Tongan Teens Marooned on a Pacific Island
Author:
I ve spent half a century (yikes) writing for radio and print mostly print. I hope to be still tapping the keys as I take my last breath.
Half a dozen teenage boys who were enrolled in a boarding school in Tonga decided to run away. They stole a boat with the plan to sail to Fiji or New Zealand, but their adventure went horribly wrong.
Isolated Ata Island rises from the gloom in the Pacific Ocean.
Setting Sail for Fiji
Fed up with the regimentation and strict discipline of the Catholic boarding school they attended, the six Tongan teenage boys conspired to escape. In June 1965, they stole a 25-foot sail boat and set off. Their names were Sione Fataua, “Stephen” Tevita Fatai Latu, “David” Tevita Fifita Siola’a, Kolo Fekitoa, “Mano” Sione Filipe Totau, and Luke Veikoso.