A new volcanic island emerged in the Tonga Islands in August 2006. A yacht sailing out of Vava’u motored into a strange „sea of stone“ on August 12, and the following day its crew became possibly the first people to witness the birth of the new volcanic island. The crew of the yacht „Maiken“ have recorded their observations on a weblog along with stunning photos of the pumice rafts that they came across a day out of Neiafu while sailing towards Fiji.
http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html