At 5:00 am, June 28th, we left Tahuata and sailed to Hane Bay, Ua Huka, arriving at 3:00 pm. There had been a large swell recently and we had heard from several sailors that tried to go to Ua Huka that the anchorages were extremely uncomfortable and the landing on shore totally impossible. However, there were 3 museums and an arboretum (the only one in the Marquesas) that we wanted to visit. And, we got lucky! There was a swell in the bay, but not too terribly bad, so we decided to stay, at least overnight. We did not go ashore that night because the surf looked pretty rough. But, we could see the wild horses and goats high up on the hills. Ua Huku has been partially denuded of vegetation due to the wild horses and goats, which outnumber the population of 600 people 10:1. That afternoon, there were a couple of guys racing canoes in the bay, who had obviously chosen Cetacea as a marker to race around. (See Photos)

In the morning, the bay was a bit calmer and it was a beautiful day. So we dressed for church, put the small dingy together for the first time. The small dingy is barely big enough for the 2 of us to sit in, but light enough for us to carry up onto the shore when there is no dock. So off we went, with my dress tucked into the shorts I wear underneath. As we were approaching the shoreline, looking at the surf, I realized that I did not have my camera in a Ziploc baggie. With that in the back of my mind, when I stepped out of the dingy, I immediately turned back to get the backpack. Just then, the dingy went sideways, a wave hit the dingy, which hit me and I fell down in the water. But, I managed to keep the backpack up out of the water. Tony hurried to try to help me and grabbed the backpack, simultaneously losing both the engine key and padlock key into surf. Oops! This was definitely a wet landing! I was wet to my neck and covered in sand! Luckily, I had an extra shirt with me, so I took off the dress, washed the sand out in a nearby stream and wore my wet shorts and top covered by a dry shirt. We went to church anyway, knowing we'd have to deal with the lost keys later. Being a little late (not to mention WET!) we sat outside on a bench with several others. The singing was still wonderful and wish I could have tape recorded it.

Then we went hiking to see the nearby archeological site, but obviously took the wrong road and ended up making a loop right back into town. The maps in all of our guide books are really just cartoons, with no accuracy or details at all. We always feel like we are on a scavenger hunt! The walk was nice though and in the center of town, we actually found the Maritime Museum, closed of course. But, it had huge glass windows, so we could see the exhibit of the evolution of the outrigger canoes. (See Photos)

Rather than trying to find the archeological site again, we decided to hike over the hill to the next village, Hokatu. We arrived in the village just as they were starting a celebration! How lucky! It started with a singing march from the church to the town square. There were a couple of speeches, a couple of songs and flags were raised in celebration of their autonomy with France. Then there was a drum band and several groups of women singing and dancing. (See Video) There was also an art exhibit/contest with beautiful wood carvings, woven hats and baskets, and other handicrafts. The Hokatu carvers are supposed to be the best in the Marquesas and there were some of the most detailed carvings we had seen. (See Photos) To our delight, the artisan store and the petroglyph museum were also opened for the event. There was a food tent, where we shared a plate of chicken, pasta and salad and talked to two of the officials on the island. They told us all about the annual Marquesan festival and gave us a beautiful calendar with photos of the events. Then we met a few of the people who were in the photographs and they all had fun signing my calendar. After lunch, we stayed for quite a while listening to the ukulele band, complete with a guy playing a string in a bucket! Can anyone name that instrument? See Video of the ukulele band!

As we were hiking back over the hill to the boat, we studied the surf breaking on the beach, bigger than it was that morning - eeks! After some discussion, we both agreed (not a common event) that the surf was not as high on the north end. Of course our dingy was on the south end! So we got our aerobic exercise carrying the dingy( with engine) from one end to the other. With the dingy in position, then we had to figure out how to get the engine started without the key. No problem, mon! Tony McGuiver hotwired the engine with a vine (after breaking about 4 vines accompanied by 4 letter words). We walked the dingy out as far as possible to get around some rocks, chose our path and off we went through the surf. And, much to our delight, we didn't even get our clothes too wet! Then, back at the boat, we found another key that fit the lock on the engine, so we could get the engine off the dingy and the dingy back on board. All ended well and it turned out to be a really fun day!

More later - G&T