We're leaving. Maybe.

 

While sitting on anchor in Nuku Hiva seeing the sights and working on boat projects (Ben, not me) we kept checking the weather for passage to the Tuamotus.

It's a 5ish day passage for a little over 500 miles and we wanted to hit good weather: good wind and small swell. 

For almost a week we decided to leave tomorrow. After awhile it just got funny when Osprey called us in the morning on the VHF to say "We've changed our minds. We're not leaving."

One morning while having coffee on Wizard (running out of coffee and I've only found instant here ick), John and Sue told us about a couple from Montana looking for a ride to the Tuamotus. Ben chatted with them and offered a ride so it'd be a little safer passage since I'm still a serious landlubber. 

Our crew, Rob and Bri, have a blog: onthehorizonline.com. Ben and I made a couple of the posts. 

We decided tomorrow to leave the main bay in Nuku Hiva and head over to the north end of the island, Anaho Bay, for a couple days before making the jump to the Tuamotus. It was almost two weeks at the main anchorage so we're ready for a change of scenery and some clear water!!

The last day in the main bay we did get out for a little hike that turned into all out bush whacking to see how far we could get. When the rock went vertical we had to call it a day and turn around. That was probably good timing since the sun was setting. 

On the way down from the peak it was really hard not to run back and forth ahead of our group like a puppy. With a 5 day passage ahead of us I want all the land time I can get to run around! Not a lot of room to run on a 40 foot boat. 

Tuamotus

Quick post--we're having dinner at a little awesome food truck restaurant, and I'm trying to learn to play a ukulele.

Earlier today Mahine (the taxi driver that picked me up at the Nuku Hiva airport that Ben befriended) took us to his village in Controller Bay and gave us a ton of fruit. Breadfruit, Papaya, Limes, Mangoes, and Pampelmousse (spelling??). It would have cost us at least 25$ in the market, and he was really excited to unload some fruit from his gardens (yes, plural) instead of leaving them to rot.

Fun things I learned today: mosquitos love me, even if I'm covered in deet. Lime trees are thorny. Ukuleles are really difficult to play. My fingers are not that talented.

Heading out early tomorrow after we pick up our baggettes (again, spelling? French sucks. No offense, frenchies.)

Ciao!

New Sport: Swim-Hiking

Woke up in Daniel's Bay to sunshine--I could get used to this! Ben made an awesome breakfast of rice pudding, then we set off with Osprey to find this hike.

The guidebook was a little vague about how long the hike was; it said 2 hours but we had no idea if that was one way or round trip, so we planned for 2 hours one way. The actual location of the trailhead was also a little vague, so we wandered around for a little while trying to cross the river because we didn't want to traipse through anyone's yard (We had no idea there would be so many houses since there isn't really a road connecting this part of the island to anywhere else). It was also a little vague about the quality of the tail and the direction. It merely said "follow the river to the waterfall".

What looked like a driveway did turn out to be the road, which turned into the trail to Vaipo Waterfall--so we ended up traipsing around people's yards anyways. There were so many crabs living in tunnels that it seemed like gopher holes in some places near the river.

The hike to the waterfall probably took us more than 2 hours, since we stopped for pictures so often. It's amazing to walk down a road past house after house and suddenly see a rock wall built pre-European contact with a tiki sitting on it staring at you. The whole hike was littered with remnants of the past civilization--we found what was probably a sacrificial temple of some sort and possibly a bbq pit for their pigs and goats.

The trail gradually narrowed from the initial rutted dirt road to a pretty wide, still maintained trail, to a little bit narrower, rockier, rootier trail, to a footpath. Every so often instead of "following the river" we had to cross it. About 2/3 of the way to the waterfall it starting pouring buckets and buckets of rain; between that and crossing the river we were pretty soaked.

Once we got to the end of the trail you couldn't quite see all of the waterfall, just a little bit near the bottom. It was still impressive though. After turning around we found a little rock overhang that sheltered us from the rain to eat some snacks before heading back to the boat.

On the way back the rain let up, but that meant the mosquitos came out. I hope Tahitian mosquitos like me less than the Marquesian ones, because I got eaten alive and am pretty itchy.

During the downpour, we were a little worried about the boat staying dry since I had hung some laundry and we couldn't remember if we closed all the hatches before leaving. Even though it rained cats and dogs while hiking, the bay was dry! Jory made some pretty tasty pasta for us then headed over to the beach to scope it out for a fire in the evening. While he gathered wood he managed to kill to crabs for us to cook and eat over the fire.

The beach fire was pretty rad--Brian and Richard joined us once the fire was going and later in the evening some folks from Wizard's Eye kayaked over. They have so many toys on their boat--kayaks, mini paraglider things, surfboards etc. They're actually sponsored by Kavu and some other companies so they're pretty motivated to have some awesome adventures to write home about.

The plan for the next couple of days--head back to Taiohae Bay so Jory can catch his flight on Thursday. We'll stock up on food there then head to the Tuamotus! It's about a 4-5 day passage depending on the wind, and while the Tuamotus are really awesome atolls, there's not much else there. Don't know if I'll have internet, but stay tuned!

Daniel's Bay

Monday, May 27

Woke up bright and early to more sunshine, and the boys headed over to finish up all the crew change stuff with the Port Captain. While they did that I went in search of a shower, and boy did it feel good! The water was really cold, but actually washing with fresh water is the best feeling: so refreshing.

After the paperwork was done the boys got showers too and we picked up some groceries for the next couple of days, since the plan was to sail over to Daniel's Bay, which is about 3 miles west of here.

Very light winds made for a slow sail, but luckily there wasn't much swell. I didn't get seasick, exactly, but I did get a bit of a headache. For my first sail in 4 months, that's pretty good!

Daniel's Bay is absolutely gorgeous--a beach complete with crabs, cows and palm trees; a great ridge with crazy contours bordering most of the bay; goats bleating somewhere in the brush. Aside from the flies, it's paradise. (Luckily they're NOT horse flies, so they don't bite). On a side note, this was the filming location for the first season of Survivor.

Tomorrow we'll hike to the world's 3rd largest waterfall: Vaipo Waterfall.

Not so much rain.

We're still in Nuku Hiva (Baie de Taiohae, the town is called Taiohae). A note about these Marquesian/Tahitian names: pronounce every letter. Good luck pronouncing Taiohae.
Right now we're playing the waiting game until the crew list on the boat can be changed at the Port Captain's office (I'm going to be on the crew list!) And then we'll wait until Jory flies out and sail to the Tuamotus.

The waiting game here is pretty rough. It involves wandering around town looking at all the tikis, chatting with other cruisers and chilling on the boat. Hanging out with the other cruisers is a blast--there's so many folks from every imaginable background here. Most of our time is spent with Richard and Brian on Osprey, Liz and Joe on Set Me Free, and Heidi and Joe on Huck. Half the time we say people names and half the time we say boat names when referring to folks, so there's a list for reference.

The plan for Saturday was to go on a hike but I felt like a zombie with a sore throat and fatigue, so Ben and I hung around the boat and he worked on projects while I slept. That evening we went over to Osprey to talk about sailing plans since they're great hopscotch-sailing partners. I fell asleep around 8, as usual.

When we woke on Sunday morning there was actual BLUE SKY! No rain! Immediately I draped wet things over the lifelines to dry--all the mildewy towels, wash cloths, bathing suits, etc. The sun here is so intense that even with the high humidity things will dry.

We planned on a hike and then a potluck over on Osprey, but the boys had also committed to stopping by Compass Rosey and either sailing or merely checking things out. Compass Rosey is an odd duck. In England, where the boat was registered, they can't have more than one boat with the same name and there was already a Compass Rose. They added a y and called it good. The owners are in a bit of a pickle. Neville bought the boat in Mazatlan, Mexico and had planned to learn to sail on the passage across the Pacific, but was sick the entire 3-4 weeks and didn't learn to sail. So he's looking for a skipper to get him through the Tuamotus and to Papeete in time for him and his wife to meet their daughter. The boat also has some issues that could make that very difficult. Best of luck to them, I hope it works out.

The time on Compass Rosey ate into our hiking time, so no hike again. The consolation prize was the potluck on Osprey--Brian made curry where the only thing not local was the chicken! He soaked coconut meat in milk to make the coconut milk and all the veggies were bought in the little market here. So delicious! Richard made lemon bars, but used local limes. We contributed some tobasco popcorn and breadfruit chips.

Breadfruit is a pretty awesome staple here. It cooks up like potatoes which makes it extremely versatile. It can be sliced thin and fried for chips, boiled and mashed with butter, or even made into hummus for sandwiches.

Sorry if the posts seem a little discombobulated--there's so much going on here it's hard to describe in a cohesive, readable way.

Rain. Rain. Rain.

My impression of Nuku Hiva: rain. rain. rain.

Pretty soon we'll head to the other side of the island where it's more arid and we can dry out a little. Which will be great. Coming from Reno to here is a little miserable. Right now it's raining so hard that I can't hear the folks near me talking.

I also have to figure out how to work Ben's HP computer. Bear with me.

Here's one of the tikis we've seen here.

Intro

Hey all!

I really hope the rest of the posts are easier to write, I've tried to write this first one 5 times and none of them have been postable. 

I leave to join Ben, Jory, and Kyanos on Tuesday! I'm not packed and haven't stated finding the boat parts yet, but there's a West Marine in Reno somewhere...

My reason for being unprepared is a good one: my friend Maggie is moving to Colorado tomorrow morning and I've been helping her pack. More keeping her company than actual helping/packing, but someone has to pick the music. 

Stay tuned! This summer is sure to be full of adventures, starting with finding everything Kyanos needs and then finding Kyanos herself.