Mass exodus, did we miss the memo?
11 July 2021 | 08 55.038'S:140 05.994'W, Nuku Hiva , Marquesas
NC
10th July
08 55.038 S
140 05.994 W
Weather; sunny, wind n/a, waves a little rolly
Here we are yet another weekend sitting in Nuku Hiva, it could be so much worse but then again it could also be so much better. We began to wonder today if we had missed an important memo as so many boats made their way out of the harbour today and headed off in various directions. The super yacht had departed before we were up and about, we don't know if the owners had arrived and they had taken off or if it was just time for them to move on, but the gap they left was quite noticeable. The weather forecast was possibly the best we are going to have for the next week so maybe they all thought they would take advantage of a decent day and get underway, though most seemed to be heading in the direction of the predicted blow that we should get by next weekend. More than a third of the boats have now gone leaving very large gaps which is good for swinging on the hook but not so good for blocking the swell. We probably would have gone today too if only we had our new shroud in place but as it won't arrive here until sometime next week we are sort of stuck for the time being. We were in Nuku Hiva at about the same time of year when we did this trip before, I distinctly recall being here for the Bastille day celebrations and as Bastille day is this Wednesday coming, it proves my point. The thing is we don't recall such horrid gusty wind last time around, though I have to say everyone had stern anchors out the last time around so I guess the swell was equally as bad then. Talking of Bastille day we haven't heard of any particular celebrations that will be taking place but I'm pretty certain that there will be something happening that we won't hear about until the eleventh hour. We went to the local hall last time where there was a dance display and drumming along with food and drinks for a few coins, we have been hearing some drumming practise going on in the evenings so we are convinced that the same thing will be happening again this year, it will be worth checking out once again if it does happen.
So apart from watching the mass exodus today we took things very easy and did nothing exciting. Gerry fiddled around with the battery switches, changing out one of the control switches for the original one, which he had replaced some time ago to see if it made any difference to the start-up of the gen set. To cut to the chase - it made no difference what so ever and has left Gerry scratching his head as to why the gen set is so sluggish at starting up when the main engine runs on the same fuel line and starts up first go, every time, without missing a beat. He is determined to find the cause and to that end has been delving in the storage spaces for the spare starter motor that we have, thinking he might change out the starter on the gen set, but that will be a job for tomorrow. For the rest of the day we did very little, taking time to enjoy being able to sit out in the sun and when that got too hot and boring we watched another movie, this time about the American Civil war, based on a true story.
Late in the afternoon I was sitting outside and saw a fin or flipper in the water near the boat, it definitely wasn't a shark but I thought it might be the wing of a ray as they are present here, if the local wood carving is anything to go by. I told Gerry about it as he came out into the cockpit and just as I said it the thing appeared again and Gerry saw it too - it wasn't my imagination working overtime! We knew it wasn't a shark but it was black on one side and white on the other which is why we think it was the wing of a ray swimming close to the surface, it's another good reason for me to never get in the water for a swim - it was a ray that killed Steve Irwin (the crocodile man) and I'm not as brave or as stupid as he was! So our weekend has started off very slowly and with not much to tell you, I don't expect that tomorrow is going to be much different but down time is to be cherished so we are kicking back and relaxing for the time being and whilst we can.
I have added another album of photos today for you to have a look at, today's photo is one of the sunset pictures taken during our 29 day passage - look at those clouds!