From Marquesas
Greetings from Hiva Oa, a little bit of paradise. We're finally settled in here, but the first 3 days were a little stressful. When we got here it was late in the day, the anchorage was packed, so we ended up in the turning basin for the night. Axel & Liz greeted us with 2 hands of bananas so we could hang them on our stern to ripen like all the other boats in the anchorage, and some pamplemousse which are a large, exotic tasting grapefruit- delicious! It was nice to see Slick again and Tim helped us set a stern anchor to limit our swing room in this tight anchorage & keep us bow in to the swell. The next morning we needed to move further into the anchorage behind these 2 yellow X's on land that mark the boundary for cruising boats. There's more than 35 of us in here- ' tis the season! We ended up in the corner along the rocky shore & reset the stern anchor. A group of boats got together to hike out to see some petroglyphs (carvings in stone) and to pick fruit along the way. It was a rainy day but the scenery here is spectacular, the island so lush, fruit trees everywhere. It felt so good to get on land and move around. We came back with loads of limes, more pamplemousse & some hot peppers. The petroglyphs were nice, but not the highlight of the trip for any of us. It was more just being together, relishing being here and foraging for some much needed fruit after a long passage.
That night, the swell picked up, we chafed through the line on our stern anchor & we awoke to the feel of the boat having changed- we were rocking side to side. So, in the dark, we reset another stern anchor. Then in the morning, a few boats left so we moved in a little further to a great spot. But then we had to try to find the stern anchor, in the swell, after a day of rain in this not so clear anchorage. We tried free diving on it but it was not only scary since you couldn't tell when you were getting close to the bottom, but it wasn't going to work since the viz was zero. Then Jon tried with scuba but still nothing. He got his hands all cut up from poking into sea urchins as he grappled along the bottom trying to hunt the anchor down. We were pretty disgusted and discouraged since we really need that anchor! The next morning was Monday and a bunch of us were picked up by our agent to go to customs for check-in. It was painless and FREE! We all did a little shopping afterward, got the required baguette to tuck under our arm and some much needed produce. The cruising guide would have you believe it's hard to come by but there's plenty of produce here as long as you don't mind paying a premium for it. Since it was free to check in we feel we can afford it.
We came back to the boat for round 2 of the anchor search. The water clarity had improved somewhat, we'd reassessed where we thought it would be and Jon got back in with his tank while I sat in the dinghy making sure no one drove over him and he located it within 20 minutes. It took another hour to get it up (man, a Danforth in thick mud is impossible to get up!) but now it's back in our hands. We took a nice walk that afternoon on a road that heads straight up as they mostly all do, for a beautiful view. We had dinner with Tim & Nathan so they could sample the marlin & we could have some of their big eye tuna. We've now eaten all of that marlin!
From Marquesas
Yesterday we got going early and rented a car with Slick to tour the island & visit some of the archaeological sites. Hiva Oa has the largest stone tiki in the Marquesas in a village called Paumau. It's a 2 hour bumpy drive over to the other side of the island but the views were so worth the internal organ bruises to get there. We find the scenery here to be amazing- the foliage is so diverse, huge & colorful. The ocean is ever present on the horizon so you never forget you're on an island but the inland mountains are unique & intriguing. The archaeological sites are interesting but not very big. They mark where the homes, ceremonial platforms & temples were from ancient peoples. They're nowhere near the grandeur of the Mayan ruins of Central America of course, but they are peaceful places that get you thinking about those who came before you.
From Marquesas
Having the car was really great. We could tour at our own pace, stop wherever we wanted and do what we wanted to do. We had lunch along the water where locals were bringing their horses into the sea to wash them down & then they came ashore to give them a fresh water rinse. We passed a beautiful stone church, cute little towns with smiling faces greeting us and incredible views on an equally incredibly narrow road in many spots! We all remark how much we like it here. This place is about friendly, happy people with extremely tidy homes & yards. There's virtually no trash. Colorful plants & flowers line the roads where both men & women can be seen out tending to them. The landscaping is by far the finest we've seen in our travels. The natural beauty of the islands pulls it all together to make it feel very exotic and welcoming.
From Marquesas
Today, Jon & I took a fantastic, long hike up to the spine of the mountain peaks here. I can't even believe there's a trail but we found out about it from another boat and indeed, it is there! We started walking out of town on the street, then up a steep road with cute little houses along it, cows, goats, roosters, fruit trees, a cemetery, a stream, flowers galore. Then a dirt road, still going up steeply to several old archaeological sites among the trees, then the road narrowed to a trail that kept going up, up, into the mountains. It started out very open, with bright green patches of low ferns and switchbacks of trail that reminded me of my favorite alpine scenery. Then it entered the jungle and kept switchbacking upward through stands of huge ferns, bamboo, cherry bushes exactly like what I remember growing up with in Miami (I even got to eat some which brought back a lot of memories) until we once again were in alpine like scenery with cliff walls, a very narrow trail and then the spine of the mountains - you could see the other side! Shortly after, fog rolled in and we got a little nervous but it turned out OK and never got too thick. It was an incredible hike and the best trail we've ever seen on an island. We certainly got our exercise today and would do the trail again in a second, especially since it continued on along the spine but we had to turn around because it was getting late.
We think we should head out soon so as not to cut short our ability to explore the other islands but it has been so nice to just enjoy being here. Plus, we need fuel and as always seems to be the case, it is a huge project. You can't just go and get some diesel here. First, there's only one place on the island to get it, its seemingly never open and supposedly you can only get 5 gallons a day which is a drop in the bucket compared to what we need. Then today, they would have been open but it was holiday so not only was there no fuel, but no baguettes either! So we'll get going once we get some fuel and do a few things to the boat like check the rig, sew on the mainsail car & finish cleaning the dirty waterline!
So that's the news. Will try to get some pictures up too.
|
Comments [0]
05/12/2012, Hiva Oa Marquesas, French Polynesia
Thursday, May 10 9p
Motor's still on! Thank goodness we repowered because this iron sail is getting a workout! What wind we have keeps switching between southeast and northeast so every time we move the sails over for the new wind direction, it switches and the sails are once again backed.
We got a few showers today including one good downpour so the boat is all clean once again. Feeling industrious, I went up on deck and wiped everything down really well so it's ready for a coat of wax! If it's calm tomorrow that's what I'm going to do. The deck looks great! I cleaned off all the grime from flying fish carcasses and from the fish cleaning that happens on the sidedeck. I was thinking that one of my best “tools†for getting off stubborn marks on the deck & hull is my thumbnail. I'll try a brush, a rag, a chemical, pushing hard to scrub, but really what gets it off in the end is my thumbnail. Problem is it's still worn down to a nub from cleaning the waterline right before we left THREE WEEKS ago. I wish someone would invent something that works as well as a thumbnail.
For about 2 weeks now, we've noted that the galley sink area stinks- it started out smelling like relatively fresh fish and I could only surmise that something was living in the seacock at the bottom of the drain since we've had an octopus come up our cockpit scupper drain, numerous small crabs and when we were cleaning the bottom in the Galapagos there was a tiny fish living in each one of our seacocks- you could see them scurry in to hide as you cleaned the bottom. Anyway, over the past several days the smell has gotten worse & worse- more like rotten fish. I scrubbed & bleached the sink repeatedly to no avail. Well today I put on my thinking cap and also followed my nose... up to the fresh air dorade vent above the sink and the smell was coming from the vent! I had Jon go up on deck to peer into the cowl vent for a flying fish and sure enough, we had a hole in one! A flying fish had flown down the cowl vent oh, say, 2 weeks ago! So now, the big success for the day is the smell is gone!!!!
I was so excited I made fish chowder & cole slaw & Jon's focaccia for dinner and I could do it without wrinkling my nose.
Saturday, May 12th
Land Ho! We're a few miles away from Hiva Oa and excited to get there. We hear the harbor is jammed with cruising boats so it should be interesting finding a place to anchor but we'll take it! Yesterday was a dark, gray, socked in day with numerous showers, thunder, lightening, big seas and not enough wind to push the boat. Everyone has been complaining about these seas because they create a roll that is hard to live with. We continued to motorsail though since we like ourselves too much to put up with that motion when we have the fuel to press on and get where we're going. We spent the day just holding on. I made a chix & rice dinner and felt good to have accomplished that.
Today dawned much brighter, the squalls are gone and so we put the fishing lines out to see if we could snag something good to be sure to have PLENTY of fish for the next few days. A couple of hours later the lines were hit at the same time with a small tuna on each one. We each reeled one in and Jon steaked it all so now we can hopefully grill tuna tonight! I already made the marinade. They are a beautiful torpedo shaped fish with the smoothest skin I've ever seen. And we've got a bag for a nice couple we met in the Galapagos on Solstice since they haven't had any luck catching fish this trip.
We were remarking that making landfall is less of a rush than it used to be since we've made many now and despite the length of this passage, really when you get into it, the days just go by and you're just in a state of limbo. But that said, I'm chomping at the bit to get ashore and move around & to resume living the kind of life we're used to. During the next few days, I hope to spend ZERO time in the cockpit!
We're not the best at keeping stats but here are a couple we came up with for this passage:
Started April 21st, Completed May 12th
Total Length of Passage: 21 days 7 hours
Nights Spent on Sea Berth: 21
Number of Fish Landed: 6 mahi, 3 tuna, 1 marlin. Only fished when calm enough or if we needed fish
Lures Lost: 2
Meals Prepared in rolling galley: 44 (since breakfast is on your own)
Miles left to New Zealand from here: About 4,000!
Thanks again for all the warm emails that kept us company on this long trip. And thanks to my best buddy, ol' pal Charlie for posting my blog entries so I could keep you updated on our progress. It's amazing how far communication has come since our first cruise back in '97! I'm looking forward to sharing our experiences from French Polynesia with you.
|
05/11/2012, Underway to Marquesas
Tuesday, May 8th 9pm
Today was a busy day aboard Evergreen. We're on day 18, if you count the day we left as day 1 and we have about 500 miles to go. We were commenting today that really the days all blend into one really long day! Six hours off doesn't feel like enough time to separate one day from the next. It's more like a continuous cycle of eat, fish, do chores, nap, eat, talk on the radio, read, cook, shower, clean, eat and then sleep a little!
We made a decision today to head to Hiva Oa first to check in instead of Fatu Hiva because it seems boats are getting in trouble for stopping there. Just a year and a half ago our friends on Slip Away stopped there, no problem. We feel like cruising is changing so much and everywhere we go, we're in the midst of big procedural changes when everything has stayed the same for years prior. Anyway, it's a little further and not as dramatic a landfall but maybe we'll trek over to Fatu Hiva once we've explored Hiva Oa. Slick will get there a little ahead of us, they emailed today saying they needed a hardware store fast- I think they've had issues with chafe on this passage. We just noticed that we chafed through the webbing on one of the headsail cars. We'll need to restitch that once we get where we're going.
One thing we've heard is that the bottom of the hull & waterline is going to be shockingly covered in growth including barnacles & a green grass-like algae. It attaches & grows while you're underway! Even though we'll start exploring and having fun, we'll need to attend to this promptly since it can get even more out of hand if you neglect it. We will have sailed off a lot of our bottom paint too which just makes matters worse.
This morning Jon put the lures out first thing, then went down to make foccacia and I started a larger than usual batch of bucket laundry. And then...zzziinngggg.... goes the reel. He let out a bunch of line since it seemed to be a big one! Sure enough, 30 minutes later he pulled a beautiful blue marlin alongside the boat. He had used an odd lure that he got somewhere in Florida that had 3 hooks lined up on top of each other. So one hook was in his mouth and then another had caught the fish in the gill and injured it so there was no throwing it back. It was about 5 feet long and very beautiful. I always feel sad whenever we bring a fish in since they're so beautiful to see swimming. Anyway, many pounds of fish fillets later, I got them all in the fridge and now we're flush with fish! And in the midst of all that, I baked the bread & finished the laundry.
It was the usual pan fried fresh fish for dinner since it's so good the first day. We had it with risotto & dilled carrots- hey, we've still got plenty of carrots & cabbage! I can see it's fish tacos tomorrow for lunch! I guess marlin is a big game fish but they are so depleted in most areas that if you get one you're supposed to throw it back so as not to deplete any more. For us, we don't know what we've got until it's practically alongside the boat and it has therefore been dragged through the water to near death since we can't really stop the boat very well. So we definitely fish to eat and we eat what we get.
Wednesday, May 9th
Now we have occasional boobies circling the boat. We're less than 400 miles away although since the destination changed, the mileage increased so now it'll be pushing it to get there by sunset Saturday unless we get more wind and can do better than 6kts. We motored a lot of the last 24 hours since the wind died- again! Last night at change of watch, we went up on deck to move the spinnaker pole to the other side & this involves removing & then replacing the 3 lines that keep it in place. I was only seeing out of one eye since my contact lens was messed up so of course the halyard went flinging out of my hand as I was trying to reattach it. A half hour later, we'd retrieved it and accomplished what we went up there to do but brother, what a hassle. We have a very large swell right now and standing up there at the bow looking back at them in the moonlight was a little unnerving. I had to forfeit 50 precious minutes of sleep time and then the wind died anyway! The squalls are less, but they're still around.
As boats are continually arriving in the Marquesas, including the lady on Whiskers who was net control, there was a need for someone to take over so that someone is now Jon, until we arrive and then another boat can take up the task. We had never had a good signal on our SSB radio for the previous 2 cruises and Jon has been fiddling with it for years trying to make it better. Finally, he stumbled upon the KISS SSB which replaces all of that copper strapping that we had run all over the inside of the hull and easily installs in the stern making a nice, simple counterpoise that FINALLY allows us to have a honking radio. Everyone keeps asking Jon why we have such a good signal and he is pleased to report on what he'd done to make it that way. Throughout this passage, he's been relaying for other boats who don't have as strong a transmission which is a really nice thing to be able to do since we all want to check in and have our position and conditions logged for safety reasons. Chatting on the radio helps us all feel closer even though we're often hundreds of miles apart- each boat making their way the best they can with the conditions they have. The net controller directs the conversation, facilitates communication & records the info.
So I felt like Jon's mom today with two cookbooks out making recipes for another fish dinner & a mocha cake w/ hard sauce. The cake looks real good until you cut into it and it disintegrates into a big pile of crumbs. Don't ask me what happened because I don't know. I made a ginger/soy marinade for the fish, vegetable quinoa and pumpkin. Marlin is a meaty fish with a nice texture and we 're really enjoying it. I vacuum sealed a lot of the fish today to help preserve it longer. Plus, my little fisherman can't wait to put out the lures again so I guess we'll have to keep eating fish twice a day to keep up!
Our friends Axel & Liz arrived today & Slick should arrive on Friday. It'll be nice when we get there too so can be among friends again. Jon says he feels like he's in the movie Groundhog Day and then thought occurred to me- what if this is all there was to life- just this, day in & day out? I've come to realize it's not a bad existence.
|
