It was with much joy that we arrived in the beautiful Marquesas archipelago in French Polynesia, and what a fantastic sight to see this majestic, craggy mass of land covered in lush green vegetation after three weeks of looking at water! On the afternoon of 29 March, we sailed into the Bay of Virgins located on the west side of the island Fatu Hiva. What a remarkable place, a little piece of paradise in this huge expanse of ocean! According to the reading we have done, the Marquesas are relatively young geologically speaking so all the islands are these huge masses of volcanic rock which have risen from the ocean depths and somehow become covered with vegetation. The mountains are extremely jagged having not had millions of years of erosion to soften their edges so the profiles of the islands from sea are quite spectacular. The sea depth can go from 5000+ feet to 100+ feet in the space of half a nautical mile and the water is crystal clear so you can easily see the sea floor if anchored in a depth of 40+ feet.
We spent three nights anchored in the Bay of Virgins and think we would have spent longer there but unfortunately there weren’t any facilities to change US dollars to local currency and we were unable to buy anything. We also couldn’t register on a mobile network and not having local currency meant we also couldn’t purchase an internet card to use the local wifi. We were very surprised to see that a population that leads a very simplistic lifestyle have huge satellite dishes in their backyards for cable television and internet! It rained often while we were there which was great because it cooled things down and washed all the salt off the boat after our passage. The last time we experienced a thunderstorm was in Panama! Smelling wet vegetation after a refreshing rain shower was uplifting! Rob and I tried hiking to a waterfall located further inland but because of the rain the track became virtually impassable so we decided to turn back and photograph it from a distance. All in all it was a great place to stop after a long sail and waking up to absolute stillness with no water hitting the hulls and the sound of mountain goats bleating on the hillside a mere 100m away was very peaceful.
Anchor was picked up on April Fool’s Day for a day sail to Hiva Oa about 45 nautical miles away. Unfortunately it was an uncomfortable ride with strong winds and big swells making the boat surf which wasn’t a nice feeling. The day after our arrival had us walking into town to get some money and check into the territory with the gendarmerie. Our progress was halted slightly as we were informed we needed to hire an agent to vouch for a bond which would get us out of the country in case something happened to the boat (the locals really don’t want the tourists hanging around for longer than they should so they insist of having proof of means to leave the islands). Our clearance into the territory was delayed by the Easter weekend so we had a good few days of exploring before sorting out the paperwork. Rob and I were biting our nails in the wait to be cleared as the agent came back to us and said we may have a problem with our visas because they didn’t specify French Polynesia, even though we insisted that the consular official in Cape Town told us our visas were fine. Stress… but when we eventually cleared with the gendarmerie after Easter, who confirmed our visas were fine, it was a major relief for us. What helped especially was the fact that the official was so friendly and had such a sense of humour (shocking considering our past experiences with paper pushers), we walked back to the boat with a spring in our step, knowing we were free to explore the rest of Polynesia for the next three months. On one of our trips ashore, Rob and I had a long walk to try and see some local petroglyphs or rock paintings but again nature got in our way and rain prevented us from continuing further along the dirt track. We managed to get a couple of runs in to see a bit more of the island. I was saddened to realise how much fitness I had lost since leaving SA. Although I had a workout of note doing our laundry, sheets and towels from the past three weeks, using a bucket and good ol’ elbow grease, with an audience of young, virile army boys who chose that day to come to the anchorage for rowing training!
After nine days on Hiva Oa we picked up anchor and sailed to Baie Hanamoenoa on the island of Tahuata which is rated by some cruisers as one of the top three anchorages in Polynesia, and we pretty much agree with them! The day before we moved locations was Captain’s 68th birthday and even though the old codger refuses to celebrate birthdays, I baked him a delicious chocolate cake anyway! Two nights were spent in this beautiful bay, where our time was spent cleaning the hull, swimming, snorkelling and enjoying the island ambiance while interacting with the locals on the beach. The snorkelling was especially rewarding with plenty of vibrantly coloured fish, very healthy looking coral, great water visibility and it because it was warm, we could spend hours in the water. We had plenty of dolphins swimming around too, and learnt from one local fisherman that the bay is considered a dolphin “nursery” where the young are taught how to catch fish and generally learn to fend for themselves. Rob had to go up the rig to do some repairs and from his high vantage point he was lucky enough to spot a huge manta ray swim past the boat. We also had a black tip reef shark hanging around but luckily we didn’t cross paths on our snorkelling excursions!
An early 05h00 wake-up call on 11 April had us leaving for Ua-Pou (pronounced wa-poo) on a day sail where my sea legs deserted me for some or other reason and I had a very close call in terms of feeding the fish! There was a very strange chop on the water which made for an uncomfortable and sloppy sail, and I spent most of the time feeling yuck. But I got over it after a couple of hours and was able to enjoy the rest of the sail despite it being a bit rough. We had the reel out to try and catch a fish and again we caught a marlin. This particular fish was adamant it didn’t want to be reeled in and released so the thing just dived and we lost about 200m of line as well as the lure. Then, after the line and lure was replaced and the reel cast off again, a stupid gannet bird dived for the lure and got its beak caught in the hook. Luckily Captain managed to reel the bird in and once on the scoop it extracted itself and flew off without too much trauma. In our anchorage at Ua-Pou we had some amazing snorkelling opportunities which Rob and I took full advantage of, spending hours drifting along the edge of the drop off watching millions of tiny fish dart in and out of the coral. The water erosion had formed some caves into the mountain side which we would have loved to explore further but with the surge of the water it was way too dangerous.
Two nights at Ua-Pou was enough to see the island so we set sail for Nuku Hiva, the largest island and the capital of the Marquesas. Upon our arrival we were happy to see that the two Australian couples we met in Panama also made the crossing safely and were anchored when we arrived, so evenings in the anchorage were very social! It was an extremely busy anchorage, filled with vessels ranging from dinky solo sailing boats to mammoth superyachts, one of which was 206 feet! We googled it to find out more, and we learnt it cost about USD 150 000 per week to charter and, even more shocking, was that a crew member we met ashore told us it was fully booked for the season! As we were planning to spend a fair amount of time on the island, Rob and I pumped up the spare dinghy which gave us our own set of “wheels” to get off the boat without inconveniencing Captain and First Mate. So taking advantage, we managed to get in a couple of runs along the waterfront and we have had a few good, long walks exploring the town and surrounding countryside. A memorable walk was first stopping at the bakery to buy some fresh baguette and brie, and then taking a long and steep walk up the mountain to enjoy an impromptu picnic while soaking up a panoramic view of the bay. Feeling adventurous another day, we started walking to the next village called Taipivai (located on the other side of the mountain) with the aim to hitchhike along the way as there was no local bus service between villages. We came across a local lady who drove a school bus and was on her way back home after dropping the village kids off at school. She was kind enough to pick us up and take us over the mountain to the other side where we spent the day walking the country side seeing local tiki statues (I still need to google the significance of tikis because I didn’t find anything in Captain’s cruising books which could tell us more about them). Apparently the guy who wrote Moby Dick spent some time in this particular village. It was a fantastic day out but unfortunately Rob and I got bitten to pieces by mosquitoes or some other local bug and ended up with huge red welts on our legs, arms and even my face, and had a sleepless night struggling not to scratch our stinging bites while waiting for the pharmacy to open the next day to buy antihistamine cream!
Our time in the Marquesas was absolutely wonderful. As mentioned before the appearance of the islands are spectacular. I almost feel like calling the Marquesas the “Land of Nobs” with the amount of phallic or penis shaped rocks on all the islands! One thing we were taken by surprise was with how friendly the locals were. No matter where we went they were always smiling and greeting us with a sing-songy Bonjour! And they were more than happy to stop and give us a lift when they saw us walking on the side of the street. They are just covered in tattoos though, even the women, and we have been told that this is a symbol of their place in society, for example, if the girl is a dancer, she would have some form of tattoo denoting that. The villages are also spotless with minimal litter. The population is very house proud and make sure their plots are well kept and tidy. Even grass on the road verge is picked up by refuse trucks and taken away after it has been cut and not left to be dispersed by the wind. It was such an experience going to the Marquesas and it was a fantastic introduction to what French Polynesia had to offer!