Tuamotus - Societies: Day 2: Uneventful

Not sure what happened to the weather, but are we ever, here in the Pacific? The stationary front NOAA has been predicting for days either did not exist, or we sailed right  through it without noticing... Instead of the 20-25 knots from the east which we were anticipating, it has been blowing about 10 from the east-southeast, varying about 30° to keep us on edge. The drop in wind started last night - with some annoying boom banging and sail flogging - and is still present. We flew the spinnaker during the day, which pushed Irie forward at 4-5 knots. At the same speed we are now slowly closing in on Tahiti. No need to purposefully slow us down anymore; we plan to reach the coast at daybreak before moving on to Taina Marina. And, no need to complain in these mellow and comfortable conditions!

Other than some sail changes, mealtimes and naps, there is not much going on at sea. Oh yeah, we did catch a decent size mahi mahi (dorado) close to sunset, the cleaning up of which took some time. While the moon is getting fuller and the sky is as bright as ever, I can see the first lights of Tahiti. The hustle and bustle of Papeete, French Polynesia's capital, will soon engulf us. Mark and I plan to go crazy in the Carrefour Hypermarket (We haven't seen a big - and affordable - grocery store in 15 months), are looking forward to eating out (which we have done only once this year, right before we left Taiohae in Nuku Hiva) and plan to accomplish a few important and outstanding boat projects. We can't wait! :-)

Marquesas to Tuamotus - Day 1: Slow Start

:lat=-10.929183:lon=-141.668017:
Time: 1735UTC, COG 220T, SOG 5.3kts, Distance Remaining: 411nm

As a side note I want to apologize for the crappy quality of the photos in the previous blog (I will improve them in the future) and for the old location status "Ua Pou" to the right. Blame the lack of (decent) internet in our last anchorage. We are underway now and Mark will update our position on the map daily.

The weather looked promising when we lifted anchor in Hakamaii, Ua Pou around 8am this morning. While the villagers went to church, I hauled Mark up the mast to check the rigging and by the time the service finished, we were underway. The land effect kept our progress to a minimum for quite some time. A massive pod of dolphins sent us off towards the Tuamotus. Floating in the water, swimming back and forth, they got slightly bored with our idleness in the water, but they didn't give up. When we finally gained some speed, so did they. It was a sight to behold.

Ua Pou became smaller, while the distance to the atoll of Apataki slowly shortened. By 1pm the last island of the Marquesas was gone, swallowed up by the clouds. We were all alone in the big, wide ocean. We checked the instruments. We adjusted them. We checked the sails. We adjusted them. We ate fruit. Lots of fruit. As usual at sea, we need to consume bananas as quickly as possible. They are turning yellow as we speak! When the sun makes us drowsy, we take a nap.

A few hours into the trip, the weather did its own Pacific thing again: it changed without any reason. The wind speed dropped five knots and later on even ten (!) knots, the direction became less favorable. At one point, it shifted 60°! All of a sudden we couldn't stay on course anymore. Our speed dropped from an expected 6 knots to 5.5 (required to get there in four days), to 5 and less. By 4pm we were sailing under main sail only and barely doing 3 knots. Half a knot of that was current. Now what? And, today was supposed to be our fastest day, since the wind speed is predicted to go
down...

We hoped for more wind. We asked for more wind. We screamed for more wind. All the while wondering how the breeze could be so inconsistent and unpredictable on this ocean. There were no squalls nearby and we were far from the equator! Our only explanation were the gray clouds in the area or a weather system further away. By 6:30pm, my bedtime, our situation had improved some and we were sailing under full sails again. A boobie (brown and white seabird) landed on the solar panels and joined us for the ride.


Fast forward six hours. Irie is cruising along at more than five knots. The wind keeps fluctuating a bit, there are some squalls around and a skinny moon tries to pop out. Wherever not obscured by clouds, the stars twinkly. Our winged hitchhiker is still here, taking a nap, and so is Mark. We are comfortably sailing for now, so no complaints! :-)

Peace in Nuku Hiva's Biggest Bay

Irie is peacefully anchored by herself, again, in Anse Hakahaa, the middle and deepest finger of the large Baie du Controleur in southern Nuku Hiva. We are surrounded by green hills and flat water, once in a while disturbed by a manta ray doing a back flip. This happens so quickly that usually all we notice is a big splash in the water. Unlike the dolphins, they only do this once and you never know where another one will follow suit. The only other sounds are of birds, goats or roosters. Yes, it is nice and quiet here.

Peaceful bay of Hakahaa in Baie du Controleur

Life aboard a flat boat!

At the head of the bay is a black beach, where we can land the dinghy, but it is “easier” (= closer) to visit the little town of Taipivai by driving up the river and tying to its concrete dock. To accomplish this feat, one has to wait until it is about high tide, ride the half breaking waves into a short stretch of river bordered by big boulders, get spit out into a brown lagoon without hitting the rock at the mouth, make it to the other side avoiding tree trunks or other debris, follow another stretch of shallow, mucky  river dodging scattered rocks, duck under a black hose carrying water across the river, dock the dinghy, and – important - make sure to be back in time as to not be trapped “inside” for eight hours. It is an adventurous trip, especially with the usual current at the narrow entrance of the river. Heading back into the bay and the incoming waves is always exciting!

Leaving the river and heading back into the bay

Looking back towards land. Where is the river mouth?

During the day, we count on the three hours around high tide, to go for walks. There is a farm close by, Taipivai has grocery stores and an interesting site – where the big Arts Festival of 2011 took place - with relics from the past and tiki reproductions. Every four years, the Marquesan Arts Festival draws thousands of visitors, performers (dancers and drummers), and artisans from all over the region and the world. The next edition (in 2015) will be held in Hiva Oa, but this year – and also every four years in between the real deal – a mini-festival is organized in Ua Huka. Mark and I hope to sail back there for this cultural event in mid-December.

Farm near Taipivai – It has been a long time since we saw one of these!

Reconstructed tiki on the old Arts Festival site

There are unexplored (by us) waterfalls in the area, destinations on our future agenda, when Marks elbow has been healed. We did manage to hike a muddy trail up to the Tiki Paeke archeological site yesterday and to the – even quieter – neighboring bay of Hooumi today. And, no, we don’t really know how to pronounce all these local multi-voweled names correctly, but you will have to get used to them just like us. :-)

Paeke archeological site, with two levels of paepaes (platforms)

Decent size stone tiki in Paeke, near Taipivai

The nights are also quite spectacular, especially when the moon is absent. Above us, we see a super bright Venus and millions of twinkling stars, while underneath us all life becomes lit up and visible. The water in the bay is full of organisms and looks totally unattractive and too dirty for a swim or to cool off during these hot and humid days, but at night it provides us with a lovely form of entertainment – better than TV, or in our case movies on the laptop: our own private light show. Because of the massive amounts of phosphorescence in the water, every movement turns into a shiny, glittery performance. We create shooting stars and fireworks with our own hands, or we watch the fish chase each other like comets and greeting each other with bursts of light.

Cute church of tiny Hooumi

Pretty valleys with pretty rivers (Hooumi)

If the sea would be cleaner, we could stay here longer. And, we will come back here the coming months of our Nuku Hiva stay. There is fresh water onshore for a daily shower, as long as we can deal with the overpowering presence of mosquitoes and nonos (small biting flies). But first, the big city of Taiohae calls. We are basically out of food and need to – urgently – do some research and other things online, so we’ll be off to civilization soon.

Shower time, but hurry, before you are eaten alive by the nasty bugs!