Loving landfall

By Aaron

Hiva Oa

After 25 days at sea we were quite excited to make landfall in Hiva Oa.  And we were so happy that the island provided such a wonderful first stop in the Marquesas.  It was our first landfall where people come out on deck to cheer and congratulate us!  Checking in proved to be totally painless.  There was only one stop to make at the Gendarme’s office.  It was close to the anchorage, fast, straightforward, and free.  Although we did pay an agent a reasonable fee to facilitate the check in process and procure paperwork that would allow us to purchase diesel duty free at a little over $4 a gallon.  Interestingly, all the locals we’ve met here have been very friendly and helpful.  People smile and wave at us and a general feeling of happiness seems to prevail.  Perhaps it’s just this island?

The anchorage in Tahauku Bay on Hiva Oa.  It got totally packed as one boat after another kept arriving with tired but excited crews and their quarantine flag flying.

The supermarket on Hiva Oa.  After 25 days we we didn’t have much in the way of fresh produce and were eating bomb shelter fare, although Nicole proved to be a skilled cook combining cans down in the vigorously moving galley.  We have a new appreciation for the venerable cabbage!  Food here is relatively expensive.  For some things it’s really expensive, like $12 for a bag of Doritos.  For others prices were comparable to, say, Costa Rica.  Milk is cheap.  Baguettes are super cheap and really delicious.  We’ve been eating a lot of them.

We spent several days in the anchorage swapping stories of our passage across and meeting new cruisers from all over.  One day we spent doing a driving tour of the island. 

Tikis and archaeological sites are commonplace.  You can just walk right up and check out a pieces of the unique history of these islands.  I couldn’t help but wonder how long an irreplaceable 800 year old artifact would last unprotected where I’m from before it was defaced, destroyed, or stolen. 

Vistas all over the island were beautiful

Every populated valley has a church, even if it’s only a few dozen people living in the valley.  A couple of pastors rotate among the churches. 

A double arm shot on one island!  An svbellastar.com first!  One day I may unleash the right handed arm shot.  But alas, it is too soon. 

We forgot to conquer this island.  WTF?  I really don’t have an excuse for this and unfortunately it does not up our official island count.  I guess we’ll just make it a gift to SV Palarran, who has quit their jobs and is leaving to cruise in a matter of days.  So, Palarran, we’re giving you this prime island, totally virgin unconquered.  As if you could make it this far.

Well it didn’t take long before that old feeling crept back up on us and we started to wonder what the sun was shining on over on the next island.  In this case, it was only 6 miles away.  So after a nice few days of rest, repairs, and provisioning, we left for Tahuata.

Tahuata

The water back in Tahauku Bay was a bit murky with poor visibility.  After our pacific crossing we had a pretty nasty layer of green slime and gooseneck barnacles all over the hull.  We wanted to clean it up somewhere where we could get in the water with good visibility – mostly so the sharks would be able to see that we aren’t food.  Coming into the anchorage on Tahuata we were alarmed to see the bottom when we thought we had plenty of depth.  Turns out we did have plenty of depth; we just saw the bottom at 50 feet and it looks closer than it is.  Something we’ll have to get used to with South Pacific cruising I guess.  Also the water temperature was 94 degrees, so it was looking pretty inviting for a swim.

Scrubbing the hull could wait.  We opted for a snorkeling trip with SV Bravo instead.  Can’t wait to see the water in the Tuamotus, where it’s supposed to be much clearer than here.

The beach at our anchorage on Tahuata.  Sans tourists, hotels, garbage, or just about anything.  We’re glad to know it can still be found.

A local’s beachfront property on Tahuata and the view it comes with.

From where we were anchored, it was only a couple miles over to the next bay where the village is located.  We rode over one day with SV Bravo to check it out and procure some baguettes. 

Tahuata, properly conquered.  (But wait for a future post, she takes it up a notch when she conquers Ua Pou)

 

The village was lovely, and we enjoyed walking along the quiet streets and avenues. 

And I will say that this is a place where time stands still.  Coming here truly feels like you’re stepping back into another era.  I did the math, and arriving via sailboat is slow enough for temperal overflowance to overcome natural end-state relative velocities and sub quantum deceleration curves (negative vectors of course).  This allows sailboats to enter the islands in their current state.  For others, however, they’ve got to use this time machine which I found at the local market.  Of all places!  Nicole said it was for making baguettes…  She cracks me up.

With Tahuata sufficiently enjoyed, we headed out to Ua Pou, 70 miles away on an overnight passage…