Mazu Adventures: Mexico to New Zealand : Marquesas Islands April

WITH Tiki Takaii, AT THE SITE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN TIKI'S IN FR. POLYNESIA

Hiva-Oa
We are enjoying our time here at the anchorage near the town of Atuona. This is the largest town on Hiva-Oa with about 1000 of the 2000 people who live on this island. Hiva-Oa is also the where the artist Paul Gauguin lived for a time. There is a museum here for him and he is also buried on this island. We plan on going to the museum later on in the week.
It has taken us several days to get Mazu cleaned and repaired. As you may imagine a boat can get pretty dirty with four people on board for three weeks. We also had some minor repairs to do. Along the way we had the spinnaker halyard come off its block at the top of the mast. I was not looking forward to winching Mel up (the halyard that is not working is the one led to the electric wench of course) but we seemed to have no other options. But as luck would have it the boat next to us had a 14 year old girl, Julie, who liked to go up the mast. She had helped other boaters and also her Dad, and is thinking it would be fun to be a rigger. She agreed to go up the mast and assess the situation for us. The pictures she took showed the block had pretty much exploded (a long story on how that happened). She was able to put on a new one for us (good thing we have spares!) and re-run the halyard , and we will now be able to run our spinnaker again on our starboard side.
Another big job we had to accomplish was getting about 100 gallons of fuel back on board. Here, there is not a fuel dock to pull up to; you need to bring it out to the boat in jerry cans. Thanks to Ben, the 16 year old brother of Julie we were able to have much needed help with that chore too. We have full tanks and we are all repaired, the cabin is spick and span, laundry is done, and the fridge is all cleaned and smells fresh.
We had a bit of a mishap the first day with our dingy and managed to put a small hole in it. The repair is relatively easy but the glue does need to cure. As the dingy is our "car" so to speak we have had to hitch rides to shore. No shortage of prospects for that. When we first arrived there were about 5 or 6 boats in the anchorage, today, six days later there are at least 30 with more arriving each day.

With most of the chores done we took time yesterday to take an island tour. Our guide, Frieda, was wonderful. She spoke great English (having learned it when she lived for a time in New Zealand) and was very informative of the history and culture of the Marquesas people. She took us over the mountainous rugged road to the north side of the island. The road and scenery was amazing. The northern side has several small villages, coconut plantations for copra and several archaeological sites. First we she stopped at the trail head to the "smiling" tiki. Tikis are stone carvings. This one is the only tiki that appears to have a smile. It is a woman. We were told you can tell because of the "tattoo" on her chin. We then went to Iipona. Iipona is one of the best preserved archaeological sites in French Polynesia where there are several tikis in one spot. Here is where the largest tiki in Fr. Poly, Tiki Takaii. Frieda told us that they are at least 800 years old.

After Iipona we had a nice picnic lunch on the grounds of the church (Catholic, 80% of the Marquesans are Catholic) and church school, which happens to be right on the beach, beautiful. Then back across the same mountainous road and home. I have some great pictures that I hope to post soon. Internet is available but it is very slow and seems to come and go. There are 2 providers, and we have been told to buy time on each as usually at least one of them will be working on a given day. The weather here is warm and a bit humid, but not too uncomfortable. Usually there is a nice cool breeze and most evenings a sprinkle or small rain shower to help keep things clean. We are impressed by the beauty of this island and the friendliness of all the people. Can't wait to see more!

Beautiful Black Sand Beach, Hiva-Oa

Provisioning and Paul Gauguin Museum, Atuona on Hiva-Oa

Atuona is the largest village on Hiva-Oa about half of the 2000 inhabitants live here. Today we are heading in to the village to restock our fresh veggies and fruit and of course to get baguettes. We hear that you meet the veggie truck across from the bank in front of the police station at 9 a.m. It is a 45 minute walk from the harbor (uphill) so we are looking for Mary-Jo the local "taxi". She is there at the boat dock as usual. For 300 each (about 3 dollars per person) she will take you in her pick-up to town.
We are at the appointed spot at 9 a.m. waiting for fresh veggies. The truck shows up at 9:30 this is island time. While we are waiting another truck arrives selling fresh yellow fin tuna.... Yum. It is the best buy on the island. Speaking of buys, there are none really here. The prices are high, but understandably so, as everything not grown or raised here must be brought on by boat or plane. So think of things costing what they do in a large city. The veggie truck is very reasonable and I get the best tasting pineapple ever.
The rest of our shopping is done down the street at the local supermarket, use the term loosely. But we find everything we need including ground beef. We have enough time for lunch and a trip to the Paul Gauguin Museum.
Paul Gauguin Museum:
Many of you know that many of Paul Gauguin paintings depicted the Polynesian people in the early 1800's. The vibrant colors and his simple style are beautiful. He lived here on Hiva-Oa for many years and in fact died here. The little museum is lovely inside and out. It has many reproductions of his work, sorry, no original paintings here. It was a nice break to be in the cool a/c building. Check out our photo gallery for some pictures.
Tomorrow we will raise our anchor and head to Hanaiapa Bay on the other side of the island for some much needed R&R, (yes even in paradise you need a break). As we may be out of Wifi for a while this may be my last blog for a week or so. Stay tuned!

Bounty of the South Pacific... Yum

Fatu-Hiva April 26-30

Fatu-Hiva is the most southern island of the Marquesas and one of the least populous with about 600 inhabitants. It is a very high island for its size. There is not airstrip and connections to Hiva-Oa are made 2-3 times a week by the commune's "bonito" boat. A supply ship comes once a month. There are 2 villages, one located in Havave Bay (or Bay of Virgins) where we are anchored, and Omoa Bay, the larger of the two. The Bay of Virgins is reportedly originally called "Bay des Verges" (Bay of the Phalli) by the Spaniards due to its unique rock formations. Supposedly the missionaries did not like that so they inserted an "i" making it "Bay des Vierges, translated to Bay of Virgins. By any name it has to be one of the most beautiful and picturesque bays in the world. On our first night, we are invited to attend a traditional Marquesan dinner at an enterprising local. She has prepared a meal for 22 cruisers at her home (for a small fee, well worth it). She meets us at the dock (a nice concrete "wharf" protected by a breakwater) to walk us to her home. It is quite the "parade" of yacht'ies through the village to her home. She has an outdoor table set in her carport (yes a carport), and friends and family are all around to lend a hand. We eat several kinds of fish, curry chicken, bread fruit, a papaya salad, and rice. The next day we hike to the waterfall with our friends Tom and Kim from the boat Exit Strategy. It is a pretty hike, mostly uphill through the town and then through the woods. Mel is able to make it the whole way and is surprised of the accomplishment. A year ago he never would have been able to do that. We are rewarded by a cool freshwater dip and some great photo opportunities. The hike home is all down- hill with a view around every bend. There are numerous artisans located on this island. Mostly wood carvers and Tapa cloth artist. We stop by the home of one woodcarver. Here I purchase a beautiful carved bowl of rosewood. Each day you can expect to get a shower or two, it helps keep the air fresh and the boat clean. We are also cooled by the constant breeze here that can pick up to quite the bluster and it shoots down between the rocky cliffs. We enjoy the wash down but are tired of the opening and closing of the hatches during the night. We decided to visit Omoa Bay by dinghy as it is only 3 miles and the anchorage there is reported to not be so good. We go in two dinghy's with Tom in ours and Stacie and Brett from Bella Vida in theirs. Going for us is slow as our dinghy will not plane with 3 on board. A local drives up in his boat and offers to take Tom with them and then we are able to make some time. When we arrive in Omoa we find nearly the whole town at the school gym watching a soccer match. We watch for a while then we are invited by a woman to come to her home to see her "Tapa". Fatu-Hiva is where tapa cloth is still being made. It is produced from the inner bark of trees. The source of the bark determines the color, off-white bark comes from the mulberry tree, medium brown is from the breadfruit tree, and dark brown comes from the banyan tree. She has many tapas for us to see of all sizes. The ink designs on the bark are of traditional Marquesan symbols and many resemble the traditional tattoos and tikis. We purchase a small design of a shark on banyan tree. Outside her home we are met with another lady who says she makes Ukuleles, she takes some of us in her truck and the rest of us walk there accompanied by our "tapa lady". She shows us a beautiful instrument and other wood carvings. We purchase an intricately carved wooden paddle for a fraction of the cost we saw it in a shop on Hiva-Oa; I can only imagine what they charge for these items whey they get to Papeete! It is wonderful to purchase it from the artist themselves. Too soon it is time to leave this magical place, being here had made the 19 day passage worth every minute.

Tahuata Island, Marquesas April 30th - May 4th

With our main sail out of commission with the loss of our gooseneck pin we motor sail with our jib out from Fatu-Hiva to the small island of Tahuata. We got a glimps of this island on our sail from Hiva-Oa to Fatu-Hiva. As we anchor in Hanatefau Bay near the small village of Hapatoni, we are greeted by a pod of dolphins that have come to this bay to feed.

This island is only 8.5 miles long from north to south and 5 miles across but it is packed with splendor and beauty. There are only about 600 inhabitants. The bay we are in has clear water and white sand. The small village is about one mile away so we can see the lights at night.

The next morning we notice that the water is all brown around us and it is moving! We are surrounded by a giant fish ball; I can see small sharks and other fish feeding on them. This goes on all day.

We dingy into the small village, we hear that there are many skilled artisans, mostly carvers of wood and bone. Their work is sold all over French Polynesia. We are fortunate to see it firsthand. Each day they "set up shop". It is unbelievable the detailed work of these carvings.

The small village has one rode and several small well-kept houses, a small store, a school and a church. The church is very pretty made of rock and local woods. The alter is intricately carved wood. I hope the picture I post does it justice. We have seen all the carvings and cannot decide what we want to purchase and decide we will look at the next town tomorrow (only a 1 mile dingy ride) to see what is there and then decide.

LOCAL CHILDREN FISHING FROM THE DOCK, TAHUATA

The next day we dingy over to the next bay and the small town of Vaitahu. It is a real town with a post-office, a small store, a museum and of course a church, also very beautiful. Viatahu had been the site of several historic events. It was here that the first European visitors disembarked in the Marquesas. The Spaniard Mendana in 1595 and then James Cook in 1774. In 1842 Adm. Dupetit-Thouars signed the treaty linking the Marquesas to France. Anyway it is a lovely little town. The only crafts we see here is the beautiful bead jewelry, made from various seeds. We decide that we will stay one more night in Hanatefau and purchase a carving there.

Our next stop on Tahuata is Hanamoenoa Bay. This is touted as the most popular anchorage in Tahuata, and I can see why It is a white sandy beach, palm trees swaying in the breeze and great snorkeling, just what you came to the South Pacific for. We anchor and set a stern anchor too to hold us into the swell. We are next to our friends on Bella Vita and Cherokee Rose. We spend 3 days swinging and relaxing.

But it is time to head north to Nuku-Hiva, where we are expecting our gooseneck pin to arrive. We raise anchor at 4:30 pm for an overnight passage. We have light winds and calm seas the entire night. We have decided to make a detour and go to the island of Ua Haka (wa-huka) as we thought this would be our only chance to see it. We arrive at first light and after a brief nap we dingy to shore to explore. It was reported that there is a store with a bakery here and a small but interesting maritime museum. We are disappointed that they are not there and where we think they were was being completely rebuilt. So we pull up the anchor and make the short trip Nuku-Hiva which may be our last stop in the Marquesas.

THE CARVER OF MY PIECE ON TAHUATA, KNOWN FOR GREAT CARVERS

Taiohae Bay and Taioa (Daniel's) Bay. May 5-15

TAIOHAE BAY

Nuku-Hiva is the principal island of the Marquesas and Taiohae is the "capital" of the Marquesas. Nuku-Hiva is a very high island the highest point is 3,888 feet. Rocky cliffs line each side of the bay giving you a very dramatic view from the bay. The anchorage is mostly calm but can be a bit rolly at times.

Being the largest town we are able to provision and enjoy some meals off the boat. Moana Nui, a small restaurant right on the bay has delicious pizza and salads. There are also several "snack trucks" where you can get Chinese food and local cuisine all very yummy. We spend a couple of days here then we head to Taioa Bay, also called Daniel's bay after a friendly Marquesan who lived here for over 60 years. It is also now known for being the site for one of the seasons of Survivor. Rumor has it that the show bought Daniel and new home and tore down his, as it is no longer in the bay it may be true.

There is a small village located just on the other side of this bay; you can reach it by following a trail just off the beach. We are invited to have lunch by one of the local families here. They charge a modest price and you are feasted. We had goat cooked in coconut milk and onions, watercress salad, fruit salad, breadfruit, and various banana dishes. All of it was delicious.

When we return to the bay there is a large, mega yacht anchored, named SuRi, rumor has it that it belongs to Tom Cruise, we think that he may have arrived via helicopter (the boat has its own helicopter) but we were not invited over for sundowners so we will never know.

The highlight of our stay here is the hike to Vaipo waterfall, a breathtakingly high and narrow fall, which cascades from 2,000 feet to the valley floor, and is the third highest waterfall in the world. The hike takes about 3 hours (for us) as you travel through the jungle, and dramatic cliffs. You also see tiki's and ruined paepae in the valley. Mel and I both said this was our number one take-home memory so far. Words nor pictures cannot capture the awesome beauty, I felt like I was in another world.

AFTER OUR SWIM TO THE BASE OF THE WATERFALL

We are now back in Taiohae awaiting our gooseneck pin that should arrive tomorrow. Today we have the challenge of our first med tie to the fuel dock here to take on fuel. As this is the way it is done in the South Pacific we best get used to it. Later in the week if the weather holds we plan on leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotu Archipelago, on our way to Tahiti.