Position: 08 degrees, 49 minutes South; 140 degrees, 03 minutes West

Our anchorage in Anaho Bay

We are getting ready to move out of the Marquesas and on to the Tuamotu’s. But we need to see a little more of Nuku Hiva first, then get some fuel. We haven’t fueled since Mexico back at the end of March. By my calculations we still have about 15 gallons of diesel (and have used 60, most of which has been to charge the batteries on days when there’s not enough sun to fully charge them with the solar panels). I’m not looking forward to filling up. It’s not like in California, or Mexico for that matter, where you pull up to the fuel dock. Here, you have to Med Moor. That means you have to anchor just in front of the concrete dock and back up-hoping the anchor holds you just off the dock. You put a stern line out to hold the boat against the surge. If you are able to accomplish that, then you need to get in your dinghy and get the fuel hose, bring it out to the boat, that is still hopefully stationed 10 feet or so off the dock pointing straight out and not bashing into it as the waves surge you five feet backward and forward. If all that goes well, you can begin fueling. The alternative is to take our two jerry cans which are five gallons each, back and forth in the dinghy until the tank is full.

Our last port here will be Taiohae Bay which is the only place that has fuel. The issue this last week was that they ran out. The supply ship supposedly came in today, but there are a bunch of boats in there waiting and we didn’t want to be last in line, so we decided to sail around to Anaho on the North side of the island then back for fuel. The sail made for a very long day and we got here just an hour before dark. I was thinking there would be a 30 percent chance we wouldn’t make it before dark and would have to stand off for the night and come in tomorrow morning, but we got some favorable wind shifts and made it just in time. The wind shifts come from the squalls. They come down from East of the island and go roughly to the West. If you can get on the North side of the squall, you get “lifted” which basically means you can sail a more favorable line and not have to tack back and forth. So, I played the lifts in the squalls and that just made the difference.

The sail around the island to the North side was against 15 knot winds gusting to 25 and six foot seas. The weather was mostly cloudy. It was pretty dramatic getting into Anaho at almost dusk with the squalls hiding the high peaks around the bay. We even had to slow down and wait out the final squall as we were entering the bay as it completely obliterated our vision. We didn’t want to go in blind. We can’t wait to see the high peaks around the bay tomorrow.

The other thing I’ve learned when coming into a new anchorage is when you see a “line” of boats anchored DON’T go behind them. That’s what we saw here and sure enough, the five boats already here were anchored just in front of the reef. If I had gone behind them (which was tempting as there’s a nice beach and it looked like you could just anchor there) we would have hit the reef.

So, anchor down, had a Charisma, took a shower in the cockpit and prepared dinner. Made an omelette and sautéed bananas. The bananas are an easy way for anyone to get a taste of the tropics. Here’s the dead simple recipe: Get some ripe bananas. Peel and cut in half lengthwise. Put in frying pan with some coconut crème (you can get it in a box, it’s sweetened, so cut it with a little water) and just simmer on low with a lid while you’re cooking dinner. About 15 minutes in our case. Put on a serving dish and sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Yum, yum YUM!

We’re going to spend a couple days in this neighborhood hiking and such. Maybe visit one other bay on this side of the island and then on to Taiohae for fuel some fresh food if we can find it and then the four or five day voyage South to the Tuamotus where we’ll spend some weeks (depending on weather and fun) before heading to Tahiti sometime around the end of June. Where the Marquesas have been soaring peaks and green jungles, the Tuamotus are basically coral reefs. Most of them are only as tall as the palm trees that grow there. Should make for a very interesting contrast. They are known for tremendous snorkeling and diving as the water is said to be so clear you can see down 100 feet.

Some housekeeping: The tattoos are doing really well and looking good. Ann’s had some redness for a couple days, but that’s gone now. The “damaged” skin from the tattooing is peeling off and voila, we’re looking good!

Robin and Mike: is the Light Speed you know a catamaran or monohull. The cat is in the Marquesas, but the monohull went to Easter Island and we haven’t seen those guys. Ironic that there were two boats with the same name, right? Wrong! There were two Charismas too! We became known as Charisma – San Francisco vs. Charisma -Seattle!

Position: 08 degrees, 49 minutes South; 140 degrees, 03 minutes West

We are getting ready to move out of the Marquesas and on to the Tuamotu’s. But we need to see a little more of Nuku Hiva first, then get some fuel. We haven’t fueled since Mexico back at the end of March. By my calculations we still have about 15 gallons of diesel (and have used 60, most of which has been to charge the batteries on days when there’s not enough sun to fully charge them with the solar panels). I’m not looking forward to filling up. It’s not like in California, or Mexico for that matter, where you pull up to the fuel dock. Here, you have to Med Moor. That means you have to anchor just in front of the concrete dock and back up-hoping the anchor holds you just off the dock. You put a stern line out to hold the boat against the surge. If you are able to accomplish that, then you need to get in your dinghy and get the fuel hose, bring it out to the boat, that is still hopefully stationed 10 feet or so off the dock pointing straight out and not bashing into it as the waves surge you five feet backward and forward. If all that goes well, you can begin fueling. The alternative is to take our two jerry cans which are five gallons each, back and forth in the dinghy until the tank is full.

Our last port here will be Taiohae Bay which is the only place that has fuel. The issue this last week was that they ran out. The supply ship supposedly came in today, but there are a bunch of boats in there waiting and we didn’t want to be last in line, so we decided to sail around to Anaho on the North side of the island then back for fuel. The sail made for a very long day and we got here just an hour before dark. I was thinking there would be a 30 percent chance we wouldn’t make it before dark and would have to stand off for the night and come in tomorrow morning, but we got some favorable wind shifts and made it just in time. The wind shifts come from the squalls. They come down from East of the island and go roughly to the West. If you can get on the North side of the squall, you get “lifted” which basically means you can sail a more favorable line and not have to tack back and forth. So, I played the lifts in the squalls and that just made the difference.

The sail around the island to the North side was against 15 knot winds gusting to 25 and six foot seas. The weather was mostly cloudy. It was pretty dramatic getting into Anaho at almost dusk with the squalls hiding the high peaks around the bay. We even had to slow down and wait out the final squall as we were entering the bay as it completely obliterated our vision. We didn’t want to go in blind. We can’t wait to see the high peaks around the bay tomorrow.

The other thing I’ve learned when coming into a new anchorage is when you see a “line” of boats anchored DON’T go behind them. That’s what we saw here and sure enough, the five boats already here were anchored just in front of the reef. If I had gone behind them (which was tempting as there’s a nice beach and it looked like you could just anchor there) we would have hit the reef.

So, anchor down, had a Charisma, took a shower in the cockpit and prepared dinner. Made an omelette and sautéed bananas. The bananas are an easy way for anyone to get a taste of the tropics. Here’s the dead simple recipe: Get some ripe bananas. Peel and cut in half lengthwise. Put in frying pan with some coconut crème (you can get it in a box, it’s sweetened, so cut it with a little water) and just simmer on low with a lid while you’re cooking dinner. About 15 minutes in our case. Put on a serving dish and sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Yum, yum YUM!

We’re going to spend a couple days in this neighborhood hiking and such. Maybe visit one other bay on this side of the island and then on to Taiohae for fuel some fresh food if we can find it and then the four or five day voyage South to the Tuamotus where we’ll spend some weeks (depending on weather and fun) before heading to Tahiti sometime around the end of June. Where the Marquesas have been soaring peaks and green jungles, the Tuamotus are basically coral reefs. Most of them are only as tall as the palm trees that grow there. Should make for a very interesting contrast. They are known for tremendous snorkeling and diving as the water is said to be so clear you can see down 100 feet.

Some housekeeping: The tattoos are doing really well and looking good. Ann’s had some redness for a couple days, but that’s gone now. The “damaged” skin from the tattooing is peeling off and voila, we’re looking good!

Robin and Mike: is the Light Speed you know a catamaran or monohull. The cat is in the Marquesas, but the monohull went to Easter Island and we haven’t seen those guys. Ironic that there were two boats with the same name, right? Wrong! There were two Charismas too! We became known as Charisma – San Francisco vs. Charisma -Seattle!