Day 165 Departing Tonga

Position S15º45 W173º45 Niuatoputapu Island
We arranged to "buddy sail" with Liahona and Paddy West so we waited until everyone was ready before pulling up the hook.
In the morning, Ed and Jim from Liahona went ashore to install a lighting system for one of the islanders. The previous day Ed had hitched a ride with the man and noticed that he had no lights in his house. On board Liahona, Ed carried a spare solar panel, batteries, cable, switches and light fixtures so he decided to donate them and figured that they would not get installed properly unless he did it. By the end of the morning the job was done and I may have gotten at least part of the answer to a question that had been on my mind.
Why do the islanders go out of their way to welcome the yachties? There is no tourist trade on the island. There are no craft shops hawking handicrafts. There are no stores selling supplies. There are almost no services being sold - although I had heard of locals taking yachties on hikes and fishing trips for a very minimal fee. Sia works for the Tongan government so maybe it's part of her job to be welcoming but there is so much spontaneous and open hospitality I wondered what they get in return. Yes, they want their kids to speak better English and this is a way to get some practice and there is not much to do on the island so maybe this offers an entertaining distraction but is there more? When I thought about what Ed had done, several other observations came back to my conscious mind.
• When we first arrived, we saw a pit that had been dug near the shore with a sign that indicated it was for trash from the yachts. The sign went on to say that digging it was a project that Top-to-Top had done in conjunction with the local school. We had met the Top-to-Top folks in Huahine and this was exactly the thing their organization was out to accomplish.
• Dave from Paddy West had also gone to shore that morning to do some work on a VHF antenna belonging to one of the islanders. Apparently, it was not working effectively and with his yacht training, he was able to fix it.
I had also heard vague stories about repaired outboard motors and cars that had benefited from the knowledge, experience, tools and parts from various travelers.
When you live on an island where the official supply boat comes once every two months but capable and willing experts drop by every day, the smart thing is to welcome them and see what happens. My guess is that this is the cultural quid pro quo that had gone on for many years and it seems to work - and everyone benefits. This is a true win-win.
At noon, the three boats made their exit and headed West for Fiji. The sea was relatively calm and the wind was mild so the sailing was easy. At night a half-full moon appeared and we proceeded within sight of each other.