have been smashed on the rocks had their rudder not become fouled on another boat's mooring line. They awoke when the surf banged the two boats together. About 6 boats left quite suddenly, without checking out or paying their fees, and without taking their gear or turning in their rental car. We paid the bills for our friends took aboard a dinghy and outboard for Roger Henry, the boat to whom we had delivered the same motor in Ecuador last January.

A Speech in Tonga

The weather cooperated and we had another good three day sail from Niue to Tonga. Upon our arrival Alvah and Diana Simon hosted a Tongan feast in our honor for transporting their dinghy and motor. They allowed me to speak at the feast. (I realized that I have not had an opportunity to address a jury since I made a final argument in Ventura, California about three years ago. Finally a captive audience!) Alvah has been sailing all of his life and has earned a living writing and speaking about his adventures. (His book, North to the Night is excellent reading, and most recently he and Diana put together a television show for The Travel Channel about Alvah's adventure in the remote Darien jungle in Panama. The show aired Aug 12 in the US and will probably be re-run.) Because Alvah makes a living writing about sailing, and since he has been blue water sailing for 35 years, he is a good target to poke fun at. Fortunately, he has the ability to laugh at himself, a process that I facilitated. We presented Alvah with a booklet complete with pictures and interviews of all of the people on Niue who had a hand in the rescue, and a bill for $3,000 representing our salvage fees. So far he thinks its funny.

Swimming with Humpbacks

The Vava'u group of islands host Antarctic whales each year that swim north to warm waters to mate and give birth. Our guide, Aunofo, a Tongan woman with a smile that stretches into next week, knows the whales' habits. The humpbacks swim in the deep but protected water among the islands. When she spotted a young calf, Aunofo slowly positioned our small boat nearby. After advising us not to make any noise entering the water and to keep our fins below the surface when we swam, she gave us the signal to slip into the water. In the past, especially off the California coast, we had seen the dorsal fin on many whales as they slowly exposed their blowhole to take a breath and then return to the deep for a meal of tiny microorganisms. We had been in museums where we stood next to models of whales to get an idea of their size. But no experience had prepared us for seeing them close by underwater.
Aunofo estimated that the calf was only a few days old because of the frequency of its trips to the surface. When we ducked below the surface of the water, we saw the huge mother humpback about 100 feet below us. In the deep blue we could only see her outline and the white of her underbody when she rolled slightly to allow her calf to nurse. One of her enormous pectoral fins stretched about 30 feet straight out from her body. The calf then started a slow ascent, swimming toward us, and close enough for Fred from Aldebaran to touch. Aunofo told us that the baby humpback was curious about us puny human creatures. When the calf swam by, I estimated its length as about 3 times Fred's. Fred put his hand out and just before making contact the baby slowly turned away. Next mom swam up slowly toward us. She turned at a distance of about 20 yards and slowly moved away, breaking the surface taking a few breaths and then she swam silently back down, where her baby joined her. We watched the process several more times before they swam beyond our range.
When you see the whale blow as it surfaces to breathe, you really only see about one percent of its mass. When you swim next to them in the water, their size and majesty is awesome. They move slowly, silently and apparently without effort. An adult humpback measures about 85 feet long and weighs 50 tons. The mother whale's milk is 9 times richer than that supplied by humans, and the calves grow a meter a day right after birth. We swam two times with this nursing pair. Usually a male stays nearby a nursing mother. The sentinel hangs silently, upside down, guarding. In our group, only Pudge saw the sentinel bull. After our second swim, I wanted to stop. We had the experience and more would not be better. I was concerned that one of these whales might remember what our relatives had done to their relatives. I recently read In The Heart of The Sea by Philbrick, an account of a sperm whale that charged and sunk a whale ship. Better to stop before the whales interpreted our visit as harassment. Our trip concluded with snorkel dive into an underwater cave with strange green mist inside.

Pudge's Departure

Yesterday we put Pudge Ingebritson on a plane. While sailing with us he logged about 1500 miles of blue water sailing from Bora Bora to Tonga, all of it through gorgeous weather. The poor guy missed sweet corn and homegrown tomato season in Minnesota, but he was a real trooper aboard High Drama. He settled into our routine without a hitch and contributed mightily. Pudge was a Naval officer in his youth, and he gave us lessons on swabbing decks and polishing stainless that will be invaluable. Pudge made friends with other cruisers and locals faster than anyone we have ever seen. Other yachts hosted several long lasting going away parties in his honor. Ann and I will now quietly sail out to a remote Tongan anchorage to dry out. We will miss him and we hope he will consider a return to High Drama for another tour.

Our best to each of you. Let us hear from you.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
S/V High Drama
Neiafu, Vava'u
Kingdom of Tonga

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Subj: Nuie:Island Nation, population 1,750
Date: 8/30/2001 12:15:40 AM Pacific Daylight Time

As we motor westward toward Tonga under light and variable winds we leave a delightful small country behind. Niue was originally ruled by the British who quickly turned control over to New Zealand in 1902. Niue requested independence in 1965 because it concluded that it would be eligible for more aid as an independent nation. Its citizens are automatically citizens of NZ, and apparently they like New Zealand because about 12,000 Niueans live there whereas only 1,750 live on the island. We met many of them and they are very outgoing and friendly to yachties.

We joined the Niue Yacht Club and tied to their moorings. The Club has no resident members. We hiked caverns and caves but we did not dive in the crystal clear water. I know I always say that, but this time we could see coral clearly underneath the boat in 117 feet of water!

Niue proved to be our turn to help other cruisers. One German cruiser got a very nasty cut on the head and lost a lot of blood. We gave him a ride to the Lord Rupert Hospital (a stretch of the term) and stayed while the doctor sewed him up. Also, other cruisers were forced to leave Niue in a hurry a week ago because of a wind shift and we helped salvage a dinghy, motor, lines, and snorkel gear, all of which was left behind. We are bringing the gear to them in Tonga. We heard on the radio tonight that when we arrive they are going to have a pig roast as a thank you to us. Should be fun for all, except perhaps the pig.

Pudge seems more amused by the sub-culture of cruisers than the local people. I suspect that the reason is that the cruisers are an abnormal group compared to the islanders. We all look forward to visiting the only kingdom in the South Pacific: Tonga. More later.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
Pudge Ingebritson
S/V High Drama
18 53 S
170 52 W
177 nautical miles from Tonga

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Subj: At Sea
Date: 8/23/2001 5:19:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time

High Drama and its hearty crew are once again at sea. We reluctantly left Rarotonga and its metropolis of 9,000 souls. Despite the beauty of the island, the local people and our grassroots experiences highlighted our visit.

But being at sea is a joy of another dimension. After spending the great bulk of life indoors, being at sea overwhelms the senses. The blues that the sea takes on vary with her mood. For the last 3 days we have had mostly sunny days with 10 -20 knots of wind. Her mood has been playful and the blue a deep cobalt. White caps punctuate 12-foot waves that continually lift High Drama's stern and then as they roll forward, they lift the bow. About every 7th wave imparts a corkscrew motion and the boats heads to weather. After a few minutes, "Gene", the Autohelm, restores her course, only to be side-swept again. The white tropicbird with it's flowing narrow tail visits once in awhile, checking to see if our fishing lures are still vacant. The tropicbird is not fooled. But yesterday a mahi mahi stopped by, and he quickly made it to the fry pan.

And of course, the nighttime is special. So many stars. Only a sliver of a moon. The boat rhythmically slices through the water. As she moves her weight squeezes foam out from her bow waves on each side. Her wake leaves a trail of sudsy diminishing swirls. With only the creaking of the rigging and the swishing of the wake you feel at one with the night and the sea. Surrounded on all sides by mystery.

First light ushers in a new reality. Much of the mystery disappears. But the awe remains. For those of us to whom God issued an extra measure of anxiety, we wonder if our vessel will serve us as well this day as she did the day before. And so far she has.

Jeff & Ann Brooke
Pudge Ingebritson
S/V High Drama
19 43 S
167 06 W

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