A week all to myself!

Peter left almost a week ago and I’m pleased to report that I’m still alive and the boat remains in one piece. I must admit mastering the dinghy has been a bit challenging, but I’m slowly getting more comfortable with it. I’ve even come home in the dark and managed to find the boat and make an oh, so graceful, landing. I do, of course, miss Peter, but I must admit that I am loving my independence.

Dinner out the night before Peter left for Vancouver


I’ve had a very productive week – getting lots of projects finished up and spending a lot of time on the marketing of my book and communicating with my publicist. The highlight of the week has been sleeping in the hammock on deck each night. It is dark between 6:30 and 6:30, so I’ve gotten in the habit of retiring in the hammock after dinner and reading until well after the stars have come out in all their glory. Peter found the neatest reading glasses for me before we left home that have lights on either side of them and they work like jim dandy!

As the sun rises, I do about an hour of Yoga on the deck and then have been faithfully doing my Spanish lessons. For daily exercise I either go for a long walk or paddle the kayak around the bay. After lunch I head over to shore to the internet café to get some more work done and to visit with the other cruisers. Yesterday, it was just pouring rain, but I was determined to go ashore to listen to the Canucks game on Radio Team 1040 via the internet. I was drenched by the time I got there, but it sure was worth it and what a finish! Go Canucks Go!!!

Afterwards, when I got back in the dinghy there was so much rain that I had to roll up my Capri pants to get in and bale for well over 15 minutes. It truly was a deluge. We are expecting more unsettled weather for the next 4 or 5 days, so it will just give me a chance to get more done, but will likely force me to sleep below decks. We did have another small earthquake this morning, but didn’t even feel it.

Local family walking home from church



Last Sunday, I walked about 45 minutes to the Church of Tonga and was once again the only non-Tongan. It was totally different than the other churches here – more staid and conservative – but the singing was still wonderful. What was very interesting is that all the girls sit on one side and all the boys sit on the other – right at the front. About two rows back, the local matriarch keeps an eagle eye on them and almost every 5 minutes she got up, went over and smacked someone and shook her finger at others for either falling asleep, goofing around or not paying attention. By the end of the service, I’m convinced that she managed to smack each girl and boy at least once. It is interesting that raising children here is very much a village activity and there is always one “head matriarch”.

Following the service, I walked home with Mari & her baby Beni and we had a great conversation. (Made missing my precious grandmunchkin Addison even harder). The Tongans are very literate and most of them welcome any opportunity to practice their English.

Mari & baby Beni – my companions for the walk home from church



Today I spent a wonderful day meandering through the Village and visiting with the locals. I even got a lesson on how to cut up a pineapple properly as I mentioned that I seem to waste too much the way I do it. I learned lots more of the history and tradition here, as the Tongans love to share their heritage and are very open to talking with visitors. Peter would have gone stir crazy, but for me it was a magical day! Just to give you an idea of prices here:

A morning at the outdoor market (prices given in equivalent Canadian dollars)

Large Pineapple $4.00
Large bundle of long beans $1.50
Coconut $.50 cents
Watermelons $.50 cents
3 cucumbers $1.50
5 small tomatoes $1.50
Homemade brown bread $4.00
Small bunch of carrots $1.50
Small bunch of bananas $1,50
Papaya $2.00
Bag of roasted peanuts $1.50
Cabbage $3.00

Everything bought at the outdoor market is fresh from the farm and comes straight from the source. The cabbage is delicious, but full of bugs, so when I cut it up (for coleslaw) it took about an hour just to make sure all the bugs, slugs and earwigs were all removed. My city-mouse girlfriend Lesly will be cringing as she reads this while my country-mouse girlfriend Krys will be saying “how great to be living in a developing country and enjoying all the local flavour”.

Arriving this week were 25 boats from New Zealand in a rally organized by the Island Cruising Association. They all sailed over together for safety in numbers on that notoriously dangerous stretch of water and then from here they stay in smaller groups or go their own way. They will travel onward to Fiji and then return as a group back to New Zealand before the hurricane season arrives. It’s been nice getting to know some of them as they drop by to say hello via dinghy or in the case of Kira and John via their stand-up surfboards. These are very impressive – but more so because they are actually “blow-up” models and can be stored in a knapsack. Kira has offered for me to give it a go, so I may just take her up on it. Everyone has been wonderful about inviting me to join them, because they think I must be lonely, but in fact I am so treasuring my solitude that I’ve politely declined to be more sociable.

Kira and John on their stand-up surfboards



I’ve got to give Peter heck though about his oversight during his many instructions and warnings that he left me with. Although he outlined almost every possible situation that could go wrong, he failed to mention what to do with a problem that two of the cruisers had yesterday. In this harbor there is a huge jelly fish population and it turns out that these two cruisers had their generators shut down instantly – the cause being jellyfish! Actually in fairness to Peter he did say if the generator shut down unexpectedly for any reason – just turn it off and thereafter use the engine for charging the batteries. So, we’ll see if over these three weeks I encounter a jelly fish clog-up.

The weekly Friday evening sailboat race is just about to commence, so I’ll say farewell so that I can go ashore and cheer on the racers and I’ll upload this to the blog while I’m there.

Until next week – just three more wins and the Canucks capture the Stanley Cup!
P.S. Peter begins the Van Isle 360 race on Saturday morning at 10:00. If you want to follow how they are doing check out www.vanisle360.com. Good luck to Joe and crew!

Malo from Tonga

I’ve been asked frequently about the weather in Tonga, so here it is. It is around 27 degrees and humid – very pleasant with light trade winds. It has been unsettled with a fair amount of cloud cover and occasional rain – plus an earthquake (4.5) a few nights ago. The great thing about rain though is the incredible rainbows that follow.

The best part of a rainshower


We have been hearing that the weather in B.C. has been quite wet, with a good friend saying she will build an arc any day now. Of course, I’m sure no one there is thinking of the weather anymore – with the great win the other night sending the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was so exciting for us to listen to the games over the internet via Radio 1040.

Private beach for us to explore from


Immediately after sunset (6:00 p.m.), it gets pitch black especially on a cloudy night. We were having a gin and tonic in the cockpit a couple of nights ago and the whole ocean seemed to light up. When we stood on the bow to have a closer look, it turns out that the movements of the jelly fish was causing bioluminous in the water. These are fluorescent green “lights” which are created with movement. It was amazing to see hundreds of jellyfish “lit up” surrounding the boat.

Looking out at QuickStar while on our hike


To get us back in to full island mode, Peter has participated in the Kava ritual. Kava is a local drink that looks and tastes like dirty dishwasher. It is primarily drunk by men (sometimes served by women) and with large amounts consumed it creates a buzz. A Kava ceremony is performed any time a business deal is to be concluded, a potential groom asks the bride’s father for her hand, etc., or pretty well any time that an excuse can be found.

Beginning the Kava ceremony


Partaking of the Kava


We headed out sailing to the outer islands where there are endless white beaches, azure seas and gently swaying coconut trees. All clichés, but true. My favourite part though is meeting the locals and the best way to do this is to attend their village church on Sundays. I managed to drag Peter out this past week and for 45 minutes we literally had to climb through the bush and wade through mud on a dirt track to get there. The service is an hour long, all done in Tongan, but the singing is amazing. We were the only “pale-faces” there and the bonus is we spent time talking to one of the church elders. She explained that most of the women and children that live on the island also live on the main island during the week to work and attend school– leaving behind the husbands to tend to the pigs and crops. Sounds like a pretty good system to me.

Di covered with mud on arms, legs and feet (with some new tears in the dress)


Village church


We are now back in the main harbour and re-connected with our friends from the sailing vessel Bubas who had us over for some sundowners on their cat. They left this morning for Fiji. Scott on BeachHouse had a rough 7 day trip to Fiji from New Zealand with 3.5 meter seas right on the beam – however, they are there now safe and sound, with just a few boat repairs to attend to. Oddly enough, although things do happen out at open sea, it is usually the accidents on land or while at anchor that are the most problematic. A couple on a boat here had their 84 year old parents come out for a visit. The mom fell while getting out of her berth, however, the worst for her was falling down a set of cement stairs while on land and hurting both knees, getting a huge black eye and almost cracking her head open. She is okay after being thoroughly checked out at the hospital here (and also at home once she got back). We haven’t had any accidents so far, although we are covered with bumps and bruises, which seem inevitable while maneuvering in small spaces. Doing balancing Yoga poses on a sloped deck while swinging on the mooring adds to these. I also have developed some kind of severe itch – which is mostly annoying and seems to be kept under control with anti-histamines. More drugs…just what I need.

Early dawn Yoga practice


Tomorrow I begin a new adventure as Captain Peter is flying back to Vancouver for just over three weeks. He is going to be participating in the two-week Van Isle 360 race which begins on Saturday, June 4th at 10:30 a.m. – Saturday, June 18th from Nanaimo and goes all the way around Vancouver Island. – hence the name Van Isle 360. (So - Shorry, Ian and Bob – he is heading your way). Peter will be racing on Opus, which is owned by his great buddy Joe DaPonte. Feel free to join me in following their progress on the website www.vanisle360.com.

One of the many incredible views


I am really looking forward to three glorious weeks all to myself. I thrive on solitude and am excited about sleeping outside each night in the hammock under a sky blanketed with the stars of the southern hemisphere. Peter is, of course, quite concerned about me and has been trying to teach me how to run the dinghy (since I’m on a mooring ball and not on land). The kayak is blown up and I anticipate using that mostly for transportation as I find my dyslexia causes the dinghy to go in funny directions, if I’m lucky enough to start the engine (with has a few kinks in it). Okay so being mechanically inclined is not one of my gifts!

All of you that know Peter well, will sympathize with me about the “drilling” he is giving me to ensure that I don’t blow up the boat and that I know how to turn on the water-maker, change the water tanks, run the generator (and how often, and for how long), master the VHF radio, turn on the wind generator, blah, blah, blah. I keep reminding him that I’ve been sailing on this boat for well over eight years - so I can’t help it if I start to drift off when he goes on and on. My girlfriends on the Bowen Lake canoeing circuit may well remember Peter lecturing me before we left about how to change a flat tire and then when it actually happened I did somewhat wish I had paid attention.

Day anchorage


Oh well, I’m sure everything will be fine. I’m looking forward to doing lots of writing, getting back to my daily Spanish lessons, doing my share of daily Yoga and exercise and most importantly, getting to know more of the locals. It will be blissfully peaceful!

Until next week……unless I do indeed blow up the boat....Cheer on the Canucks!

A lazy day sailing

May 19, 2011

We’re Back…..in Tonga for our fifth cruising season.

Welcome back to the QuickStar blog. Thanks for dropping in!

Here’s our catch up while we’ve been on land for the past six months…We had a wonderful Fall/Winter in Canada starting off with a 6 week road trip across Canada to Ottawa and back through the States touring the National Parks. It was great to connect with so many of our friends who winter at Silver Star, but live elsewhere for the summer months. Thanks so much for your hospitality. It was also wonderful to visit with each of our siblings, in-laws and assorted nieces and nephews.

The highlight of the trip was getting back just in the nick of time to be with Danny and Ashley when they had our first granddaughter. Addison Grace was born a few weeks early, but all was well. We have had an incredible winter spoiling her rotten and volunteering to babysit anytime, anywhere. We will miss her like crazy while we are gone – thank goodness for Skype and webcams.

Adorable and brilliant Addison!



I hadn’t mentioned anything in my blogs from last season, but a great deal of my time both last season and the season prior was spent writing a book. I didn’t want to say anything, just in case I didn’t really have a book in me. However, I got “Financial Fitness for Beginners” – a 12-week training program - published this past December and was able to get a copy for Christmas to each of our kids and our nieces/nephews for whom the book was written. Since then it has taken on a life of its’ own and is selling very well.

The book is designed to be used over 12 weeks to help those who are beginning their independent life with the financial tools to keep them debt-free and in good financial shape. It is also written for those who have strayed off the path, either because they didn’t know the fundamentals of financial management or got caught up in our consumerism culture. While I had anticipated that the market would be for 20 – 40 year olds, what I hadn’t counted on were the many people my age who are buying the books for their adult children and nieces and nephews. I invite you to check out the details and book reviews on www.financialfitnessbooks.com and even buy a copy online if you feel so inclined. If you prefer you can email me directly at svquickstar@shaw.ca and I’ll arrange to have one shipped out to you. I will be working on the second book in the series this cruising season, so stay tuned.



Our daughter Kylie and her boyfriend Taylor came over from Australia for 5 weeks in December. Our whole family had Christmas at Danny and Ashley’s. It is really heartwarming to pass the torch on to the kids to host these major family gatherings. On a sadder note, in early January, just after Kylie and Taylor returned to Australia, I got the bad news that my brother-in-law was in the hospital on Walpole Island, Ontario. I flew out and spent almost a month with my sister and niece going back and forth to the hospital and arranging home care. The good news is, in addition to spending lots of quality time with my oldest sister Debbie and my niece Elizabeth, Joe got to come home and although he is diabetic and on a walker, he is home safe and sound and all is well. Once home, our grandson Kieran flew out for his annual 10 day holiday at Silver Star and we all had a blast.

Just a couple weeks after returning from Ontario, we had some tragic news. My very good cruising friend, Cindy Stolnitz, from BeachHouse lost a battle with depression and died on March 17th while in California. We drove down to L.A. for her memorial. We are still in grief over the whole situation. Hard to find a positive side to this, however, Cindy was able to successfully donate four of her organs, including her heart which went to a Canadian boy in Edmonton. Now that we are back in Tonga, which is the last time we hugged Cindy, it is sad to go in the stores, visit the cafes and go on the hikes that we did together. Her memory is really strong here and I will not forget what a kind and loving person she was. We look forward to meeting up with her husband Scott once we get to Fiji. He is currently on a crossing from New Zealand to Fiji and sending in his daily position reports to us.

Danny, Ashley (my future daughter-in-law), Peter & I at SunDance


We spent our first April in Canada for 5 years and we enjoyed doing some renos on our condo, as well as travelling in B.C. on weekends. We went to two different dude ranches, our highlight being SunDance with Danny, Ashley and Addison. We also went to the coast for Easter where Peter went in a sailboat race with Joe on his boat Opus and we had a family dinner at Donna’s, Ashley’s Mom. It was great to see our son Ryan before we headed off. One weekend in Williams Lake, we watched Danny ride bucking broncos for the last time (I just can’t do it anymore!)

33rd anniversary weekend - wearing my old anniversary dress


The final weekend of April we had a wonderful time at Sparkling Hills resort celebrating our 33rd anniversary. I still get a kick out of wearing my old anniversary dress for one dinner and my old wedding dress for another (thank goodness for Spandex!). I bought it for 19.99 so I guess that works out to about 75 cents a year. Not a bad investment.

A little old and faded...but if the shoe fits..



We took a bit of a milk run to get to Tonga as we flew to Brisbane for a week to watch Kylie graduate from Teacher’s College. We also got to spend our special day together – Kylie’s birthday and Mother’s Day. She was my best Mother’s Day present ever 23 years ago!

We were so thrilled to be with Kylie to watch her graduate from Teacher's College





As if that wasn’t enough, Taylor proposed to Kylie while out at the beach and earned many bonus points with all the well-thought out romantic details including hiding the ring in a shell, covering the walkway with rose pedals and having friends set up a champagne breakfast for all of us including Taylor’s parents. A very special day indeed and we are thrilled to welcome Taylor as our future son-in-law.

"I Do" - Mom lucky to catch this historic moment

Taylor's Mom and Dad - us, Kylie and Taylor and family friends




We were happy that QuickStar survived the cyclone season without any damage. We have spent the past couple of days setting her up again and getting provisioning. It is wonderful to be back here with bright blue skies and smoking hot days. Now that I’ve caught you up to date, my plan is to continue to update the blog each week on Fridays (North American Friday’s) so that you can drop by and visit any time over the weekend. I thank our many loyal followers and appreciate the many emails from your end keeping us in touch. We love to hear from you to help you celebrate your joys, share in your life and lend a virtual hug if needed.

We did just receive a couple of very sad emails. A very good friend of ours from Peter’s college days has been diagnosed with a brain cyst – prognosis unknown at this time. Kylie emailed to let us know that Taylor’s Grandma died instantly of an aneurism while having her morning coffee with his Grandpa and her husband of over 60 years. We were fortunate to have met them last week and are sadly reminded, yet again, that none of us will make it out of this life alive, and we can’t take any days for granted. We have the choice to live a life by design and not by default.
We will be heading out sailing tomorrow to the out islands and I look forward to reporting on life here in the Kingdom of Tonga. This may be one of the poorest nations on earth – but the amazing people are rich in love and totally prioritize the important things in their lives. We could learn a lot from them.
The next update will be coming to you Friday, May 27th and hopefully every Friday thereafter – assuming internet connections, good weather and the other myriad of details that keep the cruising life flexible and spontaneous!

Tonga at Sunset

Until then…..Go Canucks Go!!!!!!

P.S. If any of you die-hard golfers would like to be at the Masters in April, 2012, email me. My very good girlfriend and travel agency owner has organized the trip of a lifetime and you could be part of the excitement!

Last blog of the season

At the Tongan feast



This blog update is coming to you from Tonga where we have spent the past four weeks.. We will be leaving tomorrow to return to Canada for a month long road trip out East and then up at Silver Star for the ski season. Bye bye palm tress, gin and tonics, cruising friends and the South Pacific.

Local dance troupe



Last week I posted from the Ham Radio and couldn’t add any photos, so there are a few more this week than normal. We met up with our friends (and rescuers from the Bora Bora reef mishap) Jan and Elle from Jenny. We went out with them for dinner and a local dance show at the Canadian-owned bar and restaurant “The Giggling Whale”.

Ellen and Jan from s/v Jenny



We’ve spent the last week out at the anchorages and enjoyed lots of hiking, beach combing and visits with other cruiser friends. The highlight was going to a charity Tonga feast put on by the Lape Island community – which consists of only seven homes, with extended families in each of them.

Di with one of the local cutie-pies




They had their wharf knocked out by the cyclone earlier this season, so they were raising funds to replace it. As mentioned last week, Canada Aid was matching 3 to 1, so they were very pleased to have raised about $1,000 at this event, which will mean $3,000 for them.

Wharf that got wiped out – that will be replaced



This was an authentic Tongan feast (as opposed to one put on for tourists) as all the families contributed food, lei’s, coconuts to drink from and the kids all danced for us. They had a Kava ceremony (which Peter loves) and a weaving demonstration. The pig was roasted by a Tongan turning it on a spit, as you can see.

Roasting the pig



The next morning we went to their church, along with other cruisers who stayed for their event. We donated a number of things to the school and took lots of photos which we put on disc for them. The school got its first computer last week, so the kids will delight in seeing photos of themselves.

Photo of the school teacher Daniel and his family after church



We enjoyed hooking up with Scott and Cindy from Beachhouse. We’ve had lots of good times together and we will miss them over the winter, but look forward to catching up with them next spring..

Peter & Cindy at the feast party




We went for our final dive of the season yesterday and it was awesome. I was a little nervous because with my last dive I had a few issues – but the good news is these last two dives went really well, so I regained my confidence. We did a number of swim through caves, saw lots of soft and hard coral and a huge moray eel hiding out in an underwater cave. We also had a treat of seeing a whale and calf on the trip back to the boat. We had to forego our planned whale-swimming trip on Sunday because of high winds and big seas, so this was a nice bonus.

Large banyan tree



As I’m typing this, Peter is busy securing the boat for our departure – fun things like changing the oil in the generator, pickling the water maker, and other necessary tasks. I’m not able to help him with much – but I was able to help packing up the sails on land. The part that my Captain wasn’t too happy about was when we brought them back on board, I accidently let the dinghy get a bit loose – and you guessed it – the dried and packed sail fell in to the water! I think everyone on mooring balls heard him swearing.

View of the anchorage from the top




It is with mixed emotions that we leave the wonderful "Friendly Islands" of Tonga. Our system of spending six months at sea and six months at Silver Star works out really well as we are always a little sad to say goodbye to QuickStar, but we are excited to be heading back to Canada. We are looking forward to getting back home to see our friends and family. We are quite excited about the pending arrival of our granddaughter in November. Also looking forward to having Kylie back home from Australia, even for just the month at Christmas, and meeting the love of her life. Ryan will be picking us up, so we get to spend some time with him. We'll be seeing Tara, Mark and Kieran in Ontario, along with Peter's parents and our friends back east.

Typical rural house on the sparsely inhabited outer islands



We fly out on Friday – spend a night and full next day in the capital city in Tonga– then fly to Fiji to L.A. and then in to Vancouver. We’ll spend about a week there – then up to Vernon to get our truck fixed and then heading out to Toronto for about a month-long road trip. We are looking forward to visiting with friends and family along the way.

Endless beaches



Thanks for following us on the blog this season as we explored French Polynesia, Niue and Tonga. We plan on coming back in April next year and heading to Australia. I’ll start updating the blog again then.

Peter & I heading out snorkeling on the reef




Until next season……have a wonderful winter and keep in touch!
Hugs … Diana and Peter xoxoxoxoxox

From the Friendly Islands

Good morning. This blog update is being posted via Ham Radio - hence no photos.
We have spent the week at the outer anchorages, enjoying the different islands. The weather has not been favourable - with high winds and big seas, so we have spent more time hiking on land, than doing water activities. Scott and Cindy from Beachhouse are with us in the anchorages and on Sunday we are going out again on their boat, with a guide, to go whale swimming again. The winds are forecast to die down then.

Tomorrow night we are going to a charity Tongan feast at one of the outer island. Their goal is to raise enough funds to rebuild their wharf, which was destroyed in a cyclone. In a case of "it really is a small world", the Canadian government aid program is matching any raised funds 3 to 1.

This is our last week here in Tonga, as we fly home next Friday. We'll head back to town on Monday to get the boat ready to leave for the season. I'll do the final update next Thursday.
Until then.....have a great weekend.

Peter and Di celebrating Peter's birthday



Peter’s 56th birthday week was quite a blast. For one of the celebrations we went for dinner with friends to the Giggling Whale (Canadian owned). They have great food and feature a local string band. The tradition is that the band plays until all the Kava (the local moonshine)is gone. Both the band and guests drink out of coconut shells from the communal bowl.

Drinking Kava with the band. I drink a "low-tide" serving and Peter drinks the "high-tide" size.



After closing it down, we went over to Tonga Bob’s to get a taste of the other side of Tonga where they had their famous “Fakaleiti” show – which translated is a transvestite show. The best part was when one of them dragged Peter up on stage for a dance. Gives a whole new meaning to Peter’s favourite dancing song by Shania Twain “Man, I feel like a woman”. We partied on and Peter pulled a SunDance Saturday night where he was a dancing fool. Luckily we only had to dinghy home a short distance.

Peter strutting his stuff with his girlfriend



Peter's actual birthday on Sunday was spent with Cindy and Scott onboard their catarmaran Beachhouse. We hired a local whale guide who spent the entire day with us. The day was crystal clear, with brilliant blue skies and turquoise water. We watched a Mom, her less than month old calf, and her male escort for many hours.

Topside photos:

Mom and escort



Maternal love



Playful calf



That was awesome enough, however, we found another Mom and her baby that were in a very playful mood and we were able to get in the water with them twice and swim for over an hour with them. I can’t describe how awesome it was to get so close and personal with them, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Looking for whales



Di & Cindy getting ready to go swimming with the whales



Under water shots

Our host for the day – Scott getting a good shot - his photos will be a lot more spectacular, as we are only using a little point and shoot.

sharing the water with lots of whale tonnage



swimming alongside us


We ended this birthday day with dinner onboard QuickStar with Scott and Cindy. Great friends! Definitely a birthday to remember.

The famous Swallows cave



On another night we went to a local Tongan feast, where we were joined by the Captain and crew of the French navy who were in port for the day, as well as a couple of local Tongans who very kindly invited us to come for their family lunch on Sunday – however, that was our whale-swimming day. The dance show was local children. Although it was a good show, I wasn’t comfortable with the kids as young as two dancing, and having guests paste money on their oiled skin, which they gave to their Mom’s after they were finished.

local dancers at Tongan feast



The islands within Tonga are wonderful for cruising, kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, restaurants and bar-hopping. We will be spending our final two weeks, before heading home to Canada, enjoying all of it!

Di scaring the fish away with her Austin Powers skinsuit



Until next Friday….happy birthday Caroline