It's Irie: Hanavave

Monday, September 2, 2013

Fatu Hiva in Pictures - Part 2

Here are some more pictures of the island of Fatu Hiva, in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. In case you are wondering why we spent so much time (four weeks) there... :-) To read the stories, scroll down the page and click "older posts".

Arriving at the highest point on the Fatu Hiva road

Hiking the mountain trail towards Ouia

The bay of Ouia lays in the distance, a steep, overgrown and slippery descend away - we turned around

Lush fern trees

Curious vine smothering one of the trees along the overgrown path

On the edge of a dormant volcano

Walking back to the main road - parts of the trail are cleaned and cleared now!

Bright flower

View from the main road, descending towards Hanavave

Hanavave bay with its steep walls

The comfortable anchorage of Hanavave - Irie is the boat on the left in the foreground

Not much vegetation grows in the higher altitudes of the island

When the dirt road turns to asphalt, it goes down, down down, with steep switchbacks

Awesome outcrops on top of the hills

Checking out the Maria statue, where the passengers of our car up the mountain stopped to pray

Dinghy playing with the dolphins

After days of rain, new waterfalls appear in the bay

One of the many caves along the bay

Once a month, the cargo ship Aranui stops in Fatu Hiva with provisions (limited produce, no dinner veggies) and tourists

Traditional drumming for the Aranui visit

With some traditional Marquesan dancing to go with it

Visit to the waterfall with friends

Taking a "natural shower" while we were at it!

Views hidden by rain clouds

Irie in Hanavave Bay

Visiting Allan on SV Quintessa - he is a shell collector and connoisseur

Celebrating Allan's birthday on Quintessa

SV Cashtoki with a nice sunset

We were given a leg of goat for fixing a local's underwater flashlight - goat curry for all (except the vegetarians)

Another visit to the waterfall, in better weather this time!

Ooooooooh!

Petroglyph on the way to (from) the waterfall

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Fatu Hiva in Pictures - Part 1

Underneath are a bunch of pictures of beautiful and spectacular Hanavave Bay and the island of Fatu Hiva. The selection I made for the blog is still pretty big, so here is the fist part of the lot...

Mark is looking at the steep cliffs around us, on our first dinghy ride to shore

The impressive head of Hanavave Bay - our daily view from Irie

Local kids playing in the harbor during the weekend

View upriver from the shoreline

Church of Hanavave - Mark and I attended one Sunday service, all in the Marquesan language and with singing and instruments

Walk through and to "town"

Nice setting for a house, on the edge of the village

Hanavave Bay on a clear and sunny day

Part of the bay, with the "phallus rocks". It was originally named "Bay of Penises" (Bay des Verges), but the missionaries changed it into the "Bay of Virgins" (Baie des Vierges) by adding an "i".)

Coconut drying platform to make copra

Leaving town in search for the waterfall

Strayed into the hills, where there was ... no waterfall!

There she is, with a nice swimming pool underneath

The 300 feet high no-name waterfall,a refreshing treat for the eye and the body!

Vintage point along the trail

Do as the Polynesian women do...

Heading back to town from the waterfall in the hills

Hanavave Bay near sunset - beautiful light and colors...

Keyhole in the rocks, on the 3 mile dinghy ride to Omoa, Fatu Hiva's capital

Traditional outrigger canoe (Omoa)

Tiki in Omoa town

Tikis along the waterfront of Omoa

Church in Omoa

Drying the copra in a beautiful setting (Omoa)

Ancient petroglyph of a dorado fish (Omoa)

Ruins of ancient stone platforms (paepaes) in Omoa

Hanavave Bay during light rain, including rainbow. The many "moods" of the bay create limitless photo opportunities!

It's Irie

Irie is a Fountaine Pajot Tobago, a 35 foot catamaran with a beam of about 19 feet. She was born in France in 1998, and spent her childhood in the Caribbean, before arriving in Maryland, USA.

Irie used to be called Big Trouble, a name she didn't like. From the moment she received her new name, she became a happy girl again, feeling healthy and almost as good as new. Just like everybody else she has her own problems and we keep working on that never ending project list. After sailing thousands of miles, we are still very happy with her and wouldn't want any other boat. For over seven years now, she performed as our house, transportation device and office! But, as of November 2014, Mark and I are ready for new adventures, so Irie can be yours! We have put her up for sale. For more information, check out my blog about our decision or the full listing.

"Irie" means "all good" in Jamaican (Creole). "Irie, mon!" We hope our lives remain irie, and yours as well.

It's Liesbet

Liesbet is a freelance writer and lifetime adventurer from Belgium. Her biggest passion is traveling, and... trying new things. That's how she ended up with Mark, and on this boat. She's flexible, adventurous and easy-going; a must for her kind of life. Some people call her "crazy", but let's just stick with "different".

She adored Kali and Darwin, and actually likes all animals, except mosquitoes, the only creatures she can kill. There's not much that she really hates, other than cruelty, hypocrisy, helplessness and injustice in general. She's still excited about seeing new places, writing about them and hanging out with dolphins, and other wildlife.

Living on a tight budget has been her lifetime commitment in order to travel "forever". To create that budget, she writes, translates (Dutch-English), proofreads, and -if really really really needed- does manual labor.

For more info about Liesbet's articles, click here.

It's Mark

Mark was born in Connecticut, but grew up in upstate New York. He lived in Massachusetts, before moving to California, his favorite state. After living "the American dream" for ten years, he decided it wasn't his thing. After meeting Liesbet in December 2004, he started to travel indefinitely, first by camper, then by sailboat.

He hates ignorance, traffic, and bad customer service. The things he likes are being single-focused, hiking, listening to good music, and just chilling. His biggest passion is sailing, and that's what he is doing right now, full time.

Just so he would never have a spare moment of time anymore, he came up with a great idea to provide WiFi on boats in April 2009. With the help of Liesbet, he invented and developed The Wirie, a marine WiFi system, which grew to be a real business with a partner in the United States and is still expanding with Tim's help.

After a year of full time commitment and very hard work in 2014, he developed a new line of The Wirie products, combining WiFi and cell technologies. The Wirie pro was released in January 2015.

It's Kali

Our girl was an Australian Shepherd mix, with a fluffy tail and a cute face. She survived an awful disease as a puppy, and used that strength throughout her whole life.

Kali was obsessed with tennis balls. She loved human food, but was not allowed to have any. Except on her birthday, when a deliciously cooked steak awaited her. She liked to sniff and stroll around, doing her thing, knowing that we were around. She loved rolling in the grass, but what she liked most was being in the water. She could literally wade in it for hours, wagging her tail, pawing rocks or digging for imaginary things, occasionally sticking her whole face under the water surface, and telling us how much she liked doing this. She was terrified of thunderstorms and fireworks, or everything producing a loud boom. She also didn't like fake grass.

Kali and her unrelated "brother" Darwin were well-traveled puppies, and of all the Central American countries, they liked Mexico , Belize, and Costa Rica the best. Why? There are lots of beaches, calm water, and no leash law! While cruising on Irie, they loved the Bahamas the most.

Tragedy struck just when we were ready to explore and have fun in the "real Caribbean". Kali died unexpectedly in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on December 26th, 2008. To understand what happened, read the blog "Goodbye, Sweet Girl" of January 2009 (http://www.itsirie.com/2009/01/goodbye-sweet-girl.html). We still miss her very much and think about our special girl every day.

It's Darwin

Darwin was also an Australian Shepherd mix, with a pretty tail, and handsome face. He was very playful, a little dumb sometimes (in a doggie way), but knew darn well how to steal your heart. He was so funny, rolling over in the grass, being eager to do tricks, making funny noises and looking very innocent. He had a way of getting comfortable wherever he laid down, ideally resting his head on one thing or another, from somebody's lap to the table.

Darwin hated to get his toes wet, especially after it rained on the grass. He also didn't like to be rinsed off, have his nails clipped or get a brushing. He loved to annoy his sister Kali, nipping her or grabbing her leg to get her to play. He liked being chased by other dogs, retrieving toys from the air, water, and floor, digging holes in the sand, swimming, "hipping" you with his wet butt, licking good smelling air, eating treats, and wagging his tail. But, most of all he loved to be with us, whatever we did or wherever we were. He was a happy boy!

On December 1st, 2010, not even two years after we lost Kali, disaster struck again in our small, but happy family. Darwin had been diagnosed with malignant tumors in the US and died two days later. We were just heading back to our life on Irie in the Caribbean after a three month break. A boat and life without dogs. We still cannot grasp or belief it. Our hearts will always ache because of this tremendous loss. For the story about Darwin's last days, read the blog "Darwin: Our Bestest Boy"of December 2010 (http://www.itsirie.com/2010/12/darwin-our-bestest-boy.html).

It's Irie

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Monday, September 2, 2013

Fatu Hiva in Pictures - Part 2

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Fatu Hiva in Pictures - Part 1

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