Moorea with Visitors

Mark and I – and probably most cruisers – prefer Moorea to Tahiti, so we tried to leave the “big island” as soon as possible, once our guests Griet and Wim arrived from Belgium. The wind predictions were favorable (about 15 knots from the east), but, as usual, none of that materialized. Instead of the funky west winds from last time, we didn’t have enough wind to keep the sails full this time, so we had to motor sail most of the 25 miles to the Opunohu Bay area in Moorea. All of our eyes were focused on the horizon is search of whales, but none were to be spotted.

As we were driving in between the channel markers of Opunohu Bay, we counted seven masts in our (small) anchorage of choice, so we steered towards the alternative and bigger anchoring area near the beach. I saw something in the water approaching us: “Whale!” Fifty feet forward of our bow, a big humpback whale surfaced, followed by her calf. They were leaving the channel, into the ocean. Dumbfounded and thrilled – a combination between awe (wow, amazing!) and ouch (wow, don’t hit us!) – we grabbed our cameras, but the pair dove down and didn’t pop up again until they reached safer waters, out of camera reach.

The following days, Irie sat in the clear waters of the two reef anchorages and the darker, brackish water of Opunohu Bay. We took our visitors up to Magical Mountain for the amazing view over the surrounding reefs, buzzed amongst a pod of dolphins with our dinghy, hiked through the forests and into the hills to reach a couple of viewpoints, and swam with reef sharks and stingrays. While we took care of some boat errands and daily life chores, Griet and Wim donned their snorkel gear and explored the underwater world. Our last day in Moorea was filled with boat preparations (cleaning of the hull, hauling Mark up the mast, securing a whole bunch of things, separating the outboard from the dinghy, etc…) for the overnight trip to Huahine, our next destination.

Whale "footprint", where she dove down

New Zealand "green lip" mussels with Griet and Wim

These $900 a night bungalows have the same view as Irie! :-)

Dolphins in the bay, let's go play!

Irie's anchorage NE of Opunohu Bay, as seen from Magical Mountain

Reef view from Magical Mountain

Marae along the way to the Belvedere

Big trees and big people

Mount Rotui and Cook's Bay seen from the Belvedere viewpoint

Mount Rotui and Opunohu Bay seen from the Belvedere

Posing with my cousin Griet and her husband Wim in front of Moorea's most famous mountain

Interesting looking tree along the hike back down to the valley

Some new scenery on the downward part of our hike

And, we had a few more challenging and adventurous sections as well

View of the valley on the way down

Pineapple plantation

Majestic Mount Rotui

Sunset in the mouth of Opunohu Bay

Kite surfer near the "ray feeding" area

Stingray

Griet's first snorkel with sharks - a bit intimidating!

But not for long... Well done!

The stingrays have been fed here for over 20 years and are very docile and "sweet"

Movie Time: Spinner Dolphins in Tahuata, Marquesas, French Polynesia

A long time ago, I promised to post some (wildlife) videos on my blog whenever we had good enough internet. That time has come and I hope to keep that promise now, starting with this movie of some happy dolphins in Tahuata. This acrobatic pod cheered us up every morning and we cheered them on from the dinghy or Irie's deck!

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! :-)

Dolphin Visit in Hanatefau, Tahuata

Mark and I have been anchored in the picturesque bay of Hanatefau, near Hapatoni village in Tahuata for almost a week. During that time we didn’t only get the company of a few other cruising boats, but also of a big pod of dolphins. They like being in this area and frequently visit the anchorage. We are very fortunate to freely and closely watch them fish, flap their tail onto the water surface, frolic, jump, spin and play. Our best guess is that they are spinner dolphins. It is an incredible sight; a show of nature that goes on for hours! Here are some snap shots to capture these magical moments… (We hope to post some long promised wildlife movies once we finally arrive in an area with good and fast internet, which might still be months. In the meantime, pardon us for the crappy layouts and funny looks of the blogs, as we send all these posts over incredibly slow and barely usable internet connections.)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Around Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

Towards the end of our stay in Hanavave Bay in Fatu Hiva, our Italian friend Giorgio decided to “sail” around the island and invited a few of us to join him. We had barely left the bay on his awesome sailboat Hoa Motu (which means “friend of the islands”), when he and Mark let out two fishing lines. We had been craving some fresh fish for ages and were not going to pass up any occasion to try our luck. While the steep cliffs and mountains were blocking any kind of wind, the engine was propelling us forward. Pretty quickly, two fish simultaneously caught the lures we were trawling.  Mark pulled in the hand line, to find a medium-sized barracuda – no good eating here. Giorgio struggled for a long time with a massive creature on the reel. Our anticipation was growing and growing… Maybe it was a big tuna or a mackerel? It didn’t seem to be a mahi mahi (dorado), since no jumping out of the water was going on. Finally, a big shape appeared near the water surface and we all cramped around Giorgio to have a better look, cameras ready. It was a huge “great barracuda”, another fish prone to having ciguatera, a disease that is harmful for people.

The wind was light and we tried to make some northern progress along the west coast, before tacking up the north side. It wasn’t working too well, but we had a very yummy and comfortable lunch, without heeling. Mark and I barely believed we were on a monohull! The rest of the trip we were forced to motor, if we wanted to circumnavigate the same day. We followed the impressive and craggy shoreline and rounded another corner. Although we did not have to do much in regards of sail trim, we were entertained nonetheless, by the impressive scenery, our friendly host and … the arrival of a pod of small dolphins, playing with Hoa Motu’s bow for half an hour. We stuck our nose into Ouia bay, which Mark and I had spotted from the mountain trail a few weeks earlier. Once “outside” again, we kept moving over relatively flat seas. Another pod of much bigger and rounder dolphins joined us this time and I had a blast, just watching them on the bow, encouraging them to stay and jump, and taking movies.

When the dolphins had left us, it was time for another big catch - a decent size wahoo. Score! Mark hauled the slim fish with obvious markings in and gaffed him into the cockpit, where Giorgio killed him in a fast manner. Dinner for five, and then some! Rounding the last “corner” on the approach to Fatu Hiva’s biggest town, Omoa, another fish decided to swallow one of the lures. It was a skipjack, closely related to the tuna; tasty dark meat. The sun was beating down on us and we were having a great time, enjoying the final stretch of our spontaneous excursion. Unfortunately, Mark and I lost our last lure, without even noticing it. Another giant must have just bit through it, without letting us know. No more fishing for us for a while! It made us truly enjoy the ceviche, Birgit assembled that evening, and the sushi and fish BBQ the following night. With full bellies and a bit “socialized out”, Mark and I were finally, kind of, ready to leave Fatu Hiva and sail to the “big city” of Atuona in Hiva Oa.  

Giorgio at the helm of his boat Hoa Motu, leaving Hanavave Bay

Great barracuda with a grand head

 Decent size wahoo - and tasty!

Pod of small dolphins playing with the bow of the boat

Rugged coastline near Omoa

Giorgio and Mark dealing with the skipjack

Back in Hanavave Bay near sunset