Marqueses July 22 2005

The view of these islands is pretty spectacular. They appear from quite adistance and are relatively new sharp volcanic peaks---sort of like some ofthose pics one sees of the coast of southern China. Anyway, we arrived atthe second southeasternmost island of Hiva Oa. Got in about 2 or 3 pm anddecided just out chill out on the boat after 19 days at sea, although we didcelebrate our safe arrival with a bit of the bubbly on the way in.Besides, there is nothing near the anchorage; the town of Atuona--secondlargest in the Marqueses at 1800 people--is a rather long hike from theharbor. The bay, itself, was quite nice, though a bit dirty, and one needsto set a stern anchor due to limited area. It took us quite a while to getthat right, and I am now going to use the bridle for the sea anchor with thesternfortress. That will make adjustment easier as well as setting the anchor inthe middle of the stern so the rode doesn't run under the boat and get fullof bottom paint.Next day, Friday, Rose and I started on the trek to town as the localtourist office said a cab was 1,000 francs ($10), per person each way.Needed to check in, etc. Naturally, it started to rain, but, fortunately,about 1/3 of the way there someone picked us up. Turned out to be the wifeof the manager of one of the nicer resorts there, and we arranged a b-daydinner for Joe up there for that evening---they pick you up and drive youback.Well, once again, we were amazed at the pleasantness and laid back attitudeof the local officials. It's the local gendarmes, and they asked us to comeback at 8 the next morning. We didn't actually hook up with them untilMonday, but there was no complaining or hassle about it. And so far (we'rein Oa Pou right now) no one has asked us for the "bond" equivalent to areturn tickiet to your home country. So far, it seems like the BVI is theonly "nasty" area when it comes to officaldom--after all, we're dealing withthe French here!!!! So, Rose and I checked out the "town" which is quitesmall, got some francs, and then had to bag the tour to have lunch becauseeverything shuts down betweenn 11:30 and 2:30. I'm thinking this ain't toobad--nice lunch, a few cocktails, back to the boat for a nap, etc. Well letme tell you, we're talking big-time money for food and booze. Was $5 for alocal beer (not bad, especially since Jack was about $10) and another $35for a pretty simple lunch. Thoroughly depressed after spending $50 on acouple of beers and some Chinese food, we embarked on the hike back to theharbor. Everyone was either at lunch or not too friendly as we walked theentire way--atleast it was downhill this way--much of it in the rain. Had a nice dinnerthat night, but it was about $150. No wonder cruisers are so cheap!!!We spent another couple of uneventful days at Atuona, actually delayedwaiting for the fuel ship to arrive so we could replenish our diesel andgetting laundry done. Both very expensive!!! At least good French bread ischeap. Apparently there's some regulation that it has to be the same priceall over France and it's possessions so it's subsidized. Less than a dollarfor a large baguette!! French wine is cheap too which we discovered at OaPou and Nuka Hiva---really nice Bordeaux for less than $10. It's a goodthing red wine is one of my back-up drinks after Jack Daniels. We did renta car one day and reprovisioned and did a bit more sight seeing. PaulGaughin's grave and a museum of his stuff is there as well as Jacque Brel'sgrave and some plane he left there when he died. That being done, we movedto a harbor on the north shore which we had to ourselves before moving on toOa Pou. Had a bit of a problem with the windlass which not once, not twice,but three times had the chain jump the gypsy and go into free fall on theway out. Still can't figure out what's wrong.Oa Pou is the third most populous island and quite a bit nicer than Hiva Oa.Took about 6 hours to sail over. There is a nice anchorage at the mainsettlement, and it was fun watching the supply ship and a medium size"cruise" ship pull up to the commercial dock and jockey around as the harboris on the small size. This island was on the way to Nuka Hiva, and westopped just to break up the 100 mile sail, but were pleasantly surprised.There were several good local restaurants and much more reasonable pricing.Once again the Gendarmes were quite friendly and hassle free. You need tocheck in at each island. for such a small population there were a millionteenagers. We got there on a Sunday, and there must be some deal for teensfor they were everywhere. The island is extremely well kept with beautifulgardens. They had a small bulldozer on the beach every morning justcleaning up stuff washed up by the tide.We left Oa Pou on the twelfth for Taiohae on Nuka Hiva, and the capital ofthe Marqueses. Wanted to arrive for Bastille Day. Joey caught 4 fish onthe short 25 mile sail. We threw the 3 small tuna back but kept a 20 or sopound Mahi (dolphin fish) which made a great dinner that night. Check-inwas again hassle free. Speaking of fishing, we have hooked some reallylarge stuff, but they either break the line or throw the hook. Haven't seenwhat they were , but one actually bent the hook which is about 1 mm thick.We've been in Nuku Hiva for about 5 days now. Basically, we're waiting forthe mail to get here from Tahiti, then we're off to Daniel's Bay, the siteof Survivor Marqueses, then on to the Tuamotos, our first real Pacificatolls. Unbeknownst to me there is some extra paperwork involved when FedExis involved. We got that faxed off to Papeete on Wed., but then BastilleDay and the weekend have interfered, so here it is Monday and still no mail.The food here is very good and inexpensive, contrary to Hiva Oa. Bastilleday we had a lobster dinner for $10, and a few bottles of pretty good Frenchwine at $15 per. Booze is still ridiculous. Bastille Day was a week longcelebration. We saw the parade on Thurs. including a demo of the famous"jaws of life" (machines to cut open a car) by the fire dep't. Had the FatuHiva dancers at the evening festivities and they were really cool. Rose andI roused ourselves at 4:30 AM on Sat. to go to the "market" for freshproduce. It was pretty weak, but we got some lettuce , beans and bread. Nottoo much to do here so we've been hanging out, fixing things and cleaning.Plan to arrange an island tour with a taxi for this afternoon andhopefully will get our mail so we can move on. Just as an aside, all theguides talk about tons of no-see-ums, sand fleas, whatever. We've been to 3islands now with out a bit of a problem, but we are getting quite a fewnasty looking wasps around the boat. We've rigged up a mosquito nettingbarrier at the cabin doorway, so most of the bugs stay outside.We've met some nice people. Quite a few boats are here and doing the sameitinerary as us. Tuamotos, then Tahiti and the Society Islands. Everyonehas a different plan for Hurricane season here. (Speaking of which, we hearit's already a rough season in the Caribbean, but if anyone would like toemail and let us in on it we'd appreciate it. We get virtually no newsexcept the odd BBC broadcast on the SSB) Some are going all the way to NewZealand, some hauling out and some staying around Fr. Poly. I would like todo the latter, and was surprised to hear that's possible as I understoodfrom all our guides that you had to get your boat out and it was difficultto get that long a visa. We'll learn more in Tahiti, but after dealing withthe jerks in the BVI, we figure this should be a piece of cake.Okay, last installment on the Marqueses. It's Friday the 22nd and we leftDaniel's Bay this AM for the Tuamotos. We finally got our mail on Mondayand tried to do a tour, but it turns out that was the day for the lastcruise ship of the season, so we delayed until Tues. We're not having goodluck with tours as Sean and Norman can attest. This time, we had a reallynice guy, Patrice, and he did get us 2 large bunches of bananas. However,the tour consisted of a 2 hour drive, much of it over very bouncy dirt roadsto the other side of the island for lunch, then back. That was supposed tobe okay because the lunch place was supposed to do one of those stone pit,palm leaf pig roasts, but noooooooooo, not for when we were there. Justvery expensive fish. 'twas pretty good though. Rained a good bit laterthat day and all of Wed., so we hung out. Topped off the provisioning onThurs AM and took off for Daniel's Bay, a short hop of about 6 miles. Itwas quite nice, but you sort of wonder how they did the Survivor show thereas the bay isn't all that big. Joe and Rose hiked through the mud to go seethe 3rd highest waterfall in the world. Tim wisely stayed home. But therunoff from all the rain made it just too big a hassle and they returnedtired and muddied about 2 hours later. Oh, and if you care, we're still offthe butts and it's getting a bit easier. There was some very modestslippage in Nuku Hiva.A final note as we're cruising along at about 9 knots in 6-8 foot seas,three days out from the Tuamotos. We've all commented that after all thehassle and prep and, yes some trepidation, now everything is second nature.We all have confidence in the boat and ourselves, and leaving this morningwas just as routine as going to the Willie T. Hard to believe we used tothink it was a long sail from West End to Anegada and now we think of 3days as a short hop.More later from the Tuamotos, our first real atoll at Rangiroa. If anyoneis getting bored with these things, just let us know. Our feelings won't behurt and we'll drop you from the list. After all, reading this stuff justisn't the same as being here.Tim, Rose & Joe