Planning for the next stage
28 May 2020 | Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia
Graham Walker
Sorry for the blogging ‘holiday’. Normal service is now resumed.
Since starting lockdown in Galapagos in mid-March we never thought we would be in this situation, but it actually looks like we can go and sail in French Polynesia. We are being told by our agent’s representative here in Nuku Hiva that we are permitted to sail inter-island for now and deal with the formalities later, when things clarify. Various boats have already left to do this. Originally we thought we might be able to stop in Nuku Hiva briefly and then have to continue direct to Tahiti, where we would sit in lockdown (again) and wait for the next stage to unfold. In this case, we would have been missing out our planned cruising in the Marquesas and the Tuamotus but, with the recent changes in the law reopening inter-island sailing, we think this is now going to be possible. So we are giving it a go!
Today we have been ashore for the first time in quite a while to start re-provisioning for the next stage. We are planning for about a month of sailing through, in some cases, minimally inhabited islands. So this is a bit like planning for a long passage at sea, where we need to be self-sufficient. Hopefully we will catch some fish and be able to buy some fruit along the way, but we can’t take availability of anything for granted.
Initially we are planning to head south-east through the high green volcanic Marquesas Islands, visiting Hiva Oa and Fatu Hiva amongst others. From there, we plan to cross to around Mekamo in the low-lying white-sand Tuamotus, after which we will run roughly north west, visiting various atolls. You might like to Google Fakarava and Rangiroa for examples of where we are trying to get to (and why). After about a month of this we will likely aim for Tahiti, in the Society Islands. We are hearing that international flights in and out of Tahiti are planning to restart in July – if so, this may give Dave and Lesley the opportunity to get back to UK. So for now it’s a rough plan, and in the meantime we will go and see some of what we came to see.