Sailing the Vavau & Haapai islands | E059
11 December 2025 · 9 min · 173 views · Ha'apai Islands
Sailboat glides over turquoise Haapai waters under blue sky
What this video covers
Nicki and Mike aboard Zen Again spend several months cruising the Vavau and Haapai island groups of Tonga before departing south toward Tongatapu.▶ 0:01 In Vavau, they anchor at Port Morelle — a poor-holding anchorage with thin sand over rock — then Te Pana Bay and Lisa's Beach, using the time to begin a thorough hull clean required by New Zealand biosecurity rules, scrubbing recesses and niches across multiple stops.▶ 0:38 An overnight passage from Lisa's Beach to Pangai in the Haapai group runs in east-southeast wind on a trisail-sized main and triple-furled Yankee, slowed deliberately for a dawn arrival; radar confirms position in the dark near the northern tip of the group.▶ 3:06 After a week at anchor off Pangai in strong winds, they hop south in company with OCC yacht Thestral, a Northwind 435, visiting Uoleva Island, Hafiva, Namuka Iki — one uncomfortable night in 3–4 metres with waves breaking over the reef at high tide — and Kelifesia, where charts understate the water depth on the bay's western side; anchoring in 8 metres over sand and coral rather than pushing further in for a sandy bottom.▶ 3:48 A 50-mile passage to Tongatapu finishes with a tack into the harbour, anchoring briefly before moving to Big Mama's.▶ 7:55 Satellite imagery would have identified the better holding at Kelifesia that the charts missed.▶ 6:39
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