Position: Still in Daniel’s Bay

At the beginning of the hike we met this character. His name is Augustine and he was very gracious.

But...as we looked around, we saw this and had to wonder...?

Cooking goat in coconut milk. Yum!

Heading to the waterfall with Dave and Kathy from Lightspeed

We had to cross the river about five times

Yes, there are eels in the river. This one's about four feet long

The waterfall is 700 feet. So big, you can only really capture it in a picture at a distance, even though we went right to it's base

The final push the last couple hundred yards. Falling rock was a real danger, so we moved really fast. In and out.

Since this is such a beautiful spot, we are planning on staying here a couple days. We’re so deep in the bay, there’s smooth water in here, which is nice for a change since most of our anchorages have been pretty exposed to the open ocean and therefore pretty bouncy.

So…we got picked up by Light Speed at 0900 in their dinghy and headed off to the beach where the path to the waterfall starts. Turns out at something like 700 vertical feet, this waterfall is the third largest in the world. The hike up through the jungle was fun. First off we were on a trail known as the “King’s Road”. This trail was hand built at least several hundred years ago for the Marquesan King with large boulders and rocks so you were elevated from the muddy jungle floor. Lining the trail along the way were the ruins of old Marquesan villages. It’s still a wonder to see the Pae Pae, which are the large rock platforms they used to build their huts on. We could also see a number of rock walls that likely held their livestock and there was a single example of an interesting artifact. It is basically a pit dug in the ground about 10 feet, by 10 feet and six feet deep. It was carefully lined with rocks. It was used in older times to store breadfruit as a hedge against famine. Breadfruit is one of the most valuable food sources here. So valued that in the churches, you will often see breadfruit integrated into scenes with and carvings of Jesus, baby Jesus and Mary. This island (and others) actually had developed a population problem in the 1600s or so and amazingly, food shortages were becoming a part of life here. Breadfruit is a hugely important commodity in the islands and it was stored in these pits where it apparently fermented, but remained edible for long periods of time (sorry for the vagueness, we don’t have Google to sharpen our knowledge of this history). We know that by the 1800s Europeans had brought diseases that were decimating the villages, so the overpopulation issue was prior to that. Anyway, it was fascinating to see these ruins, untouched, largely ignored, but in great shape, that have been here for hundreds of years at least.

Continuing to the waterfall, we had to cross several streams and then hike up the most amazing canyon. It was maybe 75 yards across and towered at least 1000 feet above us. Very scary actually because the risk of being killed by rockfall is very real. Everywhere along the trail we could see huge boulders that had obviously fallen very recently. We made the final push (about ¼ mile up the canyon) very quickly for this reason.

We were thinking about swimming in the pool at the base of the waterfall, but the threat of rockfall and eels (at least we had heard there were eels) left us wanting to just head back and enjoy the view from further away.

As we retreated from the steep, narrow canyon and got back to one of the major streams we had to re-cross, we became very, very glad we didn’t swim. There in the stream were two of the largest eels I have ever seen. They were at least 4-5 inches in diameter and about three feet long and they were swimming upstream! Needless to say we were very careful fording that stream.

The rest of the hike back was uneventful. An aside: later we heard from one of the other cruisers anchored near us that a woman was killed here last week from being hit on the head by a coconut. Sounds crazy, but these things are all over the place and by the time they are ripe enough to fall, they weigh something in the neighborhood of 20 pounds. Her skull was crushed. So, add coconuts now to our list of things not to do. Sharks, eels, coconuts. Stay away from these things.

As nice as the hike was and amazing as the view was of the canyon and waterfall, the best part of the day was meeting some of the local characters who live here. There are only a few, but they are memorable.

The first on the way back was Augustine. We actually met him on the way up and told him we would stop by “later”. He’s Polynesian and has a shack, almost more of a stable where he works and lives. He keeps a carefully tended property full of fruit trees that is immaculate. Not a rotten piece on the ground. He also carves Marquesan designs out of bone. Boar tusk, cow bone, etc, he carves it. On the way up, we stopped and he cut open a couple coconuts for us to drink (very refreshing). I saw a dutch oven cooking over some coals and asked him what he was cooking. He took me over and showed me the goat (cut up) he was cooking in coconut milk. I said; “yum” and we left it at that, since it was just barely cooked at that point. We stopped again on the way back and he invited us into his place (I’m not sure what to call it since it was part stable, part shack, part house almost, but all open to the temperate environment. There were no windows. Very eclectic Polynesian is the best I can do to describe it. You kinda have to have been there). Anyway, we sat down at his table, the top of which he intricately carved with Marquesan symbols. Very detailed and stunning. He cut some coconut for us to drink and eat and then some papaya. As we were eating (we were famished from the hike), he looked at me, barked something in Marquesan, crooked his finger and signed for me to follow him into his “kitchen”. Which I did. The dutch oven was there and he pulled off the lid and grabbed a meat covered bone and said, “you try!” I did and it was delicious! “Me Like!!” He was happy. I was holding the bone wondering what to do with it and he signed to give it to the dog. So there you go. Nothing gets wasted here. After my “vetting” of the food, he was satisfied that we would like it and loaded a couple bowls with this goat meat in coconut milk and steamed bananas and we feasted. Just like that. Then he poured a redish looking liquid and said; “wine!” So we tried that. Kind of a fermented pineapple, coconut, I don’t know what else,drink, but incr edibly refreshing and goes well with goat!

Needless to say we had a blast! One of the highlights so far of the trip and he really was just doing this for fun. He didn’t want money. We “gifted” him with some Reef flip flops that Ann had and didn’t like. He laughed, looked down at his feet which were bare, but graciously accepted them knowing that he could either give them to one of his sons (15 and 10 who were away at boarding school like all the children on the islands) or trade them further down the line.

We very reluctantly left Augustine’s house, but it was getting late and we had to move on.

We were still looking for some fresh fruit. After Augustine’s gracious hospitality, we didn’t want to impose and ask him for fruit too, so down the road we went. There are half a dozen other homes/gardens and at one, a woman came out of her house and we asked if she had any fruit. At this point I should point out that Ann has become proficient in French. In fact, we all now consider her our translator. So Ann steps up and starts asking stuff (I say “stuff” because I have no idea what she really said, but it got things in motion) in French and next thing we know this woman is shouting at her kids to get in gear and get some fruit. The son motions to Dave and I to follow him around the house, the woman (we didn’t get her name) proceeded to empty a wheelbarrow and then line it with a nice tablecloth and wheel it into her garden whereupon she and her other children proceeded to cut down a bunch of papaya and pamplemouse. In the meantime her son is showing Dave and I how to cut a bunch of bananas down. This was incredibly valuable to know as bananas grow fairly high and we have been wondering how to gracefully harvest them. We now know the secret. (Watch for the secret to be revealed in future blogs.)

We left laden with fruit in backpacks and bags, not to mention our stalk of bananas that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty pounds.

OK, on down the road. The last place housed Tahiki and family. Tahiki plays the part of a traditional Marquesan warrior. Some of the people anchored near us who had met him the day before were actually scared by him. He is very fearsome looking with a traditionally tattooed face, in the Marquesan style as well as on the rest of his body. He is also “buffed”. He has muscles everywhere and wears a boar tusk necklace and earrings. Quite a sight. He charges at you, yells in Marquesan, dances, etc, but he’s also a very nice guy. We stopped at his house (read shack- tin roof, no real windows just square holes where you would put glass if you needed it, but very clean with a nice porch. In this environment that’s all you need). We stopped here to support them and bought some of their fruit because Tahiki is such a blast to be around. The fruit we bought cost a whopping $6 for the four of us, but he was happy and decided to show us how to shuck coconuts. He had a spike that he uses to tear off the husk so you can get to the nut. First he showed us (with many warrior-like flourishes) and then each of us had a turn. When it was Ann’s turn, she yelled in warrior-like fashion too, which delighted Tahiki’s two boys. She has two new fans now. Dave and Kathy gave them some baseball hats as gifts and we now have a bunch of new fans.

So, a really fun day. We’re staying here at least one more day to do some more exploring and to just enjoy the amazing, amazing scenery that we’re blessed to be anchored in.

Position: 08 degrees, 56 minutes South; 149 degrees, 09 minutes West

Anchored in Daniel's Bay

Daniel's Bay from up on the ridge

We are in Baie De Taioa which is also known as “Daniel’s Bay” which is further known as the place where they produced “Survivor Marquesas”. We just got in this afternoon, but the entry to the bay is as stunning an entry as we’ve ever seen in our lives. Vertical mountains jutting thousands of feet out of the water guard the bay, so it’s really not visible from more than a hundred yards or so. You have to trust the GPS until you can see the opening. Ocean size waves are crashing against the rocks, threatening to blast the boat to pieces if you get too close. Just as I was thinking; “this can’t be right!” I caught sight of the 90 degree right dog-leg turn into the bay. Suddenly as you make the turn, you go from the crashing of the waves to an amazing tranquility.

The day started with having to get the stern anchor out of the sand/mud at Baie Hakauhau. This meant I had to go out in the dinghy and pull it up. Once the anchor was in the dinghy, Ann pulled the rest of the anchor line (with me in the dinghy attached) back to Charisma. We then quickly placed the anchor, line and 30 feet of chain up into the cockpit while I rowed up to the bow so we could haul the dinghy up on the foredeck and secure it for the 25 mile passage across to Nuka Hiva. I say quickly because there’s wind and surge in the anchorage which once the stern anchor is not holding Charisma, she is free to move around in the very tight anchorage. Our two neighbors were each only a boat length away. One in front and one to our right. We had to move fast. We did and the dinghy was secured, the main anchor hoisted and we were off. One of our better exits. We got on the radio, said our goodbyes and set course for Nuka Hiva.

Not five minutes had passed when I heard the cry; “Dolphins!” One of the biggest things Ann has missed so far on this trip has been dolphins, and here we had a small pod come to play. I took the helm and Ann (who in the past has been known as the Dolphin Whisperer when we saw them more often) went up to the bow to play. She still has the touch. As she laughed and shrieked when they came up under the bowsprit where she was standing, they became more and more animated until finally one of the dolphins did a triple jump. It really was pretty amazing. The first two jumps were clear out of the water, tail and all. The third jump was the same but included a 360 degree spin. They were spinner dolphins and she got a private show!

The passage itself was pretty unremarkable. Once we anchored we got invited to a beach bonfire at 1800 (which is right at dusk here). We took the dinghy in and had a nice time with a bunch of boats we hadn’t seen in a while. There are about a dozen boats here, most of which we have known since Mexico but also a couple new ones we made friends with tonight. We enjoyed a beautiful star-studded night on the beach and are looking forward to seeing this place at sunrise. It will no doubt be stunning. We also plan to hike to “the waterfall” tomorrow. There always seems to be a hike to the waterfall, but Mark from Blue Rodeo went today and announced that the hike in and the canyon was probably the most beautiful place on earth that he had ever seen. Whoa! We’re ready to try that on for size. It’s supposed to be a 4-6 hour trip, so LightSpeed is picking us up in their dinghy at 0900. Stay tuned for the outcome!

Position: 09 degrees, 21 minutes South; 140 degrees, 02 minutes West

We awoke this morning to a stupendous view of the steep minarets rising off of our stern. Bob’s mountain climbing wanderlust was awakened just looking at them. When we went ashore and checked in with the Gendamerie, just a courtesy check-in as we actually checked into the Marquesas in Atuona, I asked if people actually climbed those minarets. He hesitated and said yes, but that due to the rain of the last two nights it was not advisable. It would be one heck of a climb as the highest peak, Mt. Oave, is 4,040 high.

So instead we wandered the small town looking for provisions. Mostly we wanted fruits and vegetables. Although the mangos and breadfruit seemed to be prolific, the trees were all in people’s yards so we abstained from picking any. The vegetables in the stores consisted of tomatoes and some sad looking potatoes. Can’t be picky, so we got some of both. We ran into our friends from “Island Bound” who asked us to join them for lunch at the local restaurant. The waiter seemed to want to direct us to the special of the day, tuna tartar, but Island Bound had been there yesterday and so finally he brought the whiteboard to our table with other selections. Bob and I stayed with the special and it was really delicious. Island Bound had shrimp and sashimi and were pleased too. But it should have been for the price. We are so used to Mexico’s prices that we were a little stunned by the $47 lunch (for two). We stopped in to see the local Catholic Church after lunch. There was a class of about 30 students practicing for what might be an upcoming First Communion. They were pleased to have us as an audience and we got many secret waves and smiles. The church has a beautiful pulpit. It is a massive block of tou carved to look like the bow of the boat cutting through the waves. Incredible carving. This town is interesting because it has the islands’ high school in it. Apparently the students board in apartment-looking buildings next door to the school because the other villages, though not far, are difficult to get to by road. So the town has lots of teenagers around. We have not seen many in our travels on the other islands so now we know where they all are.

These same teenagers were playing at the dock as we returned to our dinghy, enjoying pushing each other off and teasing – just like at home. As Bob rowed us back to Charisma, his back to the anchorage, I informed him that Island Bound had three of the local teenage girls hanging out on the bow of their boat. We found out later that they wanted to practice their English so asked to come back to their boat when they returned. This was just the start of the fun as their friends on the dock could see and wanted in on the fun. No wonder as we rowed out several kids were calling to us. We greeted them back but misinterpreted their calls.

The girls ended up being quite social and loved playing with Kat’s digital camera. We can’t wait until cameras are so cheap we can give them to people in places like this. When Bill returned the girls to the dock three boys managed to convince Bill to let them come play. What a trooper! After having Tang and cookies on the boat while playing Bill’s guitar and singing songs, they convinced Bill to let them drive the dinghy around the anchorage. Just like boys in a car for the first time – pedal to the metal. Bill did a great job of keeping them from running over anchor lines and other boaters.

As the sun set on the bay the far side of the bay (which is only a little over 100 yards away from where we’re anchored) we could sit and watch surfers finding large 5-6 foot waves to surf in on. Even the outriggers get in on the game. One 8-man outrigger was doing a splendid job of surfing very long distances and bailing just in time before hitting the rocks. No sand here. Poetry on water! We watched a single outrigger surfing for about three hours this morning. Just going again and again. These guys are really strong.

We will be leaving this bay tomorrow and after posting this blog will determine if we round the island to the next anchorage or continue to the next island of Nuku Hiva which is 25 miles to the north. Tune in tomorrow to see where we landed!

Position: 09 degrees, 21 minutes South; 140 degrees, 02 minutes West

Nice day of sailing. Left Hanamenu at 0415. Light air so motored for an hour or so until the wind came up with the sun. Set sail with a pod of dolphins and had a nice downwind ride at 5-6 knots most of the way in 4 foot seas. Overall about an 8 hour sail. Beautiful day (but no fish)!

Got in around 1500 and found the anchorage was pretty tight behind the breakwater and had to get out the stern anchor to line up with the other boats. There are about 7 or so here including a couple of boats that we’ve known from Mexico so we got together for cocktails and snacks at sunset. Nice night with our friends and we’re looking forward to going ashore tomorrow and checking out the town.

Ann’s on the radio right now talking with some other friends who are one island ahead of us who are telling us where we can find good fresh vegetables. That’s the one thing we’re short on and they are hard to find. All we have right now are a few tomatoes that we found at the last island. Our fresh fruit consists of pamplemousse and bananas. Can’t wait to see what we find in town tomorrow (along with the boulangerie for some baguettes!

That’s about it for today.

Position: 09 degrees, 45 minutes South; 139 degrees, 08 minutes West

It rained all night last night, but cleared in the morning, so we left Vaietahu and had a nice, sunny (for a change, given all the rain the last few days) sail NW up around to the North side of Hiva Oa where we were a couple weeks ago. We’re back in Hanamena Baie, the first place we sailed to after clearing in where we were gifted the fruits and saw the ruins and the pig trap. We’re not going ashore, just sitting the rest of the day out here and we’ll leave around 0400 for Oa Pu (pronounced “whapu”). It’s about 60 miles away and we plan a conservative average of 4 knots and try to get in mid-afternoon. That way if it’s a bit slower, we don’t have to worry about turning the engine on to get there. So far it’s working as we haven’t taken on any diesel since we left Mexico, although we’ll probably take some on in Nuka Hiva which is our next stop after Oa Pu.

Today was just sailing. 20 knots pretty much on the nose. We used a reefed jib only, no mainsail so we weren’t very efficient, but we had all day to get here. Most of the ride was “downhill”, so it was really nice, but the last couple hours were close hauled beating into 4 foot waves. It’s pretty nice now in the little bay, but when we got here, there were at least three foot waves and gusting into the high twenties. Not super comfortable, but the anchor is well dug in so after we were set I took a nap for a couple hours. Once the sun went down, the wind engine shut off and there’s a light land breeze right now. We’re done with dinner (potato, yam, pancetta hash with the little peppers we found while hiking. They are very hot! I only used about three of them-they are about 3/8 of an inch and that was enough to get the burn in the whole dish).

The sky is full of stars tonight which we haven’t seen for a few days, so we’re going to have a “tot” of rum, some home baked cookies and sit out under the stars. Good night!

Position: Still anchored in Vaitahu

It rained all day today and gusted into the 30’s. I dropped Ann at the dock at 0730 and she went to Mass while I stayed on Charisma. There was a 15 minute lull in the rain and wind while I took her ashore and then torrential rains again. Hmmm. Connections?

It was just as well we didn’t go anywhere. The tattoos need some rest. We’ve been keeping them well lubed with Neosporin and Vaseline. They should be good to go tomorrow so if the weather lifts, we’re going to head North a bit.

Speaking of the tattoos, I forgot to mention something from yesterday. There’s a single store here operated by an ex-pat Frenchman. He was very French in that he was rather unfriendly the first time we went to his store two days ago. Then we went into his little store after getting the tattoos. He saw them and said; “Oh, tattoos! Fati?” We replied yes and all of a sudden we were best friends. Seems Fati has a lot of pull around here. The storekeeper could see Ann’s on her ankle but asked me where mine was. I showed him the armband part under my sleeve and pointed to my shoulder as well as I had put on my shirt and did not want to remove it show him. He rightfully grimaced and made signs about such a tattoo hurting. I nodded in complete agreement. He then went back to Ann’s and commented on the beautiful Marquesan cross at the front and then had Ann spin and show him the others. He immediately understood the triple heart that Ann explained represented her “enfants” and was impressed with the manta and the beautiful star. Then the most amazing thing. He pointed at me and signed to come into the store. I followed him back beyond the goods and into his house which was attached in the back. There he went into a curio case and pulled out a volcanic stone about 8 inches long and maybe and inch and a half thick. He handed it to me and said it was an ancient axe head that he found in the river which runs by his shop. It seemingly washed down from on high. He wanted me to have it to put on the tattoo to sooth it, but said I couldn’t bonk “my wife” with it (a little French humor no doubt). But seriously, I looked at it and darned if it isn’t exactly that. The front has two burnished edges that form a 60 degree angle. They have been polished to create a chopping blade. The rest of the piece shows chipping marks and the back has an indentation where it would be joined to a wooden handle. It looks extremely authentic and I don’t think it’s a fake. It’s made from volcanic rock. Very heavy, almost like obsidian only denser. Every time I look at it I’m amazed that he just gave it to me. Must be the power of my new tattoo. It does after all have a Marquesan cross and two Tikis along with a number of other powerful symbols. It’s said that Fati has a lot of Mana (which I haven’t found a translation for yet since we’re not online but I think it means spiritual power) so maybe our tattoos carry some of that power. Today being Mother’s Day we want to wish our favorite mother’s (especially mine and both my sister and all of Ann’s sisters) a wonderful Mother’s Day. Ann’s special day was made complete when her daughter, Stephanie sent her a delightful poem (via email) about our travels. The thoughtfulness of the poem cannot be measured. Thanks, Stephanie, for making Ann’s day!

So, that’s our story for today.

Position: Same as yesterday. Still anchored in Baie Vaitahu

Marquesan tattoo

Ann's ankle band

We got tattoos! Yup, we’ve actually been planning to get tattoos to commemorate our voyage, but haven’t wanted to say anything until we did it. We’ll today we did.

We had heard there was one artist in the Marquesas who was famous for having reinvigorated the ancient art of tattooing here on the islands. We were told his name was Fati (pronounced Fahtea). Where ever we asked, all the local people said; “Oh, you want to see Fati. He’s in Vaitahu on Tahuata”. So when we had to bypass this bay a few days ago due to squally weather, we were disappointed. However, it all ultimately worked out. We initially missed here, but our detour allowed us to swim with the Manta Rays in the other bay. Also, it turned out that yesterday when we came here was actually not just a local disturbance, but a regional storm. We heard on the radio net last night that folks on all the islands were experiencing bad weather with winds gusting into the 40 knot range, heavy rain and lightning and thunder. We were very lucky to have made it in here and anchored before the storm hit. What we didn’t say in yesterday’s post was that just as we went ashore, and the storm broke with the torrential rains, we ducked under a tin roofed shack with a couple of locals. One had tattoos and I complimented them and asked if Fati did them. He beamed; “Yes!” I said we wanted to get tattoos from Fati and he said he’d call him. Out came his cell phone and the next thing we knew, Fati showed up in his pickup truck. We stood under the roof in the rain a while and talked a bit. He didn’t speak much English and our French is pathetic, but we did gather that he had to assess our “Mana” before he would do the tattoos. He doesn’t do them for just anyone. He said to meet him under the same roof at 0700 the next day and we would go up to his studio and see what we would see. So, it turned out we made our “connection” in literally ten minutes by chance. But there was still this huge storm. What if it continued? Would we be driven out of this somewhat flakey anchorage? Well, it turned out the storm moderated on toward evening and today was a lovely day. Perfect for getting tattooed.

We got up early, had our coffee and dinghied in to meet Fati. He was waiting at 0700 as agreed so we jumped in his truck and headed to his studio. As an aside, I’m not sure why people bother driving cars here because the entire town in no more than 1/2mile from one end to the other. Anyway, we drove the ¼ mile to his house and walked around back to his studio. There he asked us to look at some of his books on tattoos and he would study our Mana. It’s a long story that had me walking down to the only store in town to exchange some American dollars for Polynesian Francs since we had spent most of our Francs on carvings and there’s no bank or ATM here. Ann said that while I was gone, Fati pronounced that at least her Mana was very good. Me, I had the money, so Mana or not, I guess it all worked out.

I was first. I decided that since Fati was an artist, not just a tattoo jockey, I would go with his inspiration of what would look good for me. He liked that. I had asked for a shoulder and arm-band. He took about an hour to draw a design and both Ann and I loved it. So, time for the tattoo. I can now say from experience; tattooing is painful. He uses two different tips and depending on which tip and what part of the shoulder/arm he was working the feeling varied from the expected hundreds of pin pricks per second to the less expected feeling that I was being filleted alive with a knife to the equally unexpected feeling that he was just peeling back my skin. This went on for four and a half hours. Needless to say I’m not doing the other shoulder any time soon. However, the tattoo is exceptional. The pattern is uniquely his, but includes traditional Marquesan themes including a tiki (which means protector), fish, the ubiquitous Marquesan Cross, geckos and a tropical flower. I’m very pleased. Having dreamed about doing this trip for decades, it’s fitting that I now have something that links me permanently to the culture of these islands.

And Ann? She drew up some designs based on traditional Marquesan tattoos, showed them to Fati and asked him to do what he felt would work. He loved her ideas (you could see his face light up when she showed him) and went to work drawing a leg band just above her ankle that includes: the Marquesan Cross, a stylized star representing the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross, a stylized Manta Ray (for our swim with them) and a special section of three hearts in one that represent her three children. The drawing looked great, so Ann approved and he went to work. Her tattoo took three hours and was painful as it went across her shinbone and back around the Achilles tendon. But, the result is fantastic. It is a really beautiful piece of art that will always remind her of this great adventure.

We know we have to keep the tattoos out of the sun and water for a few days and we’re putting neosporim on them 2x per day, but any other ideas on how to care the them in the coming days would be appreciated. Everything here is in French, so we’re a little clueless!

Position: 09 degrees, 56 minutes South; 139 degrees, 06 minutes West

Stormy days make pretty sunsets. Big thunderboomers that had gone overhead an hour or so earlier.

After a delightful couple of days at Hananoemoa, we decided we needed to backtrack a bit to stop at Baie Vaitahu. Just a mile or two South, it is night and day different. Where Hananoemoa has low hills, white sand and generally sunshine (between the squalls that run overhead in the mornings), Vaitahu is in a valley at the bottom of a tall mountain (2000′). Most of the time, the top of the mountain is in the clouds so we can’t see it. The rain squalls have come blasting down all day bringing torrents like we haven’t seen since crossing the ITCZ. After a couple hours here, I had to use a hand pump on the dinghy as it had filled at least 1/3rd full of water. It was filled somewhere in the 4 inch range. Combine that with 25+ knot winds blasting down the valley and fanning out into the anchorage and you get the idea. I almost turned around and headed back to the other anchorage, but we wanted to see this place, so anchor it was. Then we rigged the dinghy to go ashore (i.e. put the engine on for the first time since leaving Mexico). I wanted the engine just in case the weather got even worse. I didn’t want to be caught out trying to row an inflatable if the winds picked up even more.

Ashore we went. The actual shore had large breaking waves and rocks, so we opted for the concrete dock. It’s built right over some rocks, so only the top is actually concrete, the sides still being rock, albeit smoothed down from use. It’s also just inside a little point, so doesn’t take the brunt of the waves. However, the swell at the dock was a solid three feet! Basically you maneuver the dinghy up to the rocks/dock where there’s a stair cut into the solid wall. You then have to time it so you get off-one at a time-with the peak of the swell. Initially you’re looking up three feet or so at the bottom of the steps, then for a moment of maybe two seconds as the swell passes through, you are even with one of the steps and you leap off and scramble up while the dinghy drops out below your feet. Time it wrong and, well…that would be a problem. Then the next person does the same thing and it you do it right you’re both standing on the dock holding the dinghy and trying to figure out how to secure it where it won’t smash against the rocks while you’re gone. Usually you would drop a stern anchor to hold it off, but I forgot to rig that, so we just let a bunch of line out and let it fend for itself. It actually worked pretty well, but we decided that today’s stay would be necessarily short. We would just do a “once through” and spend more time in town tomorrow. As with the other places we’ve visited, “town” is a misnomer. While there is a small store, a post-office and a church, there can’t be more than 50 or so people who live here.

Into town we went. It’s a short walk from the dock and while walking we ran right into a torrential downpour that soaked us through and through. The rain running off of the hills turned the bay brown from the silt pouring in. But what the heck, we’re in the tropics, so we just kept going, did our once through and stopped in the store where other than dripping on the floor, we were fine.

Looks like the rain is going to continue all night. Here’s hoping for a nice day tomorrow so we can explore a bit. Depending on weather, from here in the next day or so we’ll have a 40-60 mile leg up to Ua Pou (pronounced; “wa-poe”). We want nice weather for that, so we’ll just hunker down here or if it looks like the weather is lasting more than another day, we’ll go back over to Hananoemoa where the sandy bottom and more gentle hills make for an easier ride at anchor.

Responses: To Jerry; What’s considered hot? It’s 80 degrees F in the cabin right now and it almost seems cool, so I guess we’re getting used to the warmer weather. Cliff; I haven’t used my spear. Ciguaterra is so pervasive in the tropics, we have decided to only eat pelagic fish caught offshore such as tuna, dorado and wahoo. Angela; we actually are seeing your posts. The blog says they have to be moderated, but after a day or so they automatically post. Just remember what you commented on and look back after about 24 hours and you should see the post. We are. By the way – it is very hard to remember that we are in the Polynesian winter season. It is typically 95-100 every day. You take a shower and five minutes later you are sweating. It cools off to about 75 at night but we need to keep hatches closed due to squalls. And we keep the bug screens in so that limits air flow. My point being that we are usually warm to sweating yet at 5:30 the sun is setting. So weird.

Position: 09 degrees, 54 minutes South; 139 degrees, 06 minutes West in Hanamoenoa Bay

The Mantas came to play. We both jumped in and swam with them. I put together an underwater movie. They are so graceful.

…is Folgers in your cup? (Downside of advertising careers is that you think in jingles.) Well, not when you are in the South Pacific. While Bob and I both love a good cup of coffee to be enjoyed in the cockpit in the cool morning air, we have found new reasons to enjoy the morning.

I used to think it was going to 5 am spin class, sorry Irma, you have been surpassed. Yesterday morning I thought it was a good dolphin show. I watched as a pod of dolphins (my first full pod on this trip) trolled back and forth across the top of the bay feeding. But the best part was watching the baby dolphin learning to do spins. These were spinner dolphins. The first tries were hysterical but good-hearted adult dolphins must have been coaching him because by the time we pulled up anchor the baby was doing full 720s!

But today’s morning topped even that! We are sitting in the cockpit, as I said, enjoying yogurt, pamplemoose and fresh coffee when Bob spots a manta ray about 50 yards off of the stern. “You should get in your swimsuit and go play”, he tells me. Although I love the snorkeling experience (I was a rookie as we left the Bay Area) I was not sure I was up to chasing down manta rays. While I was busy talking myself out of it Bob realized, “where else will I ever get to experience this!” And over he went. I stopped him just long enough to hand him the underwater video camera (thanks again, Sue!). The manta had come very close to our stern and I was able to get two really close pictures of him following a school of fish. They don’t eat fish, just the plankton the school was feasting on so he was playing clean-up man.

Unfortunately I then lost track of him and could not help Bob find him. No worries, Bob has a sense for them and while I was thinking he was still looking (back where he first had seen them) he had found it and was having an amazing encounter. And not to be out done, suddenly a booby swooped down from above (I think he thought Bob was a big tuna) and dove on the same school of fish. The video tells it all! Bob and the manta are swimming gracefully along through the large school (300 fish) of fish and suddenly this bullet from above scoops down, gets his fish and scares the manta away.

No matter. Bob came back to Charisma just in time for a large squall that could not pretend to wash the smile off of his face! Yes, I was jealous. Next time I am going in.

And not ten minutes later Bob bubbles through his mouth full of coffee, “He’s back. Twenty feet off the stern!” You don’t need to tell me twice! I ran downstairs and got into a version of a swimsuit, found my fins, snorkel and mask. As I went off the port side Bob said he would direct me once I rounded the stern. Away I paddled. Just as I slowed down to turn around and get direction I turn and am 3 feet from him looking right at me! Whoa! I’m swimming with a manta ray! These rays were about five feet across and a graceful as a ballerina!

It startled me at first and I still was not bold enough to get much closer but I had a captivating game of “follow-me” with my new friend. I would twirl around, he would twirl. I would do the back stroke, he would flip over. I would spread my arms and pretend I was a manta ray and…well you get the picture. He was imitating my every move.

As he got friendlier I got a little closer, head on, and realized that what I thought was an unusual lip formation was really a fishing lure caught in his lip with five feet of fishing line trailing off his back. I called to Bob to see if we could try to help. I felt like he was seeking help. Bob hollered over to Mark and Anne on Blue Rodeo (avid divers) to get their assistance too. When the posse arrived to help I continued to try to distract him by playing follow-me while Bob, Mark and Anne took turns diving down and trying to cut off the line. Anne made two successful passes and not only petted him, but managed to cut all but about 5 inches of the line away. We were hesitant to attempt to remove the hook and he pretty much decided he was done playing and had taken off anyway.

Wow! There has got to be a better word than that but even my Thesaurus wasn’t much help. In the video I squeal a lot. Just incredible…the best part of waking up …mantas in the bay! Stay tuned – our friends on Gato Go arrived today and since Blue Rodeo, Gato Go and Charisma (all participants in the Equator Costume Contest) are all in the same bay, along with Island Bound, an independent judge (who according to Bill can be bought) we are having a potluck dinner to enjoy each other’s pictures as well as to determine the winner. Bob has put our pictures to a slide show with the background music of “Monkey Business” by Bonnie Rait. Seems appropriate. I am going to go dress up a banana as the prize. More later….

Well the votes have been cast and counted and we are thrilled to say that we won the Equator Costume Contest but not by much. Blue Rodeo also invoked King Neptune and a mermaid in their costumes and by all accounts (other than Anne-his wife) Mark made a very fetching mermaid. Mark’s comment was that the mermaid in the pictures reminded him of someone he loved! Kind of like looking in a warped mirror I guess.

Gato Go also invoked the grandeur of King Neptune but he played opposite a true shellback. Bruce’s cape was constructed of sand dollars that they tied together. Only people on a catamaran could possibly have unbroken sand dollars on their boat after sailing for so long on the confused seas getting to the equator. It was obvious from the pictures that a lot of love went into their costumes!

Because we created the prize – a fetching banana mermaid (there are a lot of things you can make with bananas) wrapped lovingly in a Survivor buff- we gifted our prize to second place – the Gato Go boys.

Blue Rodeo and Island Bound are heading to the Northern islands early in the morning. We’re staying put for another day or two, so we’ll miss them but look forward to catching up in the next month as we all find ourselves in the Tuamotus. Tomorrow we plan to go back to Vaihatu about a mile South of here (weather permitting) with Gato Go and spend the day exploring that town. We’ll see…

Position: 09 degrees, 54 minutes South; 139 degrees, 06 minutes West in Hapatoni Bay

Charisma and Blue Rodeo anchored in Hapatoni Bay.

Wild growing bananas for the picking.

And of course, we need wild papaya

Not just fruit, but beautiful flowers for the picking

It’s morning and I’m sitting here in Hapatoni Bay, thinking this place is almost impossibly beautiful. We’re anchored in 30 feet of water so clear you can see the bottom. We’re about 40 yards from shore (a gentle sand wedge, choked down, chip to the green). It’s a little cloudy from the evening squalls, so the colors are subdued and the sun is not yet blazing down. The water in this delicate light is an emerald green right now. Closer into shore, it turns almost aquamarine as it gets shallower and you can see sand. Small waves are breaking on the volcanic rock boulders. At the surf line, the boulders are dark grey, almost black turning almost silver, the eye moves up onto the dry zone. Then the coconut palms line the beach and continue on up the steeply rising hill as the sea gives way to the mountain that is this side of the island. The slope is almost 50 degrees and the palms cover the first 100 -200 feet, so close together they overlap and you can’t see the jungle beneath or behind them. In this light the palms are shades of green, but around sunset and maybe 10 minutes before they turn many soft shades of burnt umber, sienna and many shades of light and dark green along with some yellows. Moving up the hill the palm trees give way to the forest canopy that soars 50-60 above the floor. “Floor” is relative as the slope at this point is rising almost to 70 degrees. We know from hiking a path cut along the side of the mountain that there are many banana, papaya and other fruit trees tucked in under the canopy along with a dense thicket of other jungle. (As I’m writing this, Ann is on the bowsprit almost shrieking because dolphins have entered the bay and a dozen or so are swimming about 50 yards upwind). This cover thins out about half way up the mountain as it turns vertical, grey to black volcanic rock towering above us rising to a knife edge ridge at about 700 feet. Vines and other hardy vegetation cling tenaciously to the crevices in the rock. Small white birds (parrots?) provide a sense of depth to the heights as they practice incredible aerobatics against the mountainside, doing loops, rolls and turns that would challenge the best stunt pilots. Above all this, the ridge connects for the last couple hundred feet to an almost pyramidal peak that completes the picture, jutting up about 1000 feet above us, the top scraping wisps of cloud as the squalls pass overhead. The mountain is sharply contrasted by the grey-white clouds with patches of intense blue as they rush overhead. Why they are in such a hurry I don’t know since beyond us lies thousands of miles of nothing but ocean.

So why are we leaving here? Because all of the anchorages are this beautiful and it’s time for the adventure to continue to the next village.

It’s evening now. Our friends from Blue Rodeo and Island Bound came over for cocktails and dinner of arachera beef that we bought in Mexico that’s been sealed and in the fridge, and fresh Wahoo that Island Bound caught a while back and froze. They have rowed back to their boats for the night and we now have time to reflect on a great day. Above is the morning’s description. We then left for our current location. Had some pretty windy squalls on the way here, but once here, we dropped anchor in good holding sand and immediately jumped in the water for a swim and some snorkeling. Then lunch and a nap. It’s a good day when there’re no boat projects (i.e. nothing broken to have to fix). Ann had a somewhat less relaxing day. She did laundry including the sheets. Not fun. But I cooked dinner for six, so on and on we trade chores.

We’re probably going to stay here and relax a bit for a couple days. The swimming/snorkeling is great, and it’s white sand, meaning better visibility. If the squalls quiet down a bit, we’ll go back South a mile and see the small town of Vaitahu. We meant to stop there today, but as we went by, we looked in and it was full of white water (meaning very windy, blowing the tops of waves off). It’s at the bottom of a long valley that comes down almost 1000 feet and the winds just scream down. It is also known as a difficult place to safely anchor in those conditions as the bottom is very steep, so hard to get an anchor to stay in place. If conditions calm, we may go. If not, in a day or two we’ll move on.

On the shortwave this evening we talked to our friends on Gato Go and they are in Hapatoni. They are planning to get in here tomorrow so we’re sure to wait. After all, it’s their turn to make dinner!

That’s the cruising life. Snorkle, sail, anchor, fix stuff, cocktails and dinners. Very social. 😉

P.S. Regular readers will recall that our radar went out in crossing the ITCZ. It has miraculously self-healed itself. I have no idea how, but over the last week, it started coming back online. Initially it showed weak images and the settings had to be set all out of normal. Then it got better and as of today all the settings are back to normal and it’s reading other boats, shorelines and even squalls. One theory was water incursion. However, I have not been able to find a junction that was wet. All connections are dry. I cleaned them with electronics cleaner just in case there was some hidden corrosion. The other theory was that the terrific storms we were in put out so much static electricity they overcame the magnetron or reset some of the software settings. If this theory were correct, then possibly turning the unit on and off multiple times of the last couple weeks has allowed it to “reboot” to the correct settings. In any case, we’re really glad to have it back, as radar is really useful in the Tuamotus, which is our next island chain in a couple weeks. They are mostly very low profile, hard to see atolls and radar can be a very valuable tool in navigation. I just wish I knew exactly what the problem was so I could feel we could rely on it down the road in the next storm. Oh well, time will tell.