Sailing the Pacific

29 June 2024 | Huahine Island
22 June 2024 | Moorea
21 June 2024 | Moorea, Cook Bay
09 June 2024 | Fakarava South Pass
05 June 2024 | Tahanea Atoll
28 May 2024 | Makemo Atoll, East
23 May 2024 | Makemo Atoll
17 May 2024 | Controllers Bay, Nuku,Hiva
08 May 2024 | Anaho Bay
29 April 2024 | Taiohae Bay
21 April 2024 | Controllers Bay, Nuku,Hiva
15 April 2024 | Tahuata Island, Hanatefau Bay
09 April 2024 | Hiva Oa, Atuona Bay
08 April 2024 | 100 miles Northeast of Hiva Oa
07 April 2024 | 235 NM ENE of Hiva Oa
06 April 2024 | 380 miles Northeast of Hiva Oa
05 April 2024 | South Pacific
04 April 2024 | South Pacific
03 April 2024 | South Pacific

Anaho Bay, Return to Taiohae Bay and Generator Parts

17 May 2024 | Controllers Bay, Nuku,Hiva
Kirk Groehnert
We've had a beautiful week in Anaho Bay which is in the northeast corner of Nuku Hiva. We could have stayed there a long time. There was nice cooling winds, a really good place to eat on shore, excellent hiking, and excellent snorkeling. What more could you ask for? Oh, fresh veggies? Yes, we met a farmer by the name of Roger who grows a lot of different veggies in two different areas.

The first area was his actual farm and we had hike over to the next bay to get to it. He sells to some of the local stores and as far as we could tell, is one of the few people in these islands that is interested in eating and growing veggies. Most people here are more interested in fruits which are plentiful.

The second area, not too far from where we land the dinghy, is his house and he has another farm. He spends everyday working his actual farm and then at 3pm he returns home to work that farm. He's a hard working guy and also very nice. Of course we had to stock up on veggies and bought cucumbers, string beans and some others.

A little about Anaho - there are maybe 50 people that live there and but there are no paved roads, and no way in or out other than hiking over a small mountain or taking a boat. It is really cool to see people live like this. They make it work - most days there is a small powerboat bringing supplies from the neighboring bay with a little town.

We can see why they like living there because it's beautiful and peaceful.

On the beach, there is a lady that cooks lunch. There is no menu, you just tell her the day before you want lunch. She has a few tables that are on a grassy area under a tree, on the edge of the sand beach.

We liked this place so much that we ate there two days in a row. The first day we ate there, we had pork with a ceviche style raw fish salad. I'm not into raw fish much but this was good.

The second day was breaded fish and the same ceviche salad. Both times we also had breadfruit and yucca as side dishes.

We were having a good time there, quite content to wait for our parts for the generator. But finally, the parts were arriving, in a day or two (or so we thought) and it was time leave Anaho. We did not want to waste any time because we want to save time on our 90 day visa to visit other island chains within French Polynesia and we've already spent too long here.

We sailed back down to Taiohae (the main town on this island) anticipating our parts arrival. Well, that didn't go as hoped. Without going into all of the details, we didn't get the parts until four days later. That was disappointing but the generator is now fixed.

We left Taiohae this morning to back to Controller's bay because it's so much less rolly.

We now are planning to leave here for the Tuomotu Islands tomorrow evening at 7pm. It's a four and a half day trip there (around 550 miles) and timing our arrival is key because these islands are atolls hence the reason we are leaving in the evening.

Atoll's are big circular islands with a lagoon inside that we need to enter with our boat. In order to get in, tides and currents need to be in our favor because some passes into the lagoon can have breaking waves and very strong currents. There is also big underwater coral heads (bommies) that we need to avoid.

Sailing in the atolls (and all of the approximately 100 Tuomtu islands are atolls) is different from other sailing we have done so we are a bit nervous but also excited about what lies ahead.

Comments
Vessel Name: Crystal Seas
Vessel Make/Model: Taswell 43
Hailing Port: Lewes, DE
Crew: Kirk and Crystal
About:
We met in 2014 and have a common love of exploring the world. Both of us have traveled quite a lot but vacations don't really give the opportunity to get to know a place and the people. That's why we thought it would be better to sell everything and live on a boat! And that's what we did... [...]
Extra:
We live this lifestyle not because we are adrenaline junkies wanting to climb mountains or some other extreme activities. Surely there are people like that in this sport and we have nothing against that. It's just not us and it's not what motivates us to deal with the compromises, uncomfortable [...]
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