It was a welcome change of pace for us to do only one major project a day as opposed to the twenty or thirty a day pace we set before the crossing.
Checking in with the Gendarme and getting our French Poly visas was an entirely pleasant affair.
A gorgeous Marquesan, lady( sarong, beautiful tattoos, hibiscus behind the ear, smelled like vanilla) picked us up in her Land Rover and took us to the office.
She processed all our paperwork ahead of time ( we had registered with the Pacific Puddle jump before leaving and for 300 dollars they arrange all this for you and wave the 1200 dollar per person bond you would pay otherwise).
The whole event took an hour and then we wandered in the magasin and bought more goodies ( gyoza dumplings!) and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the boat.
Our water maker is still broken-Jon will try one final reconstructive surgery when we are out in clearer water -this bay is very silty- so he and Kai schlepped 100 gallons aboard by hand from the well on shore. Two Jerry cans at a time, dinging back and forth ...but at least there was time for a nice lunch and a bit of reading when it was done.
The last day, we spent looking at charts and guide books ( these are mostly compendiums compiled by other cruisers) and "hummed and hawed " over where we would go next.
It was agreed that swimming was high on the agenda-so it looks like the island of Tahuatu is our next stop.
The waters of the Marquesas are teeming with very large sharks and on most of the islands the water is not clear( lots of runoff, from rainfall) so finding a bay with good clear water is a must.
We are not yet experienced at swimming with sharks, so our plan is to take this one step at a time. Find the clear water, snorkel and free dive at high noon , when the predators are in "chill" mode, and no spear fishing until we meet some locals and get the scoop. That said, We cannot WAIT to get under water here and heave a look around.
Just yesterday, a new boat pulled into the anchorage with a Wahoo hanging off their dingy davits that must have weighed 50 pounds! T
hey had caught him just outside the breakwater...hmmmmmm. I think fishing will be in order later today!
You can only get a three month visa for French Poly (if you are not EU) and there is a HUGE amount of ground( and sea) to explore in that short time. So making a sort of vague plan is somewhat useful, as we will have to check out in 90 days and the clock is now ticking.
Our current plan, is to set out for Tahuatu today and spend a week or so there, then sail for Fatu Hiva, the furthest South island in the MArquesan chain and then back up to Nuka Hiva where we will restock again before we depart for the four day crossing to the Tuamotos.
Tuamotos is where the REAL scuba/sharkdiving action will happen. Everything we have read talks about this area of the world as being one of the most incredible dive experiences you could have. Of course, we will need to hook up with some other dive boats and learn the ropes of "drift diving"-where you drop in outside the reef and "drift" with the current back into the lagoon- and find some willing babysitters as Hunter won't be able to do all those dives-but we are SUPER excited about that upcoming leg of the trip.
After that, we will head for the Society islands, Tahiti, Morrea. Bora Bora....Once there, we will have to make a choice about where we go to wait out hurricane season and figure out how on earth we will get back home and make some money-but thankfully, for now, those thoughts are many, many miles and many gorgeous tropical islands away.
I mentioned before, that the SOUTH PACIFIC charts we bought for our nav pod don't work-so we spent a good deal of time downloading what charts we can and tide tables for the areas we will be covering. Tide tables are INCREDIBLY important on this next leg of our trip as we will be learning to enter atolls. This will be a whole new nail-biting challenge for skipper and crew as we learn this valuable seamanship skill of navigating though narrow reef entrances, avoiding dangerous, hull-ripping coral heads and not getting swept into the reef by breaking waves. Going at slack tide is essential to having a safe passage. We will be timing our trips between islands so that our arrival coincides with favorable tides and sun position, so that we can spot the reef entrances. Before we left La Paz, Jon installed mast steps half way up our mast so we can get a better vantage point to spot the tell-tale color differences in the water. ..
looks like I get to work on overcoming my fear of heights, while clinging to our swaying mast, twenty five feet above the deck, as we scoot our forty-four foot boat though a reef entrance twenty feet wide and ten feet deep, all the while mastering the skill of spotting shallow water -in order to avoid grounding us on the reef.
And then once we get anchored safely inside...we jump in the water and swim with hundreds of sharks!
?????????!
Oh, well, nothing builds confidence, like sticking your green little nose right into it...
Kai's thoughts:
I really like HIva Oa-I miss swimming and everything...but the island itself is so beautiful with lush plants and lots of fruit. I think I personally have eaten four large baguettes all to myself. They have really cool outrigger canoes here that the marquesan men come down and race every evening. They are super serious about their training and they paddle way out to a little island and then around it as fast as they can. I think maybe they are practicing for a big race or something. There are wild chickens everywhere that fly into the trees when escaping from me. Sorry, thats all for now...I have to go help my dad get fuel from the dock. Talk to you all from Tahuatu!
Hunter's happinesses:
Hiva Oa-It is one of the most beautiful places on earth but today we are leaving and going somewhere new, called Tahuata. We are FINALLY going to go swimming with the new sharks and fish-SO EXCITED to be going somewhere new. Going to new places every few days is one of the best parts of this trip. I don;t know how it can be...but it is supposed to be even more beautiful. CAN'T WAIT!
PS. to my friends on Bowen island, I miss you guys so much and I really wish you could be here with me.
PPS.
Today for breakfast, I had a new fruit. At first I did not want to eat it because it looked like a bowl full of snot!
But when I tried it, it tasted like a mushy strawberry mango popsicle-it makes me want to try all kinds of new fruits and foods on the other islands. Sometimes you just have to be willing to go with new shapes and textures that seem weird and stuff but once you get past that there are all kinds of new good tastes!
For example, tonight, my mom is going to make a green curry with some tiny purple eggplant she found and green papaya salad-which is a spicy dish made from unripe papayas. I know that might sound weird but wait and see...it will be delicious! Last night we had shrimp gyoza stir fired with fresh little cabbages and even some broccoli that we found.
The best thing about breakfast is when you eat a lot of fresh fruit everyday, its okay to have Nutella with your baguettes!
Well, goodbye for now. That's all, until next time...
PS. FROM MOM-
I AM DYING TO UPLOAD ALL THE PICS FROM OUR CROSSING BUT THE INTERNET SIGNAL IS TOO WEAK TO HANDLE THAT MUCH DATA- SO PLEASE BE PATIENT. THEY ARE COMING ASAP!
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| Mom doing wash... again! |
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| Star fruits and our new have... Snot fruit! |
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| Bloggin' |
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| our typical view of Kai |
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| I LOVE this place!!! |
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