While in Taoihae we finally met up with friends Barbara and Michael from 'Astarte'. We met Astarte in Providencia 2 years ago and have not seen them since we left Panama last year. They came through the Panama canal this year and sailed to the Marquesas from the Galapagos. We were hoping to meet up with them sooner but their crossing was very slow due to light winds. We spent a lovely evening catching up and Barbara had made us one of her excellent chocolate cakes. After Taoihae we went opposite directions. They call us their advance party as we give them reports on anchorages before they go there! They have chosen to go to a different atoll in the Tuamotus so we are not sure when we will see them next.
We left Taoihae and sailed to Daniels bay as planned. We sailed into Daniels Bay and had a bit of a shock. The bay had a very narrow entrance with a big surf running in and we had to turn sharply to starboard (right) to the anchorage behind the headland. We rounded the corner with all our sails up and there in front of us were all the anchored boats. The sails had to go away very quickly to slow the boat down whilst we looked for a spot to anchor. It was a lovely bay completely surrounded by tall 'mountains'.
The first day there I (KB) went for a walk to a waterfall with Chris and Rani from 'Ladybug'. The start of the walk was nice and through the village which was lined with fruit trees. A few of the locals had set up to sell fruit to cruisers which was very unusual and enterprising. It started to rain almost as soon as we set off and the locals warned us of falling rocks near the falls when it is wet. Ladybug were not deterred so we continued on. The walk was picturesque but the terrain was very muddy and uneven. We had to cross the river a few times and other times we were walking across stones surrounded by water. The last river crossing was fairly deep and the water flow was pretty fast with all the rain so I declined to cross it. Instead I decided to sit and wait, but alas, this was not to be as I was being eaten alive by mosquitos. So instead I walked back to the beach by myself and never saw the falls. By the time I got back I was very wet and covered in bites! We returned to the boat at 5pm to a worried Mike who had otherwise had a nice day relaxing and reading his book! On this occasion he had made the right choice!
Before we left Daniels Bay we decided to go and purchase fruit and veg. To do this we opted to take the dinghy up the river rather than walking the 20 minutes from the beach carrying heavy fruit. Going into the river, the water was low over a sand bar so we had to walk in places but with the help of locals we found our way up river and purchased our fruit. We thought the exit would be easier as the tide had risen. It was better in that we could motor over the bar but then we were faced with breaking waves. The first wave completely soaked us but was OK but then we were looking at this big wave coming towards us and breaking as it did. Mike accelerated the dinghy to get over the top before it did and we almost flew into the air. The dinghy went vertical and we are not sure how it didn't capsize, water came over the stern and then we slammed down the other side. We quickly accelerated into deeper water. We were shaking with the adrenaline rush, were completely wet but we did not loose any of the fruit! Nothing much was done the rest of that day!!
The following day we left and sailed to Ua Pou, another island 20 miles south of Nuku Hiva. The wind was bad for sailing to the Tuamotus so we were moving south to wait for good weather. The anchorage on Ua Pou was very tight and we had to set a stern anchor to hold us in position. The island was very pretty and we had a nice walk around the village. We purchased mangoes and limes from a lady but could not get any bread or bananas. The bakers apparently closes at 6am as they have sold out by then!
Rani and Chris found another local who sold them a big bunch of bananas which we agreed to share. When they were delivered to the wharf the guy had removed them all from the stalk so that they were all individual bunches in 2 boxes. Some we hung up and others we put into string bags and hung. We also picked quite a few oranges from trees in the police yard while we were clearing out of the Marquesas!
With bananas all stowed we left for Kauhei atoll in the Tuamotus on Friday 18 May. We had good winds the whole way and arrived after 3 1/2 days. We broke our recent fishing duck with the landing of a tuna we estimate at 25 pounds. It's the biggest one we have caught and was completely different to the smaller ones in that its body was almost completely round. It had a lot of meat on it and we ended up with 13 pounds of fillets.
Our fast passage was slightly wasted as, unfortunately, you can only enter the atolls at slack tide and in good light. This is because the currents run very fast through the passes and also so that you can see coral heads. So we had to wait offshore until the following day. Slack tide was predicted to be about 10am but we went through the pass at 9.30 with only 2 knots of current against us. The pass we had chosen is one of the easier ones to go into with regard to current. The bad ones on other atolls can have big standing waves and upto 9 knots of current, not a place we want to be!
We anchored in a very quiet spot in the SE corner of the atoll. It was very pretty and reminded us of the San Blas Islands in Panama. Regrettably, the snorkelling was not good there so today we have moved in search of some better snorkelling.
The bananas did not survive the journey. After 2 days they started falling to the floor. They could not support their own weight and part of the skin pealed off so the bananas landed on the floor partly open. By day 3 they were looking very black and smelled very ripe. We did our best to eat them but there was about 60 bananas and there are only so many you can eat in a day! The morning of day 4 we got up to discover the bananas were oozing and dripping all over the floor. After this we made 2 cakes, have 3 trays of sliced bananas drying in the sun, and the rest we fed to the fish. So, having had lots of bananas now we have none!
We plan to anchor near the pass tomorrow so that we can dive and snorkel the pass at slack tide. This is apparently the best place to see big pelagic fish and lots of coral.
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