We had some time to kill while we waited on our martingale. If we had our druthers, we would have left for the southern Marquesas islands to wait for a weather window toward the Gambiers. However, life had other plans. We needed to follow up on our long-stay visa renewals and wait for our part. But we are not good at waiting, so we filled our days. So, what did we do?
Exercise
A few of my friends (Janet, Nicci, and Isabelle) and I walked almost every day. I say, walk, but truly we did the hikes around Taihoe Bay at a moderate pace early in the morning. There are three hikes that we rotated between: Collette’s Bay, Gazebo Hike, and the Mare Hike. They are each about 4-6 miles long and can take anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on how much we are talking or how fast we are walking. This photo is from the Gazebo hike at the top overlooking the bay with Janet, Isabelle and I.
Hiking Partners
We also did a little yoga. Isabelle recently got her yoga certification and graciously taught yoga several times a week. Sometimes we had 20 people while other times we had 5. Always a mixed bag, but lots of fun.
Yoga Practice with Cruisers
Errands
Of course, we ran some errands. We motored a lot with Wayne and the Melnar’s so we had to replenish our fuel. Technically, we were not “low” but with 1000 miles to the Gambiers and another 1000 miles to Tahiti it was best to top up the tanks. We borrowed 6 jerry cans (20 liters each) from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services. This is in addition to our four 20-liter cans. We made two trips to replenish our diesel and gasoline.
We also tried our best to provision. Unfortunately, the supply ship has not visited Nuku Hiva since the middle of December (we are at the end of January). Of course, it is scheduled to come a week after we leave. We do not plan to be waiting on the supply ship. So, the magasins were painfully empty. We purchased what we could.
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. The waterline and bottom of the boat needed some lovin! The waters here foster some interesting growth and we had a virtual science experiment growing on our boat!
Computer Work
I volunteered to re-organize the Tuamotus, Society, and Marquesas Compendiums into an easier format. There is lots of great information in each compendium, but it is difficult to find it. Most people submit information in paragraph form and you have to read through a bunch of junk to get an anchorage location or find the post office. So, I am working on re-organizing each compendium (which are over 200 pages each). The creators have been waiting patiently for me to finish these so I’ve been working hard.
Spinnaker & Para-Sailor
As you might recall, we blew out the clew (corner) of our small spinnaker on a passage. We have tried to get it repaired and it was too much money. We are in the process of trying to repair it ourselves but are not convinced it will hold.
Another boat was selling a spinnaker about the same size as our small spinnaker. They were also selling a small parasailor which we have never sailed with before. It would be a fun sail to try out as you can use it in stronger winds and with a wider variety of wind direction. Basically, it gives you a lot more opportunity to use it than a regular spinnaker. The problem is that it is smaller than we would have liked but it could work.
We went over to Azyu to check out both sails and were really happy with their condition. The spinnaker is a 2014 and has some use on it, but it is in really good condition. The parasailor has only been used two times and in even better condition.
Spinnaker Evaluation
Azyu wanted to leave and could not stand by waiting for us to make a decision. So, we decided to purchase both sails, try them out and keep the one we like best. We will sell the other sail when we get back to Tahiti. We low-balled them and they accepted. Sweet! Basically we got both sails for about $4500. To give you an idea of what a screaming deal we got: a spinnaker new would be $6,500 and a parasailor new is $10,000. Maybe waiting to repair our damaged spinnaker was a good idea?
Daniel’s Bay
We decided to get away for the weekend. We left the “main bay” of Taihoe and went to Daniel’s bay because it is so much prettier and quieter. Our friends on Maple are here with us and we had a blast hanging out with them before they leave for the Society Islands and then Malaysia. We hiked to the “nada-falls”, had ice-cream at Teiki’s place and dinner on each other’s boats.
Daniel’s Bay HIke
We cross the river three times before we get to the “trickle fall” The first time you cross can be nerve racking as you try to get solid footing. The top photo is us goofing around while crossing. The bottom photo is us enjoying a cool down after the 7 mile walk.
Crossing the river 3x
Still dry and no waterfall, but a truly beautiful setting. Daryl (top photo) reflecting on the pool), and Janet, Ella and Iris at the bottom.
At the Nada Falls
The local fisherman go out early in the morning and come back to the dock around 0700 to clean their catch. It is always amazing to me how big their tuna catches are!
Tuna Catch
The fisherman toss the parts into the water for the awaiting sharks. Always fun watching the fisherman feeding the sharks at the dock. Yep, this is where we dock our dinghy to get to shore. Fun times waiting for the sharks to lose interest in us.
Large sharks at the dock
We enjoyed lots of good dinners and happy hours on our friend’s boas. This is Nicci from Flip Flops and Janet from Maple.
Dinner with friends
Super Bowl Sunday
Our friend Kevin from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services hosted a super bowl party on his deck. He was able to live stream it on the internet so we could watch just off the beach. Unfortunately, we lost the signal on the last 20 minutes of the game which is when KC came from behind to win 31 to 20! How the heck did that happen in 20 minutes. No matter, it was a great game in good company in a lovely setting. And the half time was spectacular with J Lo and Shakira!
Super Bowl Party
Ladies Luncheon
One of the other cruisers organized a ladies luncheon which was fabulous. There were 9 of us from 8 countires including a woman who fenced, a skydiver, a motor cross racer, swimmer, pilot/plane builder, and one that has raised two kids and lived on a boat for the past 25 years. An incredibly eclectic and exciting group of women.
Ladies Luncheon
Hike to the Saddle
Not sure why I agreed to do this, but Sophie and I hiked to the saddle which was over 152 stories (the empire state building is 100), and almost hit 10 miles! It was a brute of a climb, but we did it!
Sophie and I hike to the saddle
Lots of cruise ships came into port at the end of January and into February. The locals would gather near the dock and give them a nice welcome with drums, singing and warm greetings. Of course, I had to take advantage of the situation and get a photo op.
Local performer
Our good friend Mike on “Easy” decided to fly back to the States for a month. unfortunately, we will be gone when he returns and are not sure when we will see him again. He may be sailing to Hawaii then Oregon while we are going to New Zealand. So, it seemed like a great time to have a party. Over 20 people came to Sugar Shack to honor Mike!
Mike’s Going Away Party
Matt decided to a monstrous hike to the antennae which is almost the tallest peak of the island. I opted to skip out as it was way too high. It was well over 6.5 miles to the top and another to return and I think it concluded at a 14 mile hike and well over 3,000 elevation.
Above, I mentioned that I hiked to the saddle (red arrow), but Matt took it further and hiked to the blue arrow. A huge 5-hour hike.
Matt’s hike to the antennae
View from the top of the mountain, taken by Matt
View from the top
