After three weeks of hanging in and around Taiohae Bay Nuku Hiva we are finally able to pull the anchor and depart. Had it not been for the 3 month visas we would stay there until who knows how long. It is a very special place and so are the people. We have some great stories to tell about some specific and special people we met that have become good friends and will be for a long time. but that is another tale. At present we are anchored in Daniels Bay a few miles from Taiohae after an ugly, ugly trip over here. Pretty big seas that have rolled across the Pacific un abated and powered by the NE trade winds, spend themselves on the blunt and fully exposed Eastern volcanic shores of Nuku Hiva in a spectacular explosion of sound and vertical spray, sending the remaining chaos reverberating back out to sea for several miles to meet their cousins that are just arriving and stand them up vertically, creating a real washing machine effect before they ultimately overcome the push back from the previous set of seas and crash and burn on the same shores and it all just keeps on piling up making for a very uncomfortable sea state and ride, especially in 20 knots of wind. We now know what cupboard and locker stuff will move around in the very rough going and so it turns out to be a good thing in terms of preparation for the leg to the Tuamotus some 500 odd miles to the SW. Forecast has been for strong winds 25 and up from the East for the next several days all over Oceanis, (which is what the central Pacific area we are in is called), inclusive of the Tuamotus, which could make for entering the first Atoll entrance pass a tad bit exciting, perhaps more than we are comfortable with, so we are watching the weather like hawks. But as things tend to go our arrival here in Daniels Bay, actually called (Baie de Taioa and where we are, a small bay Anse or cove called Hakatea) a small totally mountain encircled bay comes with zero ability to get out on the Ham radio and hence no wether information at all,,arggh Nothing comes easily out here. Daniels Bay, named for Daniel and his wife who used to live in the bay before they flattened his house and land and moved them somewhere else in order to film the show Survivor,over a few year period. A relative JC I think now lives here. The tribal council thing, was on the other side of the island in Hatiheu which we saw by land while touring with our very gracious new friends Fred and Marie Helen. Apparently they choppered across island for the meetings, real roughing it! We never actually watched the show for more than a few minutes so can't say much more about it but we will take photos and get the t shirt, or uhm, palm frond. During filming there were staff of the program at strategic points and they forbid anyone to even get a glimpse of the goings on from elevations or from sea so as to provide the appearance of isolation and prevent any sort of espionage of the show. Hollywood is paranoid, who knew? The fact is, the bay is less than 3 miles over land, well small mountains anyway, to a decent town that has an airport, but the contestants reportedly saw nothing on arrival being kept blind to the location and how close civilization actually was. In the adjacent valley, several families, all related, live in and own the valley and have manicured it to a Buchart Gardens state that is amazing to see way out here(well not to way out here for them I guess) they prepare excellent meals for 1,000 FP/ person and sell fruits and vegetables. One boat we met bought a small pig from them as well. How can you go wrong? Thursday now, Making ready to shove off Sat for Tuamotus, Gwen is baking up stuff and pre cooking stuff, we are making water like mad, and stowing ship for the trip. Another rolly anchorage but we are trying to put some sleep in the bank. It will be a rough one if the weather is at all correct but it is time to go or our visas will run out if we are not careful before we see all F Polynesia. After a few of those cool South Pacific Coral ringed Atoll's that are the Tuamotus, you know the very scene that comes to mind when thinking of Pacific Paradise, we will reluctantly head for the hustle and bustle of Tahiti for the requisite paper work in the capital of FP and all the real cool mega store shopping (a 7/11 would be a mega store after the past 2 1/2 months) and load up on parts and supplies for the next remote cruising locals. From Tahiti and more correctly Papeete, we will visit Moorea, a supposed paradise of it's own then to Bora Bora the nicest island in the world according to those that rate stuff like that. From there to Raiatea and that should see the end of our 3 month visa here in FP. Nuku Hiva and in fact the Marquesas (the farthest island group from any continent in the world!! tidbit we sailed out here!) could take a few months to see and enjoy alone but ces la vi' we go anyways uh. Being so busy here with friends we met ashore and finally getting away from Taiohae has slowed down Blog production. Two things, ONE, our new friends ashore Marie Helen and Frederic are awesome folks and not only did they absolutely spoil us with land based things, they loaded us up with fresh fruits and avocados from their yard and presented us with traditional Polynesian departing gifts. We are flattered and can't wait to have them come to Canada to visit so we can do the same for them. And TWO, chickens CAN and do fly! They sleep in the trees here and so do the roosters. Freaks you out to see a huge wild colorful rooster go whipping by and land in a tree ,,,Cock adoodle DOOO??? Saturday, Still here in Daniels Bay due to strong winds just outside and all over the entire area we are in and need to cross so we wait. Overnight the wind went SE from East and some heavy rains came in causing it to be a raucous night. Around the corner from our little spot is where the river runs into the bay and yesterday we went in to have a look as it is the way to enter the river and gain the path to the waterfall and hour or so walk inland. The surf comes pouring in the narrow opening in the mountains that leeds out to the sea and there is even a barrel,(surfer talk) in the surf right up onto the beach. But if you dinghy in, you hug the rocks on one side then have to swerve directly left and into the edge of the surf (not at all an instinctive thing to do) to miss a shallows then crank it right to gain the river mouth which is about 10 feet wide at high tide but only about 6 feet is deep enough to run the outboard, barely, and you need to run the outboard tilted up and powering in or be swept by the swells up onto the beach or rolled or worse, or even worse than that. Not for the faint of heart I can tell you. On the way back our the tide was dropping so the river was running a bit faster and we slide over to the left of the river mouth too much and the prop hit a rock, crap, then we were out of the lane and had to use more power to get back over into position or be swept onto the rocks but the prop hit bottom cuz it is too shallow now and then the engine decided to get cranky and sputtered to a stop. Got it going right quick but we were out of position even more and had to struggle out of the shallows hitting bottom with the prop and banging up and down until we were in deeper water but the engine was not liking it and not powering well just as we entered the edge of the curls of the waves, real curls like tv type curls staring you in the face and roaring in at you at about 20 miles an hour, ten feet high, poop your pants type curls, unless you are in an arm chair with a remote in your hand. Obviously we made it out but it was not fun, the prop is now in need of some work and replacement and there seems to be a fuel problem now to attend too. No way we use the dinghy here with a possible engine problem unless it is just to go towards the head of the bay and up wind all of 400 yards away cuz if the engine quits during a windy period we would have one heck of a time getting back to the boat even with the good oars we have. It blows in here pretty strong at times over 25 knots and knowing what is going at the mouth of the bay it would be a real bad time to be swept out there in any sort of small boat. More repairs to occupy my spare time, how nice. Last night we opened the water tank fill fittings in anticipation of rain so as to catch some rain water, and wow, it rained hard and voila, we picked up close to a hundred gallons over night. Once it has rained quite a bit and the decks are clean of any dirt or salt you can collect fresh water for free and why not grab it when you can. Our water maker would have taken hours (and a lot of amps that cant be replaced since there is 100% cloud cover) to deliver that amount of water and now that it has been raining so much, the river silt from the steep sided valleys all draining into a small river has turned the bay to a mud puddle the colour of the Fraser River during spring thaw, so forget running the water maker in this because pre filters would last about an hour and there is nowhere to get any more out here. Our decks are really clean now! And so we get closer to the old school cruising life by catching rain water and it feels great. Fresh water is taken for granted at home, you unconsciously reach for the tap and out it comes, it's automatic, it's reflex, it's always there, you let it run while it cools off or gets hot to your liking, or you let it run while you brush your teeth, look in the mirror and do whatever other bathroom things we don't even want to think about here, or you answer the phone and you just "let it run", "good for flushing out the pipes", not quite the same out here. There are few sources of fresh potable water that you can get to your boat, or get your boat too, in the entire central Pacific, an area much larger than most of Canada. You can carry only so much fresh water with you and we carry 400 gallons which is way more than any other yacht we have met out here and we feel panicked when it gets below half, that's 200 gallons, still more than most others carry total. Those boats carry a dozen water jugs on deck along with the same amount of fuel jugs, a topic for a different time. Seems like a lot of water eh? It isn't. You need to shower at least once a day here or be one hell of a sticky and stinky mess in two days and down hill from there along with all the bedding and cloths if you don't, you need to drink at least a gallon each everyday and more, coffee in the mornings, the toilet uses fresh water, not much, but it adds up, dishes need to be washed, we rinse our feet and hands after being in the dinghy to keep the salt down and of course we have to make ice for drinks from fresh water. So, this "new thing" we have discovered called catching, water is perfect. Obviously not a new thing but it is for us since we have always had the mind set that the solar array would look after making water all day if we had too and for days on end if need be, which it can and it has,,,when there is any sunshine. Sun has been in real short supply for the entire 6 weeks so far here in the Marquesas, even our deep tans are fading fast. Anyway the sound of free, meaning no effort, no monitoring, no filter cleaning, no amps, no diesel running to replace those amps etc... free fresh water, running into the tanks was a nice gift and one we will continue to use as the situation presents itself. Why is all this just starting now you ask? Ya I can hear you thinking out loud, even way out here! Since arriving we have not been able to do this due to either the boat being too salt covered, only short or light rain squalls mostly underway, not being on board at the time, having enough water on board and not being concerned about it, and all that and more. Over the past 20 years, I've read a hundred different articles and detailed descriptions of water catching methods, benefits and techniques and systems of all kinds and even comments of being able to completely fill your tanks in less than an hour in the typical tropical downpours, I like it!. A-TRAIN has a system designed and built in specifically for just that purpose but until now we never had occasion or need to utilize it. No longer, we will be Rain Catchers Supreme, catching rain whenever we can and if we get lots, we will even be flagrant with it, just a little.