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!