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!