26-May-2012, Anchored in Hanga Haa, Nuku Hiva, northern Marquesas

Left Ua Pou early this morning (Friday), together with Topze and Merilelu, to sail 30nm to the north for Nuku Hiva. What looked like something between a close and a beam reach on the forecast turned out to be a beat to windward. Nice conditions and a nice sail though. Here in Hanga Haa (one "finger" in the larger "Baie du Contrôleur" on the southeastern end of Nulu Hiva) we found E Capoe and Samba again. So together with Nicky, and Toasca and Gabrielle from Topaze we now have eight kids between 5 and 11 years in the anchorage here and they all convened on Samba this afternoon (thanks Peter and Mel...). An interesting language mix as well. No common language that all of them share, but with some of them being bi-lingual (English/French, German/French, German/English) there's always a workable "translation relay" (not that they really need it anyway...).



Will go explore some Tikis tomorrow, replenish our water supplies and then move on again Sunday morning - att least according to the current plan... stay tuned...

09 - Pacific Crossing

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24-May-2012, Anchored in Hakahetau Bay, Ua Pou, northern Marquesas

Nana and Caroline from Topaze went ashore this afternoon to get some fresh fruit and vegetables. As it turns out, the little store in Hakehetau is not the place to go to, but Fatima's house, a bit up into the mountains. Caroline had talked to her the day before on the waterfront and had been told to come to her house this afternoon. Want pamplemouse (the soccer ball sized grapefruit that we've become so addicted to)? No poblem - she just steps off the back porch and picks some from a tree. Fresh bread? She's just baked a few loafs and parts with one each for Namani and Topaze. Papaya and cabbage go in a similar fashion. The pricing is "flexible" - you can trade with some small cosmetics items for her daughter. Alternatively, Nana and her agree on the equivalent of US$10 for as much as Nana can carry...



Earlier today we had a nice hike to a beautiful waterfall. followed by a BBQ lunch at Nadja and Atai's house in the village (delicious again, no frigat bird this time...). We'll leave for Nuku Hiva early tomorrow (Fridays) morning, before the wind turns NE on Saturday.

09 - Pacific Crossing

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24-May-2012, Anchored in Hakahetau Bay, Ua Pou, northern Marquesas

Well, we did finally bid farewell to the Manta Rays in our favorite bay on Tahuata in the southern Marquesas and weighed anchor there yesterday at 5 pm local time. We had a beautiful night sail under starry skies (reminiscent of the Galapagos-Marquesas passage) and arrived in Hakahetau Bay on the northwest corner of Ua Pou around 08:30 am local time this morning. Caroline, Chrstophe, Tosca and Gabrielle on Topaze already got here a day earlier and until this afternoon we were the two only boats in the anchorage. Quite a contrast to Hana Moe Noa Bay on Tahuata where - after some idyllic days with only 4-6 boats the count suddenly jumped to 17 over the past two days. When looked back after leaving the bay last night, the assembly of anchor lights actually outshone the few lights from the village at Vaitahu a few miles to the south...

Here at Ua Pou Nicky was very happy to be re-united with Tosca and Gabrielle. After coffee aboard Topaze (with the kids playing chache-cache on the boat) we all went and explored a bit of the island ashore. The Aranui III (supply ship for the islands) came in this afternoon and off-loaded its passengers for a shore excursion, so there was a bit more of activity than we would usually have found ashore. Aranui's arrival made for some suspense when we were over at Topaze earlier today. After our experience on Hiva Oa a few weeks ago, where we looked straight into the Aranui's "headlights" at 4:30am when it turned just a few meters ahead of our anchoring spot (luckily we didn't have to move), we were a bit weary what the Aranui's arrival might imply for the boats in the anchorage here in Hakahetau Bay. No problem though - it anchored well off out in the bay and off-loaded cargo and passenger via dinghy.

The past two days on Tahuata were mostly spent on another complete re-build/cleaning of our anchor windlass after a shaft-seal failed and the gearbox oil drained into the windlass motor. We hope the fix will last a bit longer this time (we did this before in January in Shelter Bay/Panama) but also have started to look for a replacement manual windlass... The windlass re-build was also the reason we left Tahuata a day later than orginally planned. Lucky for us, this gave us another opportunity to snorkel among the six resident Manta Rays there, and also to see Heike, Kai, Hannes and Niklas on Victoria again (they arrived a few hours before we left but might catch up with us here in Ua Pou).

We plan to stay here for two nights before heading NE towards Nuku Hiva for a few days. All is well aboard, stay tuned....

09 - Pacific Crossing

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