Living Afloat in Huahine

It feels as if Mark and I are living in Fare, Huahine, these days. We have become used to the island pace and the Polynesian way of life. We go to the hardware store on a Saturday morning and are not surprised to find it closed. We take our jerry cans to the fuel station, never expecting to be helped the first time around. Once, they were out of gasoline on day one, and a month later, the station was already closed at 11am. A second attempt, usually has us carry full jugs home. As Mark states: “Whatever we want to do, count on about 50% of it working out.” And, he is right when it comes to local matters, like a store or food van being open, fresh fish being for sale, coco glacé (coconuts on ice to drink the deliciously refreshing coco water inside - $1 a piece!) vendors being present, a planned event, a given direction, a previously reliable internet connection actually working, and so on. When it comes to boat parts or other pieces we need, to fix or maintain the boat, the percentage of finding something on tiny Huahine drops to zero.

Eggplant gnocchi with boat grown spinach

Every day, fresh baguettes await in the one grocery store, where a variety of produce is sadly lacking. We have the habit of walking the refrigeration aisle, just in case there is more to be found than the usual eggplants, cabbage and carrots. So far, we have no luck. We haven’t eaten a tomato or lettuce in weeks, or other dinner veggies in months, and even cucumbers are becoming sparse. We manage OK, though, and our creativity with meals is still existent. Having a constant supply of basil and sprouts helps. One thing we (I) can’t get used to in French Polynesia is the early time everyone rises. People get out of bed around 4am and start the day before 5! Most stores open at 6:30am. It makes sense, since the early hours are the coolest. Mark is also most productive before 7am, but I still have a hard time waking up with the sun.

On Irie, we have the unwritten rule that whatever we haven’t used for a year (or two) – except for parts and tools – needs to get off the boat. Having quite a few things that belong in this category, we looked forward to a planned flea market in Fare last week. When the event was canceled, we decided to take a tub of stuff to shore anyway and set up shop next to the vegetable sellers. As “new providers” we were the hit of town, and gear unavailable on the island went quick. Mark and I made enough money for lunch at a roulotte and happy hour that day, and for a Valentine’s dinner at the Yacht Club on Saturday!

As we set about our daily routines, we enjoy being comfortable on one of the free mooring balls in Fare’s multi-hued lagoon. The view of the surrounding reefs, islands, beach and water is pretty and the wind has recently been helping us out with electricity and keeping the temperature bearable. Thanks to our friends Rachelle and Patrick on SV Namaste (now in the Marquesas), who told us where to find abandoned fruit trees, we go “shopping” in nature for avocados, grapefruit, limes and bananas. The gusty wind had knocked over some plants and branches to make the pickings easy!

Since the sun gave us a break yesterday, we braved the 120% humidity and swarms of mosquitoes to go on a walk in the jungle. Besides getting some exercise and feeling as if we were the only people on the island, we enjoyed exploring the remote interior to the sounds of birds and a rushing river. The lush foliage of the tropics and the beautiful flowers of Polynesia never cease to impress me. We even found some hot pepper bushes to spice up our meals. Huahine, as most of the fertile islands of French Polynesia, truly is a piece of paradise to visit or live in and its abundance of natural wealth and beauty is a fact. The locals realize this and love their island. And we do, too!

Leaving civilization to head into Huahine's interior

Little waterfall along the river

Following the river into the jungle

Narrow trail into the foliage

Colorful flowers along the way

Easy avocado pickings

Tiare flower bush

Tiare Tahiti

Valentine's dinner: tuna carpaccio for me and fish burger for Mark

 

The Value of $20 in Kuna Yala

The San Blas islands - locally called Kuna Yala - consists of hundreds of beautiful, exotic islands. Some of them are uninhabited and others have a few families living on them, in thatched huts. A few islands are packed with huts and concrete buildings, resembling a village. Not much in the way of provisions is to be found. Most cruising boats are stocked up with groceries and alcohol from Colombia or mainland Panama before they arrive in the San Blas islands, and their tanks are full.

The town of Nargana has a handful of “stores”, where one can find basics like flour, rice, eggs, cornflakes, a small selection of cans, chicken and – depending on your luck – some or little fresh produce. Bread, diesel and gasoline are sold here too. The small settlement of Banedup in the East Lemmon Cays has a few of these items for sale as well. Other than that, cruisers rely on their own stores and the veggie boat, which might come once a week, or not. In the winter time (high season) the arrival of these boats full of produce is more reliable.

Living in the San Blas islands is relatively cheap, especially after spending hundreds of dollars on provisioning elsewhere. All you basically need to obtain here are fresh vegetables and fruit, maybe some chicken, and seafood if you don’t catch it yourself. A $20 bill goes a long way towards survival… But, what exactly can you get in Kuna Yala for 20 dollars?

Here’s a selection:

-          A week’s worth of produce (most veggies sell for $1.50/lb)
-          6-7 medium lobsters
-          10 big crabs
-          3.5 gallons of gasoline
-          3.5 gallons of diesel
-          Propane to fill a 20 pound tank, with $4 change
-          A week’s worth of fish
-          133 Kuna breads, which are tiny
-          A decently made mola (intricately sewn handiwork)
-          Permit to stay 1 month in Kuna Yala
-          5-6 dozens of eggs
-          4-5 bracelets or strings of beads
-          Unlimited amount of drinking water for the boat in one stop
-          60 coconuts on Nlakalubirdup, or 20 elsewhere

Prices usually depend on who you buy things from, what time of the year it is and how well your bargaining skills are. Mark and I have managed to trade stuff for food, but the Kunas always want some money as part of the deal as well. On average, we spend between $120 and $150 a month in Kuna Yala. 

Buying gasoline in Nargana

The settlement of Banedup, East Lemmons

Reflections on Carriacou

It is hard to describe why we like Carriacou… Even though there are always a whole bunch of boats anchored in protected Tyrrel Bay (around 40), it is still pretty quiet on the water. Some of these boats are “stored” during the hurricane season, others have live aboard cruisers who made Carriacou home for (part of) the year, a few have their owners onshore and about a quarter of the sailboats are like us. They come and go, sometimes staying for a couple of days, sometimes for a couple of weeks. As it is time for us to move further south to Grenada (mainly for business and boat projects), I come to reflect on why I like it here and why I already look forward to coming back later this season.

I recently talked to a couple of cruisers who call Tyrrel Bay home for half of the year. We were sharing why we like this place and –really- it all came down to the fact that the pace of life is still slow here, the people are friendly and nothing much will change over the coming years. It is the Caribbean how it used to be twenty years ago. While the other islands are developing rapidly, becoming more demanding of visitors and getting more and more focused on tourism and activity, Carriacou is different. Each time I go ashore to buy fresh bread or to see what’s available in the small vegetable stand (nothing much), I have a smile on my face and relax. I walk the one street, barefoot (sometimes regretting not having put my flip flops on when the afternoon sun made the road surface unbearably hot), sweating, but not caring about that, greeting pedestrians and drivers and browsing the same old stores and the same old stands and the same old food items, stopping for a chat here or there. That’s life in Tyrrel Bay.

After an hour or so, I get back in the dinghy, pull it off the beach and slowly drive back to Irie, carrying my valuable cucumbers, avocados and bread. Once again, I did not find tomatoes, lettuce or meat other than pig feet, chicken legs, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks and chicken wings. We’ve been on a diet of chicken parts, callalloo and rice, or plantains and potato, but that’s OK. I did give in the other day and bought a pound of pre-packed carrots for the equivalent of US$3. We’ll have coleslaw, potatoes and … chicken tonight! It actually is quite nice to have limited choices and still enjoy our food. Eggs and produce is bought at room temperature and can stay that way for several days. Our fridge is loving it.

The place to be in the evenings in Tyrrel Bay is the Lambi Queen. Mark and I used to love coming here. We’d buy a “quarter” of local rum, a glass ½ liter bottle of coke and ask for two cups and a tray of ice cubes, freshly made in the freezer. For the affordable price of EC$ 12 (US$5), we have enough rum & cokes to last us a couple of hours. On Friday nights, we’d order food from the grill and listen to the steel drums. When no entertainment was present, we’d just hang out, pet Jack the dog and hear the “click, click, click” of local guys playing dominoes. The place is under different management now and when we took our friends out for a drink about a week ago, the same drink arrangement came to EC$ 19 (US$8) for no good reason. When we opted to have a chicken meal the following Friday, the price had also gone up with EC$5 (US$2). We checked other options “in town”, followed the street, inquired in different local establishments and settled on the Old Rum Shop.

This cute little bar/restaurant is no stranger to us (we had some fun nights here last year), but we had never seen it open this season. Mark and I joined some locals “inside”, ordered a BBQ chicken meal and our usual assortment of “quarter” of rum (Clarke’s Court Bay, not the lethal Jack Iron), bottle of coke and “homemade” ice. A couple of “old” salts joined our table and the food was delicious. For the equivalent of US$20, we had a good dinner with 2 rum & cokes each, without the nagging feeling of being taken advantage of. We sure will be back, with our friends, next time!

Since it was Friday night, we did swing by the Lambi Queen and enjoyed listening to a group of talented local guys playing African drums, while their kids danced and juggled some sticks to the tunes. We had a great evening combining the best of two worlds without breaking the bank!