Twenty Four Hours in the Tuamotus

A quick blog for our quick stop in the Tuamotus.  24 hours - sleeping, swimming, shark spotting, walking on the white sand and windsurfing.  

Nuku Hiva - last stop in the Marquesas

We spent a day heading back up to Tahuata for a swim and sleep, before making the 85 mile mission up to Nuku Hiva.  We used to be daunted at this type of distance, but now we don’t even bat an eyelid.

Nuku Hiva is another spectacular island with high mountains, although not quite as dramatic as Fatu Hiva.  We spent a couple of days fitting all the parts my Dad had sent out.  Toodles now has new everything, most straight from Beneteau (thanks Yacht Finders Global!).

One morning a school of Manta Rays swam right past the boat just skimming the surface.  The size of them was just breath taking, being maybe 6ft across, and so close that you could almost touch them.  We attempted to swim with them, but we were too late, they had already disappeared again.

We headed to Daniel’s Bay (another Survival TV series location) just for a night, before we took off for the 2 ½ day sail on to the Tuamotus.

Daniels Bay

Daniels Bay

Friends and Fishing at Fatu Hiva

Leaving the safe harbour at Hiva Oa was a bit daunting.  That harbour had been our deliverance after the harrowing trip across from Galapagos.  It felt wrong to leave, even if it was only a couple of hours journey across to Tahuata. We put the autopilot on, now with repaired metal collar, and we let go of the wheel for the first time in a very long time.

The bay of Hanamoenoa on Tahuata is a huge contrast from Hiva Oa.  Here, there was a long white beach and crystal clear water.   For the next few days we wandered the beach, ate coconuts and swam in the beautiful water.  

We caught up with our friends on the boat Tonka, who told us about the excellent fishing on Fatu Hiva.  Gary listened intently to the tips on what bait to use and where to find them.  This, however, turned Gary a bit “fish crazy” and he declared that we would leave the next day to Fatu Hiva, and spent the rest of the afternoon making fancy fish hooks to try and catch the bait fish. 

So on to Fatu Hiva we went the next day.   Gary threw out the trawling lure as soon as we left the bay.  As we reached the end of Tahuata, the reel began to scream then Gary did too.  After a mighty half hour fight we pulled in a massive Yellow fin Tuna. 

I was a bit reluctant to go to Fatu Hiva, being an 8-hour journey in the wrong direction, but the journey was worth it.  The steep surrounding cliffs looked impressive from a distance, but were just breathtaking close up.  The photos just don’t to the place justice.

We shared some of the fish we had caught around the boats in the harbour, making a few new friends.  I had told Gary now that we had a freezer full of fish, there would be no more fishing.  But Gary had other ideas, organising to go fishing with some new friends on Ninita, with them keeping any fish caught, of course.

The next morning we explored the dramatic coastline.   We felt completely dwarfed by the huge cliffs that wove in and out creating many coves. Beautiful white birds with long tails flew high up in the mist.  We felt like we had finally found the floating mountains from the set of Avatar.  The shoreline was alive with crabs that scattered at the sound of our outboard engine.  In the coves, the water surged into underwater caves then burst out blowholes, sounding like the island was breathing.  The water was so clear that we could see colourful fish swimming around the dinghy.  It was just breathtaking.

The next day we hiked up to a waterfall with the other boats in the bay.  We had been told that the track was hard to find, and each cruiser seemed to have slightly different instructions on how to get there.  The road became really steep and we slogged on up it.  We came to a path that fit the description, but one of the instructions we had been given was not to take the first path that looks obvious, so on we went.  Up and up and up we climbed, all drenched with sweat, panting and quickly drinking all the water from our packs.  Suddenly someone calls us all to a stop.  He had looked back while taking a break and noticed the waterfall behind and below up, far off in the opposite direction.  Bugger.  We took a few pictures of the bay from this height, then headed back down the road to that path that we had passed half an hour ago.  Another half hour up a forest track, through mud, over rivers and past some rabid dogs and we made it to the waterfall.  We all jumped in, taking no notice of the giant eel rumours, and washed our hair in the fresh water. 

One evening, we heard our friends from Orion on the radio, coming in to Fatu Hiva direct from the Galapagos.  We had left with Orion from Panama, but their gearbox broke in the Las Perlas and we hadn’t seen them since.  The next few days were full of social activities, with Gary being taken on fishing play-dates with Dylan from Orion and Ola from Ninita, and drinks and dinner with our friends every night. 

A mini cruise ship arrived in the bay for a morning.  The villagers put on a dance for the ship, but of course we tagged along. 

One evening, the boat Flapjack put on a party for all the boats in the bay.   We had a great time catching up with friends and meeting new ones.  The music went late into the night, and everyone sang along to the song “Silver Lining” as we left, making it difficult to get the song out of my head for days.

Another of our friends arrived on our last day, direct from the Galapagos.  We had everyone round for drinks that night and said our goodbyes, just in case we didn’t catch up with them again.

After a fun, friend and fish filled week, we made our way to Nuku Hiva where all our parts were waiting for us.

Relaxing and Recovering in Hiva Oa

With such a long gap between blogs, perhaps you were thinking we had abandoned ship and headed for the hills?  Does that sound like us? Of course not! You can’t get rid of us that easy.  We have had Dad on the case chasing up parts and sending them to us, while we have been merrily exploring the remote islands of the Marquesas.  But first a word on our stay at Hiva Oa, the island we first arrived at.

Anchorage at Hiva Oa

Anchorage at Hiva Oa

After our lovely long sleep, we made it to shore the next morning to put our feet firmly on solid ground for the first time in nearly a month.  It was glorious.  We headed into town where we checked in at the Gendarmerie. We asked the Gendarme, in our broken French, whether there was a mechanic on the island who could help us with our broken autopilot.  Going beyond the call of duty, he called up the professor at the local mechanic school, who said they could weld it for us.  A local, who happened to also be in the office, offered to drive us there.  These people just couldn’t be more helpful. 

Up the hill at the mechanic school, we conversed with the French professor with the help of our “French for Cruisers” book, a few diagrams and a lot of hand gestures.   In a few days, we had our autopilot tiller fixed sufficiently to get us to Tahiti where we have a complete replacement coming. 

Over the next week, we headed to the shop just about ever day for baguettes (that we often ate at least one of before we made it back to the boat!), fresh tomatoes and French cheese.  Sometimes we ate lunch at the local stall, which offered baguette sandwiches with a range of fillings including omelette or french-fries.  We visited Paul Gauguin’s home, that is now a museum, which boasted a huge amount of copies of his artworks, but no original. 

 

We spent a good amount of time fixing the odd thing here and there and cleaning the boat, which had been a bit neglected during the sea passage.  

We were visited often by the local wasps who were more annoying than aggressive and twice the size of any wasp I’ve ever seen. 

I attempted cutting Gary's hair.  Perhaps 5pm, just after my first wine of the night, was not the time to begin this mission, especially without a comb.  Gary gave me instructions on how to cut it, beginning with the sides and back.  I hacked away at it until the light was so bad I couldn't really see what I was doing, and all my giggling began to concern Gary.  He was left with the top part still untouched and so long it went past his ears.  It wasn't until a week later that he got the confidence to let me attack the top! 

But mostly, if I’m honest, we spent a ridiculous amount of time relaxing, reading, watching movies and sleeping.  After a week on Hiva Oa, we decided we were ready to explore the other islands.  Next stop Tuahata then Fatu Hiva.