Passage from Tahuata to Nuku Hiva

I am way behind on blog posts! This one should have been sent on August 17, 2010

We had originally planned to do quite a bit more cruising in the southern Marquesas area before we moved 75 miles downwind (NW) to Nuku Hiva. But we got a little bit of "horse headed for the barn" syndrome, and every time we turned around we dropped another stop off our itinerary. We ended up skipping Hiva Oa altogether--crummy harbor and no real need to go there (except to see Paul Gaugain's grave).

The biggest change was, when were discussing the next move--to Ua Pou, 25 miles south of Nuku Hiva, trying to decide whether we could make it in a day-hop or whether we needed to go over night. The trip was 65 miles, and I was worried about trying to make it in the short days we have down here near the equator. I finally convinced Dave that if we wanted to SAIL, we needed to go overnight--otherwise the timing was so tight that we'd have to motorsail all or most of the way to keep our speed up so we'd make it in to a strange harbor with uncertain anchoring before dark. And once we decided to go overnight, there was no reason not to go straight to Nuku Hiva, where our friends on Infini had been patiently waiting for us to catch up.

So we left our pretty anchorage at Hapatoni at about 7pm, after loading up the dinghy, preparing the sails, taking showers, and having a nice dinner. There was a nice moon up and we had calm conditions in the lee of Tahuata while we put the sails up. We motored for a little while until we got some steady wind--these islands are so mountainous that even 5 miles out the wind was flukey. Finally we turned the engine off after an hour of motoring, but had to turn it back on for a little while when we got in the wind shadow of the next island up (Hiva Oa).

But after about 11pm, we had a nice sail straight on course, not quite dead downwind, to Nuku Hiva. We made landfall in the morning at the SE corner of Nuku Hiva, near Controlleur Bay. We thought we'd go in close and sightsee along the coast as we sailed downwind to Taiohae Baie. However, with a SE wind, we got no lee at all, and the big swell was pounding on the coast, and bouncing back out to sea, and we had about 2-3 knots of current against us. So we gybed and went back offshore a little ways.

We finally got anchored in Taiohae Bay near our friend Mike on s/v Infini, just before lunch. Mike picked us up in the dinghy and whisked us for a much-needed Cheeseburger in Paradise, at Babzook's Roulotte (a lunch wagon on the waterfront that serves delicious cheeseburgers and french fries, as well as other, more healthy, sandwiches. We met Laurent and Letitia, who moved here from France a couple of years ago and started Babzook's.

After lunch, Mike took us on a short walking tour of the important parts of the town... the bakery for a couple of baguettes, the veggie market for some fresh tomatoes and lettuce, and the 'magazin' (grocery store) for a few staples.

We had Mike over for dinner on Soggy Paws--his wife Sue was off in the States and I knew he would be hungry for a 'home cooked' meal.
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At 8/30/2010 8:22 PM (utc) our position was 08°54.84'S 140°06.09'W

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Tahuata, Marquesas

Current Location: Hanamoenoa, Tahuata, Marquesas, French Polynesia 09°54.45'S 139°06.28'W

We sailed from the Bay of Virgins on the island of Fatu Hiva to Baie Hanamoenoa on the island of Tahuata. This had been our friends on s/v Nakia's favorite anchorage in all of the Marquesas. We were ready to get out of the gusty Bay of Virgins and into someplace a little calmer.

We had quite a rousing sail with winds 18-20 on our starboard quarter. The seas were still pretty big, so we were surfing and slewing around a lot. We saw 8.5 knots on the GPS on one really nice wave. We were really happy to see that Hanamoenoa was as nice as Nakia had promised. Beautiful white sand beach, no town ashore, very little swell, and non-gusty winds. The bay also looks directly west, so it's a great place to watch the sun set.

There was one boat already in the anchorage when we got there--an American boat from Seattle who's name I've now forgotten. They left before we got a chance to go over and say hello. We got in late and we were tired, and didn't even put the dinghy down. We called them a couple of times on VHF, but they must have had their VHF off. The next day a French boat came in, and the the third day both boats left, heading in opposite directions.

We were so happy to be in a nice calm pretty anchorage, that we really just goofed off for 2 days. Dave did a little bit of maintenance, and we snorkeled over to the rocks and little reef on the north side of the bay, but mainly we just hung out on the boat. I snorkeled around quite a bit looking among the rocks for cowrie shells, but the surge was really bad, the water clarity so-so, and there were spiny sea urchins around. And then I remembered that we had bought some nice cleaned cowries in the Bay of Virgins for only $1 apiece. For that price, it isn't worth it to go through all the effort to clean a live animal from a shell.

While we were in Hanamoenoa, the cruise ship/freighter, Ara Nui III, was visiting Tahuata. They came late in the day, probably from Hiva Oa, only 10 miles away, and anchored right off our pretty bay. The next morning early, the Ara Nui picked up anchor and headed south, probably to the tiny village of Hapatoni, which we visited a couple of days later. They were back again in the evening, and again anchored in the same spot off Hanamoenoe. Must be a good anchoring spot!! Fortunately, they anchored far enough offshore that it didn't crowd us at all.

The final day in Tahuata, we motored about 7 miles south (no wind at all in the lee of the island) to the tiny village of Hapatoni, where our friends on Nakia had told us there were some great wood carvers, and a pretty little town. We spent a nice day walking around Hapatoni... stopping to see the wood carvers in their building by the water, strolling down the ancient 'boulevard' shaded by giant trees (from pre-European times), and hiking up to the cross on the hill overlooking our anchorage. The mangos were all getting ripe at once in Hapatoni, and there were fermenting mangoes on the ground under every tree. But the trees were so high that it was difficult to find even a newly-dropped one that wasn't smashed by its flight to the ground. We did manage to collect about 6 or 8 that weren't too mushy.

We really enjoyed Tahuata, and could easily have hung out in that area for a month. However, we really needed to be heading north--we're trying to hook back up with our friends on s/v Infini so we can cruise a bit with them before we leave for Hawaii.

So we left that night for the overnight sail to Oa Pou.
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At 8/15/2010 4:46 AM (utc) our position was 09°54.45'S 139°06.28'W

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And We Thought It Was Blowing Hard LAST Week!!

Current Location: Hanavave (Bay of Virgins), Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

We knew it was going to be windy--the forecast is for 18-22 kts for a few days. But we expected some shelter in the lee of this biggish island (and we did have a pretty nice anchorage when we first arrived). However, we hadn't counted on the venturi effect of the wind funneling through the valley into the anchorage.

We're not quite sure why it is so much worse today than it has been the last 2 days--the forecast is the same. But we clocked a gust this morning that was 62 knots, and we have seen several more in the 45 knot range. We had one of our heavy hatches propped a tiny bit open on a wine cork, and one gust got under the hatch and blew it back. They are all latched down now--something we've never done before in an anchorage (except for hurricane conditions). We also have had to tie our solar panels in place.

Since we're not leaving today, we talked about doing a little more exploring ashore, but it doesn't feel safe leaving the boat unattended at anchor in these conditions. Looks like a "boat project" day today.
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At 8/10/2010 5:09 PM (utc) our position was 10°27.91'S 138°40.06'W

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Trading in Fatu Hiva

Current Location: Hanavave (Bay of Virgins), Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

On our way back from the waterfall yesterday, we stopped at a house where our friend Joce from s/v Lares had been attempting to repair a sewing machine and a computer for them. There we met Teko, Teko's son Tim, and a few younger kids. Among other employments, Teko makes 'tikis'--carved wooden statues of Marquesan gods. He showed us a very nice 14-inch one in solid rosewood, which he said he could sell in Tahiti for 15,000 CFP (about 160 dollars!). We eventually expressed an interest in a smaller tiki, and said we'd be back tomorrow with some trade goods.

Unfortunately, when most people come to Fatu Hiva, it is their first stop in French Polynesia, and no one has Polynesian Francs (CFP). The locals don't seem interested in taking either Euros or Dollars here. But they are used to trading with the cruisers for crafts and fruit.

The easiest trade good seems to be liquor, but we have been asked for rope, cosmetics (nail polish, lipstick, perfume), fishing gear (larger hooks and good lures), snorkel gear, T-shirts, hats, handbags and backpacks, DVD's, and 'cartouches' (bullets to hunt the wild goats and pigs).

Our first attempt at trading, the next morning, was a miserable failure. We were trading only for fruit, with some people we'd met at a small house up the mountainside. Joce had cautioned us not to offer too much. So Dave had packed up a couple of old ratty T-shirts, some fish hooks and small lures, and some old ratty line. (The guy we were trading with had said he was looking for line to tie up his pigs). And his wife was looking for a 'sac' (purse) like the one I was carrying (an oversized belly-bag). So I had emptied the one I had been using, and switched to a newer one, so we could give the one I she had seen to her.

We met them as agreed at 9am. But rather than the wheelbarrow we expected them to come with, they had a very nice new 4x4 extended cab pickup with a bunch of fruit in the back. (This truck is better than any vehicle Dave or I have ever owned!) They took one look at Dave's old ratty T-shirts and old ratty line, and I guess they got their nose out of joint. They weren't interested in trading for 'used' stuff. The wife looked at my 'sac' and pointed out a few frayed spots, and wanted the new one I had switched to.

They wouldn't even make us a counter-offer--we certainly didn't need all of the fruit they had, but a few pampelmousse (grapefruit) and some bananas would have been nice. In retrospect, maybe they were hoping for some liquor--and were angry we didn't have any to offer. (I'm not out of rum yet, but we're almost out of wine, and starting to count the ounces of rum we have left). They left unhappy, and of course we were fruitless still. But Stephanie from s/v Lares said that was very unusual--they themselves had made several trades for fruit for much less than what we offered.

However, a few minutes later, some guy walked up to Dave with a couple of sacks of oranges, and just gave them to him, with a 'Welcome to Fatu Hiva' smile.

And later, we went to Teko's and made a good trade for an 8-inch tiki and some fruit. We rooted out some nicer T-shirts, some cigarettes, some fishing stuff, and a few other things. Everyone seemed happy. We also hung out for a couple of hours helping Joce repair the sewing machine and the computer (we supplied the fuse for the computer).

Even later in the day, when we were walking down the road, a girl came running out from a house asking if we had stuff to trade. We eventually traded with her mother, a couple of T-shirts and a thing of lipstick I happened to have in my purse for a couple of papaya.

We had planned to leave today, but our tiki isn't ready yet, and the wind is up again. Maybe tomorrow.
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At 8/10/2010 5:09 PM (utc) our position was 10°27.91'S 138°40.06'W

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Hanavave, Fatu Hiva

Current Location: Hanavave (Bay of Virgins), Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

We spent most of our first day here on a hike to the waterfall. Fortunately we have hooked up with a nice young French family who doesn't mind us tagging along (and letting them interpret for us).

The waterfall was awesome--the hike was just the right length--mostly in the shade, in very pretty surroundings, and the temperature a perfect 79-80. We kept saying "We're not in the Tuamotus anymore, Toto". The Toots are flat coral atolls with mostly palm trees and scrub. The Marquesas are awe-inspiring volcanic rocks with lush vegetation. We just couldn't get over how lush everything was.

As we walked through town, Dave was drooling over all the fruit we saw hanging on the trees...mangos (almost in season), papaya, limes, oranges, pampelmousse, breadfruit, bananas, etc. Joce (Joss), the French guy from s/v Lares, promised that he would help us get some fruit after the hike.

On the way back, we found some 'free range' limes along the side of the road, and filled a bag with them--nice little Key Lime-sized limes. Then we stopped at a few places, with Joce telling the people that we were looking to trade for fruit. One guy just gave us 2 stalks of bananas. Another made an appointment to meet us on the quai with some fruit tomorrow morning.
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At 8/10/2010 5:09 PM (utc) our position was 10°27.91'S 138°40.06'W

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Anchored at Fatu Hiva

Current Location: Hana Vave (Bay of Virgins), Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

After a long day of bashing to windward in 20-25 knot winds, we arrived at our destination yesterday about 3pm. What a relief it was to get into the wind shadow of this big high island. We sighted land at about 35 miles out--at about 9:30 in the morning, but it took us nearly all day to finally reach sheltered waters. We motored slowly along the coast, sightseeing--about 100 yards offshore, but still in 250' water.

This bay is beautiful. Like the rest of the Marquesas, it is volcanic, and rises steeply out of the water. The early sailors named this the Bay of Penises, because of the large rock spires that punctuate the sky. The priests who came later, add an 'i' to the 'Verges', to make it Vierges, which means 'virgins'. So officially, this is known as the Bay of Virgins. The Marquesan name is Hana Vave (or Hanavave).

We are hoping for rain, but so far only a sprinkle. We are really salt-encrusted. Dave washed the cockpit down yesterday after we arrived. Though we were well sheltered from getting drenched by big waves behind our cockpit enclosure, we only put up one side, so we get ventilated on the other side. But this makes a vacuum and sucks spray from the lee rail into the cockpit. Thank God for our big watermaker, that gives us enough fresh water to rinse things when we need to. But the rest of the boat will have to wait for a big rain.

There is only one other cruiser here--a small sailboat--a young French family with 2 small children, on a boat called Lares. During "Puddle Jump" season there must have been 20 boats in this anchorage--we are glad we are here now (waving good-bye to the PJ-ers as they hurry west now to Suwarrow, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, and NZ.

There is a small town here--but, sadly, they don't have a bakery here. No fresh baguettes for us today. But the people on Lares gave us a pampelmousse (grapefruit) yesterday when they stopped to chat. They had bags of fruit and veggies in their dinghy, and fresh green bananas hanging in their rigging. They said it was easy to trade for what you need.

We plan to stay here for 2-3 days and then head north for the town of Atuona on Hiva Oa, for some provisions and internet. We hope to hike to the waterfall today.
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At 8/10/2010 4:06 PM (utc) our position was 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

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Sailing Like a Scalded Dog

Well, the wind has come up as forecast. And we have managed to claw our way far enough to windward over the last 24 hours, that we can now fall off a little. So we have eased the sheets, and this old girl (not me, the boat!) really likes these conditions. We have a double-reefed main, the staysail, and about 60% of our genoa out, and we're averaging 7 knots, right on course for Fatu Hiva. Woo hoo!

Sailing On A Close Reach
Dave Hangs On (In Our Nice Dry Cockpit)
The wind is supposed to gradually increase through the night up to about 18 knots, but stay south of east. So we hope we'll have a nice sleighride into the Bay of Virgins (Hanavave) in Fatu Hiva, by about 3pm tomorrow.
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At 8/9/2010 6:39 AM (utc) our position was 12°04.59'S 139°40.84'W

Having a Great Sail

We are not quite half way to the Marquesas. Our first day was quite relaxed--the wind was very light, and we opted to motor close in along the coast of the twin atolls of Raroia and it's close neighbor to the north (with no pass), Takume, a total of 25 miles. We faithfully dragged our fishing line the whole way, but no luck.

Leaving the Pass at Raroia
Sailing along Takume
Today we were kind of sweating the wind--it was forecast to pick up a little and go a little south of east--which would make a great sail for us. The swing to the south was delayed by about 8 hours--it wouldn't have been a very pleasant trip if it hadn't switched. But finally about 2pm today, we got about a 30 degree wind switch.

Just at sunset we sailed close past the twin atolls of Tepotu and Napuka. They would be a great stop time-wise, except neither has a pass and there's really no place to anchor. We had one report from an SSCA newsletter of a boat that stopped there--he hand set his anchor on top of the coral, and his stern was in 100' feet. Another boat (Migration) tried to stop there 2 years ago, and couldn't. We could see a few buildings ashore, and a guy out fishing in a plastic kayak. But it was very close to sunset, so we sailed on by.

Now we're sailing along about 6 knots on a close reach, just a little high of our course. The wind is supposed to continue to strengthen, and we want to put a little "easting" "in the bank", just in case.

We got such a slow start that our ETA at the Bay of Virgins in Fatu Hiva is now close to sunset--it'll be a close thing whether we make it in before dark or not. And then there's always the choice of what to do--lay off all night and wait for daylight, or try to go in carefully after dark and get an anchor down and get a good night's sleep.

Let's hope this wind holds!!
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At 8/8/2010 7:15 AM (utc) our position was 13°46.93'S 141°09.13'W

We're Outta Here (Tomorrow)

Looks like we finally have a weather window to make our way from Raroia to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas. Our plan is to leave here late morning tomorrow, and we should arrive in Fatu Hiva (Bay of Virgins) on August 9th. The wind forecast is pretty good... 15-20 knots from E to SE.

We'll be checking in as usual on the Polynesia Breakfast Net in the mornings, and the Pacific Seafarer's Net in the evenings. We will also try to update our position about twice a day. You can track us using one of the links on this page:

http://svsoggypaws.com/positions.htm
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At 7/30/2010 6:02 PM (utc) our position was 15°57.35'S 142°18.97'W

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Why Aren't We Spearfishing?

One friend asked us why he hasn't been reading reports in our blog of spearfishing, and lobster and grouper feasts, as we liked to do in the Caribean... The biggest reasons are (a) sharks (b) no lobster inside the atolls (c) reef fish with ciguatera (d) a freezer full of tuna and mahi mahi (e) the cooler weather

First, the lobster... we have YET to see a lobster on a coral head inside the reef, even in the most uninhabited atoll we've visited. That is just not their habitat here. To get lobster, you go reef walking at night with a light, and you have to pick the right time of the month, on a rising tide with no moon, so you don't just jump out there any night you feel like it. But when the time is right, it's usually pretty productive.

Second, the grouper... in some atolls you CAN eat grouper. However, we just don't want to risk making a mistake. The effects of ciguatera can be very bad, and long lasting. It just isn't worth it.

Third... there are always sharks around. They don't bother us much if we're just swimming around, but the minute you spear something, they just appear out of nowhere. Again, it just isn't worth it, when we already have fish in the freezer.

Fourth... we are getting all fish we can handle from outside the reef. Some we have caught ourselves, but most we have been given... For example, the locals had a fishing tournament in Makemo when we were there. In about 4 hours, using outboard-powered skiffs and hand lines, every boat came back with loads of tuna, mahi mahi, and even a big marlin. We stuffed our freezer with good guaranteed non-ciguatera fish.

Finally... The cooler water is another big factor--the water is a little cool (77 degrees) to stay in very long. And the air is cool and the wind is blowing hard, so when you get out, you're freezing. (yes, I know, we're wimps!!)

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Sitting Here Watching the Wind Blow

Current Location: Raroia Atoll, Tuamotus, French Polynesia 15°57.35'S 142°18.97'W

I can't believe it is already August 1st! We had only planned to spend one night here at Raroia Atoll. When we left Makemo, it looked like the perfect weather window to sail to the Marquesas was shaping up. But 24-48 hours later--the whole weather picture had changed. A big high pressure had moved in from the west, which would strengthen the trade winds to about 20 knots.

Since then, we have had TWO big strong highs pass south of us, back-to-back. They are way south, between 30 and 40 south latitude, but they still really affect our weather. The wind has been blowing "like stink" for the past week. That is, steady winds 24 x 7 from 20-25 knots out of the East. And passing squalls crank it up to the 35 knot range.

As the Highs slowly pass, they trail a long high pressure ridge to the NW behind them, lengthening the time that they affect our weather. Just about the time one High departs, another one comes blasting in from the west... After a very mild June, we have had a succession of strong Highs for nearly the whole month of July. But this last week has been worse than the rest.

We have been snugged up in the NE corner of the Raroia atoll for a week now. It is a beautiful setting... white sand beaches everywhere we look, palm trees all over, gorgeous turquoise water, and not a soul around. The nearest sign of other people is about 8 miles south--a remote pearl farm who showed no interest in us when we motored back and forth in front of their building. The tiny town on the atoll is even further away--about 15 miles SW of us. We don't even see the glow of lights down there at night. And we haven't seen another boat--cruiser or local--except the pearl farm skiff about 8 or 9 days ago.

Though we have tucked up behind a palm studded island, to mitigate the wind somewhat, we can still see over the reef just to the south of us, and the big breakers crashing on the reef. We are really glad not to be out in this stuff. Though we are antsy to get to the Marquesas, we just keep reminding ourselves how bad it would be trying to beat to weather in these kinds of winds and seas.

It has been rather cool here--between the fact that it IS wintertime in this hemisphere--and the howling wind. The ambient air temperature is a nice cool 75 during the night and only gets up to around 80 during the day. The water temp is a cool 77 degrees. So we haven't even been swimming in the past week.

Though we're a LONG way from running out of food, we didn't provision as well in Makemo, as we would have if we had known we'd be stuck here so long. Fortunately we did lay in a big stock of baguettes, tomatoes, eggs, carrots, and cabbage. We still had a good supply of apples left from Fakarava. And we still have TONS of the basics--flour, rice, beans, canned fruits and veggies, that we stocked up on in Panama and Ecuador. Plus a freezer full of meat--when the supply ship finally came into Makemo, we were able to buy nice lamb chops, chicken, pork chops, and some beef.

And of course, we still have some of the wine and rum we loaded on in prolific quantities before we left South America... which is being carefully rationed to last us until we get to Hawaii. A poor-quality liter box of wine costs $10-12 here in the Tuamotus, and rum is in short supply, poor quality, and runs nearly $20 a bottle.

But Dave is starting to worry about running out of bread and tomatoes... we "only" have 6 baguettes left!!

We thank god (and Dave) every day for the SSB radio that lets us talk with other cruisers. Everyone else is just as pinned-down as we are by the weather. Though most people are headed downwind, going downwind in this stuff is only slightly less onerous than going upwind. Our friends on Whoosh who just arrived in Suwarrow after a several day passage, went the last 36 hours under bare poles, and were still making over 100 miles a day!

We are a net controller on the local "Polynesia Breakfast Net" that is now covering cruisers strung out all the way from the Marquesas to Niue (almost to Tonga). We also like to listen up on the Pacific Seafarer's Net--a Ham net that's on in the evenings (0300 UTC) on 14300. Their net controllers are all over the Pacific... from mainland US to Hawaii to Australia and New Zealand, and the cruisers they track are all over too. On a good night we can hear almost everyone--we had a nice short chat the other night with a net relay operating just outside of Tampa, FL!!

The current weather forecast shows MAYBE a break coming about the 4th or 5th of August. It's not a perfect weather window (we're looking for 10-15 kts out of the SE), but at least the wind lightens up for a few days. It might be long enough for us to get out of here.

Until then... we're enjoying paradise... doing boat projects... reading... and watching the wind blow.
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At 7/30/2010 6:02 PM (utc) our position was 15°57.35'S 142°18.97'W

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