Update from Nuku Hiva

An update from Anaho Bay. As Liz writes below it is beautiful here and especially so after leaving Atouna in less than ideal conditions. To start with, the anchorage in Atouna is generally crowded so everyone needs to be on a stern and bow anchor. Then, on our last night, the prevailing swell direction changed and and created swell in the harbour. Later, the swells built and caused breaking waves ahead and over our position. We were anchored quite shallow for us - around 10 to 12' - and I was concerned that we may hit bottom at low tide and big swell. Also, the waves were causing quite a load on our ground tackle. Thankfully everything held and we left in the morning. I got some pictures of the surfable waves going past the boat (would have been fun to ride them on our board if I had not been concerned about our position) and the reaction of the catamarans riding over the waves aft of us. Of course, leaving was not straightforward. We backed down paying out more chain from our bow anchor to retrieve our stern anchor. However, once we were over the stern anchor I could not lift it. We had not put a trip line on the stern anchor so the only realistic option (no room to maneouver to pull the stern anchor from a different angle nor to try any of the usual tricks of snubbing off the line and letting the swell pull the anchor out of the mud) was to go for a breathhold swim. In the process of preparing a trip line to tie off on the stern anchor I gave myself a wee little cut on the hand which gushed blood out of proportion of the wound. Great - now I would be chumming for sharks with my hand ... A few tight wraps on electrical tape secured the hand so that I would not attract unwanted attention. Of course, this was not the pristine conditions one normally thinks of when thinking of tropical waters. The visibility was so bad that I actually ran headfirst into our rudder as I followed the anchor chain down to the anchor. No real problems from there but certainly lots to learn. When we were posted to Victoria a few years ago, we did lots of stern ties in the Gulf Islands and San Juans but we have only had to stern anchor a few times before.

The passage to Hiva Oa to Nuku Hiva was almost ideal. Other than some squirlly and bumpy conditions passing in a channel and then a few squalls overnight it was a smooth and fast passage. Victoria stayed up on my watch and we enjoyed some great starwatching. At one point we could use the stars to estimate the locations of north (the big dipper still points towards Polaris even if we cannot see the "North Star" itself as we are too far south), south (from the Southern Cross) and west (where Mintaka from Orion's belt goes below the horizon). Catching a dorado and a yellow fin tuna within 24 hours was pretty nice too.

Lots of wind in the anchorage here. Good for charging the batteries and makes up for the diminished solar from the regular squalls.

Max


The Liz Letters:

Greetings!

Today was one of those days that we used to dream about when we were dragging our weary selves to work on dreary days in Halifax (I understand that there have been a few of those in the last while!)

We spent the morning onboard, moving slowly, with mahi mahi, rice and eggs (we still have dozens left from the seven flats we bought in La Cruz) cooked up for breakfast, and reheated lentil soup for lunch. Our plan was to go ashore to the beach just behind the anchorage in the afternoon, take a walk, and maybe explore the town. Unlike yesterday when it was completely calm as we we arrived just after dawn, our winds were strong and gusty all night and all day today, so we elected to use the kayak and leave our dingy on the foredeck (the only thing that would worry me more than taking it down in the wind was then having to move the outboard from its safe spot on the stern of Fluenta down onto the stern of the rollicking dingy). It is nice to have a fleet of small boats from which to choose!

As Max and I were paddling towards the beach on leg 1 of his double trip, one of our neighbours came by in their dingy and suggested that all the kids might want to go across the bay to a beach that was more sheltered. We quickly changed our plan; I hopped aboard their dingy, both kids were picked up by another family's dingy, and Max paddled the kayak upwind to meet us. It was a good choice - the beach was farther away, but completely sheltered. By the time we got there, there were 10 kids ashore, one of the moms was painting stripes on faces and tying strong fishing line to sticks to make bows, arrows were being fashioned from straight sticks, and it really was like a scene out of an adventure show - white sand beach, breaking waves, palm trees, and kids running around like savages. We had a great afternoon chatting to new grownups and letting the kids play. Once the bows and arrows were done, one of the dads found a coconut husk to hang on a tripod of sticks and the kids all had a go at knocking it off. Max provided his hat, so the "fellow" was rather realistic :) The waves built while we were there, so before the end of the afternoon, there was lots of time for boogie boarding and body surfing (Benjamin and I declined ...) It is also a bit like the first day at a new school, as we tentatively get to know people and find areas we have in common. All the families seem like good folks, and we feel really fortunate to have met up with them. I am not sure how long our plans will overlap, but they all seem to be on a general track towards NZ or Aus by the fall, so I am sure that we will be seeing more of each other.

Back at the boat, we made an attempt at "poisson cru" despite not having most of the ingredients ... it is mainly fish (raw) soaked in coconut milk with a bit of lime, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and chopped veg. Not having onions, tomatoes, or pretty much anything resembling a vegetable on board at the moment, we had tuna soaked in coconut milk with a squeeze of lime .. not bad (but we will go back to our usual sashimi with soya/sesame oil tomorrow night). The conversation at dinner wandered all over the place, from stars and their location in the northern/southern skies, to the torque required to turn something, and how this is easier with a longer arm (lever) ("So, Dad, that is why it is easier to open a door far away from the hinges, right?" said Johnathan), to how steam turbine makes a ship go. These moments are hard to write up for "school" reports, but they are sure fun to experience! It is now approaching midnight, The Lord of the Rings has been read aloud ages ago, and Victoria is alternately playing peekaboo with a very awake Benjamin and drawing constellations to make a "night sky" test for Max!

As for me, I will sign off and head to bed ... sunrise comes early around here!

Love to all,
Elizabeth
-----
At 5/26/2014 9:23 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 08°49.00'S 140°04.00'W

Greetings,

Max and Victoria filled you in yesterday on our passage from Hiva Oa to Nuku Hiva... fun to share the emailing with Victoria. She was very excited to write to everyone :)

Almost to the minute, as forecast, we arrived in our new anchorage on the North side of the island at 0800 this morning. Last night, we tried long watches - Max stayed on from the day til midnight and I went down with a sleeping baby (who promptly woke up!) in the late aft and stood from midnight til morning (with help from Max when I had to respond to changes in the weather (read squalls & wind shifts) as Benjamin was *not* interested in staying in his carseat even in the middle of the night). It will take a few iterations to get our rhythm, I am sure. Thanks to our autopilot, I can drive the boat and make minor sail adjustments, with Benjamin in the carrier, but I am cautious when it is rolly to say the least!

We approached Nuku Hiva just after dawn; we got some beautiful pictures of the dawn light highlighting the clouds over the island. As we approached our bay, we were welcomed by dolphins who slowed to match our speed. It looked to be a big fishing area - we could see loads of dolphins and birds cavorting and jumping. As we got ready to stow our sails and bring in our fishing lines, we watched two fish swim under our fish finder... Wouldn't it be funny if they jumped onto our hooks we thought ... As a precaution, Max told Victoria to be careful as she wound in the port yoyo. The words were hardly out of his mouth when both bungies zinged outwards at almost the same time. One got away, but the other was soon landed on our deck - Yellow fin tuna sashimi was a nice complement to our dorado at dinner tonight:) The kids get a great kick out of tallying up what these meals would cost at a restaurant. We have caught both fish on the same lure - a squid that we had made for us in Cabo. Thankfully we removed the weak-looking leader from it before putting it out yesterday, so the fish can pull on our stronger fishing line all they want. It has two hooks, so once a fish strikes it won't easily get away :)

Anaho Bay is beautiful. It is one of the few with a white sand beach, and according to our guidebook is one of the most comfortable anchorages in the Marquesas. It is enclosed on three sides, so it is very protected from swells. The prevailing winds sweep through a valley on the other side of the bay, so our wind generator is happy. The beach is lined with palm trees. To top it all off, the other four boats in the anchorage have kids aboard! They have already come by in their dingies to welcome us and invite us on hikes, etc, so we some socializing in our future over the next few days. This is a nice change after not seeing many English-speaking kids in the other anchorages. It feels like we will be able to relax here - not too crowded, no breaking waves, plenty of depth, clear water, and plenty to do ashore.
-----
At 5/26/2014 9:23 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 08°49.00'S 140°04.00'W

We are on passage to a island called Nuku Hiva from the island called Hiva Oa. It has been a good passage so far because we caught a Dorado. I will keep this update short, more to come later.

Miss you all from Victoria

[A quick note above from Victoria who wrote this while I am on watch. After a relatively unpleasant night at anchor - big swell, breaking waves, other boats far too close to us, and then having to free dive into the murk for our stern anchor etc - we are having a very nice overnight passage to Nuku Hiva. Great conditions so far - beam to broad reaching in 14 kts of wind with only a bit of a beam swell. And, as Victoria mentioned, we caught our biggest Dorado so far - good timing as we are all out of fresh fish after sharing the remaining marlin in Hiva Oa. Very dark but great for star gazing. Max]
-----
At 5/18/2014 1:57 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 09°48.00'S 139°02.00'W

Greetings!

Well, we are back to HF [High Frequency radio and a Pactor modem which gives us a bandwidth of 200 to 2800 bits/sec - as opposed to the old "slow" dialup of 56,000 bits/sec. Max], after a brief flurry of internet posting over the bond agent's wifi signal. She has a pretty good gig going - she charges from 11am one day until 11am the next, and you pay for the access code to her router. She simply resets the password each day as she leaves her office (her day is done at 11). We paid in two days more than we paid for a month in Mexico. On the other hand, we are not paying marina fees. If you are ever wondering how to reach us, the best bet is to send an email to both our gmail and sailmail addresses - this way we will get the message for sure :)

The excitement in the port yesterday was the arrival of the cargo/passenger ship in our little anchorage. There is a designated area where yachts are *not* meant to anchor ... and now we can see why. The big ship comes in, turns, lets down an anchor, then docklines are used to bring it alongside. Quite an evolution. The port was bustling all day, as first the forklifts were offloaded by crane, then the cargo was offloaded, then everything was moved from place to place. There were loads of people coming and going; some tourists use this ferry to sail between the islands on a multiday passage.)

We were doing laundry (handwashing at a tap of freely running water mounted apparently for that purpose at a tiled counter) so we had a good vantage point to see the activity. The kids and I washed pretty much every piece of loose fabric on the boat ... sheets, towels, clothing, diapers, etc. It took much longer than I expected, so by the time we got back to the boat, it was 3:30, there were only two hours until dark, and we decided to wring and hang everything today. Once again, I was grateful for my wringer ... it even handled beach towels and queen-sized sheets! In addition to using every inch of lifeline space, I also hung two lines from the shrouds to the forestay. Everything was dry and lovely later today, and now the cubbies are full of clean clothes and the beds have been made freshly for the first time in ages.

We had our own little local excitement last evening. A boat that had just finished its passage [25' boat travelling from Panama, Max] (read exhausted crew of two) anchored less than a boat length from us. After telling them off [politely by Liz in her good French, less politely later my me. Max], but not convincing them to move, we decided to move up a bit (no small feat with two anchors; we basically played out the stern line as we drove forward, then pulled it in again as we set our anchor in its new location and fell back). Our neighbour was very grateful when we told him to stay put; he showed up today after moving to the other side of the anchorage with a bottle of rum for our troubles! It was also a lesson for us - next time we see someone too close, we will ask them to move while they are anchoring, rather than politely waiting for them to figure this out for themselves ...

Our boat is snug, our crew is (somewhat) rested, and we are ready to be on the move again. Looks like tomorrow we will head for the island of Nuka Hiva (24 hr or so passage), where there are several enticing anchorages and as well as places to reprovision before heading to the Tuomotus.

Love to all,
Elizabeth
PS If you are interested in hearing more about our friends on Rebel Heart, they were just interviewed on NPR. There is a link to the show on their blog. I read the transcript last night, and it lays out pretty clearly what they went through.
-----
At 5/18/2014 1:57 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 09°48.00'S 139°02.00'W

Greetings!

We have internet for a couple of days, so you may have seen photos/blog stuff happening :) We are still in the anchorage near Atuona, and have paid the sum for 24 hrs of internet. Thankfully, our wifi antenna picks up the signal (from the bond agent's office) from the boat, so we can use internet without going ashore. The other boats in the anchorage are spending their days sitting on her front porch with their laptops (and extension cords, and 240/110 converters). Much easier to use our antenna from the comfort of our saloon!

We thought we were going to clear in yesterday, but it turned out that we cleared in today! This left yesterday clear to relax onboard and to walk into town (about 45 min) to the Gaugin museum (French painter who spent his last years in the Marquesas; he died in May 1903), and then eat out at a restuarant whose claim to fame is that they provide free rides to/from the anchorage. The highlight if dinner was our first taste of "poisson cru". It is the Marquesan equivalent of Mexican ceviche, but possibly tastier. Chunks of tuna were soaked in coconut milk and accompanied by pieces of tomato, lime, onion, etc. It was divine, and it will not be our last plate of it. (On the other hand, given the price here as compared to the price of ceviche in Mexico, we will be making our own as much as possible!!)

This morning, we met the bond agent at 8:00 am to finish our paperwork and clear into the Marquesas at the gendarmerie. This was rather important, as Nancy needed the in-coming stamp in order to get her out-going stamp later in the day! We were back at the anchorage, paperwork done, by about 9:00. Nancy left for the airport at 11:30 (after yet another snack aboard Fluenta of local baguettes, this time accompanied by dark chocolate from SV Shindig), and Max headed back to town [1 hr each way a pied], to make a post bond agent trip to the bank). The kids and I stayed aboard ... I had a long list of "things to do" while he was gone, but by the time he got back, the main accomplishment was that Victoria's banana bread was in the oven. there is always "manana" (tomorrow) for the chores.

Benjamin is a slippery, sweaty little bundle in my left arm, so I am one-fingering this with my right hand. He seems tuckered out after his meal of noodles, ground beef, tomato sauce, and the better part of an apple... you would never know that this child had never had solid food until a week ago! Pics to follow :)

Must get to bed so tomorrow is productive. We think we will stay here one more day to allow time for housekeeping/internet, and then do a day-sail to another island anchorage.

We already miss you, Nancy!!

Love to all,
Elizabeth
PS One month today since we weighed anchor in Punta Mita!
-----
At 5/18/2014 1:57 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 09°48.00'S 139°02.00'W
-----
At 5/26/2014 9:23 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 08°49.00'S 140°04.00'W

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com