June 6 2011 from Tahanea

Memorial Day - May 30 2011.
Had an early morning walk to the boulangerie (bakery) for bread. Got caught in the rain, so sheltered in the boulangerie for a while and explained to the bakery lady and her friend about Memorial day. We planned a barbeque with Moondance and invited Calou, Callopyge and Charade. It ended up being more of an appetizer and dessert thing on the dock, but was very nice. So, we had added a little bit of US to our stay in Makemo.

May 31, 2011
Spent a leisurely day getting the boat ready for the overnight crossing to Tahanea. It was nice to have all day to prepare, even though it meant an overnight watch schedule. We untied Moondance from the dock about 1615, and Lor and Carol helped us untie right after that. We all blew away from the dock nicely and headed out through the pass. It was not as exciting as coming in, I guess we knew what to expect for one, and it is easier going out into open water. Calou passed us as we were putting up our sails, and we all sailed off into the sunset (so to speak). To get to Tahanea we had to go westish along Makemo (starboard tack downwind) then jibe to the southwest. We left at night because you have to enter and exit passes at slack tides, and entering a new place needs to be done in the daylight, preferably with the sun high in the sky. The daytime slack here at Tahanea was at 0940, and the closest slack at Makemo was at 5 pm. Hence an overnight crossing. Was not too bad, a little rolly, but we should be used to that be now. We were in sight of Tahanea around 0730, just in time for a morning squall. We got all the sails down and motored into the wind until it blew and rained itself out. The pass was pretty benign, all made it through without incident, we anchored and were pretty much settled by 1030.

June 1st
It is beautiful here. Totally deserted tropical island beautiful. The atoll is narrow, so you can easily see the open ocean from here inside the lagoon. The water in the lagoon is crystal clear shades of dark blue, sky blue, turquoise and green. Pictures can't really do it justice. As much as we enjoy being at the dock, we are loving this anchorage. There is a coral head about 50 yards behind us that the boys snorkeled on. They said it is really good.
After naps, we went exploring with Doug and Carla. We found a little sandy spot (beaches are more rough coral than sand) to have some wine and snacks. As the sun was setting we scattered some of Steve Hall's ashes. He would have loved it here, it is a fitting place for part of him to rest. Rest in peace good friend.

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June 6 2011 from Tahanea

Memorial Day - May 30 2011.
Had an early morning walk to the boulangerie (bakery) for bread. Got caught in the rain, so sheltered in the boulangerie for a while and explained to the bakery lady and her friend about Memorial day. We planned a barbeque with Moondance and invited Calou, Callopyge and Charade. It ended up being more of an appetizer and dessert thing on the dock, but was very nice. So, we had added a little bit of US to our stay in Makemo.

May 31, 2011
Spent a leisurely day getting the boat ready for the overnight crossing to Tahanea. It was nice to have all day to prepare, even though it meant an overnight watch schedule. We untied Moondance from the dock about 1615, and Lor and Carol helped us untie right after that. We all blew away from the dock nicely and headed out through the pass. It was not as exciting as coming in, I guess we knew what to expect for one, and it is easier going out into open water. Calou passed us as we were putting up our sails, and we all sailed off into the sunset (so to speak). To get to Tahanea we had to go westish along Makemo (starboard tack downwind) then jibe to the southwest. We left at night because you have to enter and exit passes at slack tides, and entering a new place needs to be done in the daylight, preferably with the sun high in the sky. The daytime slack here at Tahanea was at 0940, and the closest slack at Makemo was at 5 pm. Hence an overnight crossing. Was not too bad, a little rolly, but we should be used to that be now. We were in sight of Tahanea around 0730, just in time for a morning squall. We got all the sails down and motored into the wind until it blew and rained itself out. The pass was pretty benign, all made it through without incident, we anchored and were pretty much settled by 1030.

June 1st
It is beautiful here. Totally deserted tropical island beautiful. The atoll is narrow, so you can easily see the open ocean from here inside the lagoon. The water in the lagoon is crystal clear shades of dark blue, sky blue, turquoise and green. Pictures can't really do it justice. As much as we enjoy being at the dock, we are loving this anchorage. There is a coral head about 50 yards behind us that the boys snorkeled on. They said it is really good.
After naps, we went exploring with Doug and Carla. We found a little sandy spot (beaches are more rough coral than sand) to have some wine and snacks. As the sun was setting we scattered some of Steve Hall's ashes. He would have loved it here, it is a fitting place for part of him to rest. Rest in peace good friend.

Makemo

Sunday 5/29/2011

Well, we have waited out a storm front here in Makemo for a week. It has been very (max of 40kts) windy. But, it has also been a real treat to be tied up to the wharf here - especially since it is free!!! We did not expect to be able to be at a dock until Hawaii in November. So way cool for us. The local people here are very friendly, and the cruising boats here have provided unlimited entertainment for the local kids. Just goes to show that not much happens out here on Makemo!! Josh is picking up a little bit of French with the help of his friend Francois from Calou. The rest of us are getting a lot of practice as well, as English is not spoken very much. Really it is good for us to be immersed, so we learn faster.

As I said earlier, we have gotten a lot of projects done, only have three left on the list - finish rebedding a stantion, run Josh up the mast to fix the wind vane (definitely not something to be done in high winds, and we may have to forgo for now), and sew some straps onto a pad to protect the dinghy from the windvane when it is on the davits. The generator pump is fixed (finally, was not a straightforward process), the dinghy is patched and floating (finding a weather window to get that done was also a challenge) and I have done a lot of mending with the sewing machine. I even made sword scabbards for the 2 little boys on Charade and Calliopyge (the 2 French boats at the dock). My biggest chore remains laundry. I try to keep caught up, otherwise it gets overwhelming. But, all the sheets and towels are now freshly laundered. Now all we have to do is make water to refill the tank I emptied to get it all done.

Yesterday I went snorkeling in the afternoon, right off the boat. It is so clear and there is a reef just on the other side of the dock. I saw lots of cool fish - the coolest being a common lionfish - and one small black tip reef shark. It was nice to get in the water. Dennis had the kites out, and then took the kayak out. Josh helped with a lot of chores and then hung out with Francois. Surprisingly it has been pretty cool. Maybe we are just acclimated, but I actually had to wear a jacket to sit in the cockpit last evening. It is still pretty windy, but seems to be calmimg down a little bit. It will do what it will do I guess, we just have to wait and see. We are ready to move on though so hopefully.......

May 28, 2011

 

05/24/11

(5/15-5/16) Spent two nights in Daniel's Bay - our last stop on Nuka Hiva.  It was a nice anchorage with a hike to a waterfall.- 2000ft high,  Very impressive! It was a pretty easy hike with a fresh water swim and shower at the waterfall.  We had a little picnic with Doug and Carla then hiked back.  For whatever reason, Josh and Francois did not wear swimsuits, so did not swim.  When they got back to the beach Josh swam out to Calou to get their kayak, and he and Francois then paddled out to the boats.  Thankfully it was an easy dinghy landing and launch, and we got back to the boats safe and sound.  We did supply the local mosquitos and no-nos with a feast, and we are still itching.

5/17 - We were up and at em pretty early to leave for Ua Huka - about 24 miles from Daniel's Bay.  We had a good sail, another less than stellar anchoring experience, but finally got settled in the Northeast anchorage.  Sorry I can't remember the name, and probably can't spell it even if I could remember it, but it is the 3rd largest town in the Marquessa's.  Nice place, lots of good places to provision.  Wednesday we went in exploring, and to scope out the markets.  At one of them I tried in my very bad French to ask a young girl if she knew anyone who would trade for fruit.  After much confusion, the lady with the girls said that she had fruit, and we could come by her house the next morning.  We bought some breadfruit and mangos from a house a little further down the street too.  That night we ate pizza out - was really pretty good, and not too expensive.  The next morning Doug and I trekked in at 0545 to get bread.  We actually scored pretty well - baguettes and sandwich loafs.  Then at the dock we were able to catch some fresh tuna (amazing what bites on a 500 franc note :) ).  At 0800 we all went back in to get fruit.  We weren't really sure where we were going, but figured we would see the lady, and she would recognize us.  We got limes, starfruit (not my favorite) and pamplamouse and when we asked how much, she wouldn't take anything!!! Much to our dismay, we did not get her name, but on our way back thru this fall, we plan to stop by with a gift for her.  Since we had accomplished all we set out to do, we (Evergreen and Moondance) decided to head out for the Tuomotus.

We left about 1030 am on Thursday, and by 1030 am on Friday we had gone 166 miles - a personal record for us.  We were on a reasonably comfortable point of sail, and moving along.  Josh took the 6p to 9p watch, and helped out a lot during the days.  Friday and Saturday were pretty uneventful pretty fast, did another 160 miles during the second 24 hours.  Saturday afternoon we started seeing squalls, so we ended up slowing down and we brought in the big jib.  I had 2 squalls during the first 2 hours of my watch Saturday night, after that I could have put out the big jib, but decided not too as I would have had to wake someone up to help me furl it if another squall came through.  Made it to Makemo late Sunday afternoon, was close.  The pass into the lagoon looks huge until you are in it and realize that the channel is narrow, and even at slack tide the water is squirrely.  Dennis did a great job  steering through the crazy water - reminded us of the passes in the San Juan Islands.  As we were coming through the pass into the lagoon, Calou hailed us on the VHF - they beat us by about 3 hours, having left just behind us on Thursday.  The next surprise was that we were able to tie up to the wharf here.  What a luxury to be at the dock!  No power or water, but no big deal there - we make our own.  But to be able to step off the boat onto land - Wow, we weren't expecting that until we hit Hawaii in November. Moondance did not make it in to the lagoon until the next morning.  We saved them a place at the dock which is now quite cozy.   5 boats all tied up. 

The kids are totally loving it, and this is the first time Josh has actually interacted with the local kids.  This week is a school holiday, so there are kids on the dock all day.  Josh is also loving the water here.  it is just as we imagined it would be -  clear and so pretty.  It is like we are tied up in our own personal aquarium.  You don't even need to snorkel to see all the fish.  The water is so clear that it is disorienting it seems shallower than it is.  Conning for coral heads is the next new skill on our checklist.  We are also impressed with the provisions available here.  The guidebooks led us to believe that there would really be nothing, but in reality the store here has some of the best selection we have seen to date, and not out of proportionately (sp?) expensive.  Yesterday (Monday) I was able to get avacados and carrots, as well as italian andouille sausage and frozen chicken drumsticks ( a Josh all time favorite).

Monday morning there were 3 boats here at the dock (including us) one left, and then 4 came in.  All boats we know (except one).  So we were pretty busy getting everyone situated and tied up.  The  wind is such that it pushes you away from the wharf, so getting lines to the people on the dock was challenging, but we finally got everyone settled.  As Carla from Moondance said - what is not to like, a dock (free), people on the dock to catch your lines,  a free baguette, and free fish!!  I am not sure who was handing out the baguettes, but the fish (marlin) came from s/v Charade (ginormous catamaran from France).  Seems they landed a huge marlin Sunday, so we all shared in their bounty.  Doug cheffed it up on our grill for dinner that night - YUM!

Tuesday 5/24 - Very windy and rainy today.  Since we are tied up, we are trying to get as many projects done as possible.  Sadly we rubbed a hole in the dinghy on the way here, so it needs repairing.  Currently it is on the dock awaiting a dryer day so the patch can be applied.  It also had a leak in the hard bottom (which probably contributed to the chafing) so the shell was full of water.  After draining it, Dennis resealed it.  I removed the dinghy cover to repair the chafe holes and to add leather patches for added protection.  Then Dennis worked on the generator - switching out water pumps.  We have such awful water pump karma - it just isn't right.  So that turned into an all day project that will overflow into tomorrow.  In the meantime, I repaired the protective leather cover that Roger made for the Hydrovane in Halfmoon Bay in September 2009.  Then it was on to laundry.  Laundry just happens to be my least favorite chore.  I try not to let it pile up because it really is hard work.  I would kill for a good old fashioned wringer!  The highlight of the day though was the morning delivery of chocolate croissants.  OMG  some of the best we have ever had.  The French Baker in Barra de Navidad is nothing compared to this lady.  YUM!  I have told you lately how it is all about the food????

Tomorrow's agenda is pretty full as well.  We ordered loaf bread from the bakery which we will pick up around 0800.  The dinghy will hopefully get its patch, the generator water pump will go back in (sans leak i hope), Josh needs to go up the mast to fix the windvane that the stupid booby broke on the crossing and I need to get the sewing machine out to fix the dinghy cover.  In the midst of all that we have an appointment to look at pearls at 1300.  The dock is great, but feels like work too.  We think another couple of days here, then we will move to the NW side of the atoll (this atoll is 40 miles long) for a day or two then on to the next atoll - TBD.
Saturday 5/28.  Still here, has been howling windy all week.  Calming down today, hope to leave Monday.  Projects are all done except for Josh's trip up the mast.  Not the best thing to do in 30 knots of wind.  More later.  Happy Memorial Day!

blog post 051411

 5/14/11 Saturday
We have been in Nuka Hiva for a week. Met up with Doug and Carla on Moondance, so have been able to combine socializing with provisioning, repairs/projects and sightseeing.

Carol & Carla enjoy tropical drinks

Had a couple of rolly anchorages after Atuona on Hiva Oa. Hanamenu was nice the first day and we had a great sail there from Atuona. The next 2 days and nights there were rocking and rolling. The freshwater pool was really nice though.

Dennis in the pool on Hanamenu

We left Hanamenu for the next Island to the north - Oa Huka on Friday the 6th. The sail there was pretty nice. We arrived to more rocking and rolling. According to the local kids surfing, this was the time they had had surfable waves in months - lucky us. We were not willing to try a dinghy landing, and neither was Calou, so we left the next morning for Nuka Hiva. On the sail here from Oa Huka we put a small tear in the mainsail, lost a tuna right at the boat and then had to anchor in the dark. Was not one of our better days. Sunday we had to get the hooka out so Dennis could dive on our anchor which had become horribly wrapped in the lines and anchor of a mooring. 2 and 1/2 hours later we were reanchored and settled. Whew!! Things have been much better since then. Taioahe is the name of the town here. It is the biggest town in the Marquesa's. I tried to repair the mainsail myself, but although our machine would have done the sewing, the sail is just too big to move around to get the patch installed. So we ended up having to take it in to the sail loft - got it back yesterday afternoon.
Our hooka has paid for itself in this anchorage - Tueday, Dennis spent several hours in the water helping s/v Whatcha Gonna Do retrieve their stern anchor and search for their main anchor. No luck Tuesday, but they finally picked up the line with a grappling hook on Wednesday. One nice thing about the cruising community, we help each other out.
Wednesday we got up at O dark thirty to go to the vegetable market with Doug and Carla. We got lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, green beans (long and regular) and green peppers. We had 160 liters of diesel delivered on Wednesday too - what a mess getting it into the tanks!!
Thursday we shared a rental car with Doug and Carla and drove to the north side of the island.

Taiohe bay - Nuka Hiva

Had a nice lunch and hike.

Overlooking the anchorage -Nuka Hiva

The hike over to Anaho was not all that long, just steep. The bay is very pretty and has a coral reef which Dennis snorkeled on. I saw a small (less than 2 feet) shark and nearly stepped on a pretty big stingray, all in water less than knee deep.

shoppers take a rest

Friday we got our provisioning done before we returned the car. I think we bought something from every grocery store here. The supply ship doesn't come until next Wednesday, so we are having to do without carrots and apples but, we are pretty much set now until we get to Tahiti.

After stowing the provisions I went in and did laundry at the dock. It is nice to be able to use their water instead of water we make, especially for sheets and cotton items.
Today was a lazy day - we got the mainsail back up and that pretty much covered it. This evening we went to a party to celebrate the anniversary of something here. There was local music and dancing. Pretty cool and all over by 9:30 pm.

Doug - phone booths are in odd places

We plan to go to the next bay over tomorrow for a couple of days, then to Ua Pou (next island south) for a day or two, then we will cross to the Tuomotus. That crossing will take 4-5 days. The Tuomotus are atolls. We are looking forward to calm lagoons and clear water - I'll keep you posted.....

Tahoato and Atuona #2

Really enjoyed Tahoata. Did lots of snorkeling and swimming and some socializing.

The beach at Tahoata, opening coconuts

Took the dinghy the 3 miles to the neighboring village. They have a really cool church there. Wish I could describe it properly. It had the traditional thatched roof, but underneath it had tongue and groove wood, a beautiful stained glass madonna and child over the alter and the pulpit was carved wood. Very different.

Cool Church

We also scavenged mangos - yummy. Talk about a sugar rush. We had the by now requisite rain shower, but the clouds and rain keep it cool. One thing about the Marquessa's we have noticed is how neat and tidy everything is. It is unbelievably clean. A real change from Mexico. Left Tahoata for Atuona on Hiva Oa on Wednesday. We still needed to pick up our duty free fuel paper and get fuel. The boat with fuel was due in on Thursday morning.
Thursday morning came, and sure enough a big boat in the little harbor. The Arunui 3 is a combination freighter/cruise ship. Carries about 100 passengers. And we lost our passengers to it. Mark and Vicki were able to get a cabin on it, so off they went. Sure seemed quiet on the boat after they left.
Friday we were supposed to take a tour of the island, but turns out they were doing some blasting on the road, so we postponed until Saturday. In the meantime we took a hike to some petroglyphs, scored some limes and bananas. Was a pretty buggy hike, and we didn't find the waterfall that was supposed to be there, but there was a new fence in place, so that is probably why.
Saturday we took our tour around the island. Went to the ruins of a village - was pretty interesting. Then we took a long almost 4 wheel drive ride to the north side of the island to see "big tiki". The drive was actually amazing. These islands tend to have two distinct climates windward and leeward. Windward is drier and sunnier, more desert like, and leeward is tropical - rainy and humid. The big tiki was very cool. We also bought more pamplamousse and bananas and limes. Pamplamousse (like grapefruit) is a new staple in our diet.

Josh with the King Tiki, beheaded soldier tiki on right

Sunday I did some laundry on shore - they have a great water supply, so I took advantage of it. We bought some internet - very pricey. 4.00 per hour. It was Pascal's Birthday (from Calou) so we helped her celebrate with pizza out and chocolate cake at their boat afterwards. Again yum!
Monday, more laundry - its never ending, but doing it myself is so much cheaper. We had linen and towels done for us, Wow! cost as much as a whole season's worth in Mexico. Oh well, won't be doing 24 days worth again. Josh also had his hair cut by the girl on the boat next to us. She did a very nice job. Not too expensive either.
Today (Tuesday) we left for for a new anchorage on the NW side of Hiva Oa. Is pretty nice, and had a good sail over. Water is not as clear as we had hoped, but at least it is not crowded. We hope to see Calou here tomorrow, then on to Oa Huka in the next few days.

Hiva Oa and beyond

Was a looonnngg day to FatuHiva. 35 miles, 10.5 hours. motorsailed the whole way, into the wind. Yuk! But it was well worth it. The scenery here is beyond description - lush, verdant, majestic, oh and did I mention wet? Beaucoup de plui!

Fatu Hiva Ho!

We pulled into the anchorage about 1700, got the anchor set and Josh was gone. Yep, we caught up with Calou and Phambili first kids in 28 days. I think he might have been just a teensy bit tired of adults. Sounds like we lucked out though, it is a small anchorage and we were told 8 boats had left that morning. Would have been very crowded. As it was there were only 5 including us.
Wednesday we got up early for a hike to the next village over (Omoa). Don't really know what we were thinking - a 10 mile hike after a month of zero exercise, and a steep hike at that. It was a beautiful hike, but very hard. It rained lightly on the up portion, which was a blessing, because I am pretty sure if the sun would have been out it would have been miserably hot. We stopped at a nice little covered picnic bench for lunch and a rest and then started the downhill portion into Omoa.

Lunch at the top

At that point we were treated to a full tropical downpour. Did I mention it is a warm rain? The dirt road turned into a muddy river and going was treacherous at times.

Mud, Mud Glorious Mud

We gave up on keeping our shoes dry and clean. What a sight we must have looked as we trudged into the village 5 hours after we started. The village of Omoa is very pretty and again the scenery... There was a cruise ship in the harbor (the Paul Gaugain) and a few tourists braved the rain to come in. They had a display of cultural arts - tapa, wood carvings, pareos, jewelry. Was very cool to look at. We also were able to pick up baguettes (read Josh in hog heaven). The tiny village by our anchorage has a store, but no beer or bread there. The rain had stopped be the time we got to the village, and except for our shoes we dried out pretty quickly. John from Calou had towed over our dinghy, so thankfully we didn't have to do a return hike or pay for a paroque ride home. It is only 3.5 miles by sea. We made it back to the boat in time for a little more rain, but as Josh says after 5 days in the Marquessas he is used to being wet.
Thursday we had a pretty lazy day recovering from the hike. Got a few projects done around the boat, and Dennis spent the best part of the day helping Calou with their refrigeration. They had been without refrigeration since the second week out. At this writing it is not cooling past 30 degrees, so Dennis may go again to see if there is anything else to be done. That night we had a great get together on Phambili. Pot luck and music. Bruce plays the accordion, John plays the violin, and Pascale (Bruce's wife) has an awesome voice (Calou). We had quite the concert.

Dennis resting - Omoa

Sadly as we got up to leave we discovered our dinghy was AWOL. It had been very windy and the painter came undone and the dinghy drifted off. Fiona and Tom from Phambili took their dinghy all around the anchorage, but no luck. So we gathered everyone back on board Evergreen, pulled anchor and went searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. By that time it was about 0100. We spent the rest of the night following a path we thought the dinghy might have drifted. We had to take into account wind direction and current. It was a pretty rough night. By daylight we had seen nothing, were tired and discouraged, about 0630 we turned to head back to the anchorage. About 0830 I woke Josh to come and keep watch as I was beginning to hallucinate. Not 20 minutes later he yells "there it is", and sure enough 5.5 miles from the anchorage there was our dinghy bobbing around in the waves.

dinghy Ho!

We came about, lowered the main, and were able to retrieve the painter on the second try. That dinghy has a charmed life. It is really unbelievable that we found it. Also weird is that it was upwind of the anchorage. The winds over night had maxed at about 20, and we saw up to 30 on the way back in. Totally crazy that the current had more of an affect than the wind. But, we are not complaining. We brought our tired and grateful selves back into the anchorage, set anchor and fell into bed (about 1130). That afternoon we took the wayward little dinghy into the village in search of pamplamousse (grapefruit). We were able to buy some - 4 large pamplamousse and a coconut for 600 francs (roughly 7USD). They are good though.
Saturday we set off for Tahoata. Had a good downwind sail and made good time. Arrived around 1530. Now this is what I imagined when I dreamed of French Polynesia. Clear tourqouise blue water and sandy beaches. The kid boats are anchored close by - life is practically perfect. Had a good swim - the first real one since we have been here. Were supposed to have a bonfire on the beach, but the rain decided otherwise. Josh spent the night on Calou, and here we are.
Sunday - Happy Easter. Hard to believe it is Easter. I did not plan for it in my provisioning either, so no easter baskets this morning. Phambili is heading out today, they have family coming and have to get to Rairitoa (sp) to meet them. We will be here a few days, then head back to Hiva Oa - I'll keep you posted.

The whole wet, tired crew (L-R Francois, Anina, Naomi, Fioan, Cam, Josh, Tommy, Carol,Dennis and Vickie not shown Bruce,Mark and Antoine)