Greetings from Baie Marquisienne on the west end of Nuku Hiva! We arrived at this rarely-visited small bay yesterday afternoon following a bumpy, rainy motor down the island’s southern coast. And we awoke this morning to a frantic Griffin visiting Flyer on his dinghy to report there were a dozen mantas swimming around our boats. Before we could eat breakfast all of us were in the water communing with one of nature’s most graceful creatures.
The snorkeling in this little bay is really something special. Tall rock cliffs dive deep into the ocean, creating caves and shelves that support a remarkable amount of species of fish, coral, crabs and alien-looking invertebrates. And the mantas seem to love it too. Over a dozen of them, each no smaller than a dining room table, spend their days here just swooping around, gulping up whatever it is they love to eat. It’s a wild experience to swim with them, as they don’t seem to care much about us, sometimes swimming head-on towards us as if we weren’t even there.
Since arriving in Nuku Hiva a couple of weeks ago we’ve experienced a real mixed-bag of emotions. Shortly after our ebullient arrival in Taiohae Bay -and the treasured greeting from our besties the Rocket Scientists– we discovered that our engine’s transmission wasn’t going in and out of gear reliably. A quick oil change produced a glam-ish silvery nail-polish-like substance that at one point was transmission oil, a tell-tail sign of significant wear in the system. Without going too deep into some of our recent history in Baja over the holidays and early January, suffice it to say we are looking at our third engine transmission replacement in as many months.
Despite consulting with some of the most widely recognized experts in the world on the matter, as well as the supremely competent friends who surround us on Dark Star and Rocket Science, there is no clear conclusion as to what the issue is that is causing these transmissions to fail. I’ll save this story for another deep dive but the short of it is that at this point, it seems very possible that each unit has suffered a similar fate at the hands of different culprits.
So, what next? Somehow, in between fits of deep despondence (and deepest thanks and apologies to all who had to put up with me!) I was able to source one of the few available transmissions that meet our engine’s specs (in the UK) and have it shipped here, along with a new shifting cable (from Seattle), and a new flexible propeller shaft coupler (from France). All should be arriving in a few days time in Taiohae, thanks to our local liaison Kevin (yet another supremely helpful Kevin enters our life!). And as they say, the third time’s the charm, right?
In the meantime we’ve been able to make some minor adjustments to the shifting mechanism and perform a couple oil flushes through the system and it seems to be functioning well-enough for some poking around here. And the timing has been great, all things considered. The weather hasn’t been in a reliable pattern to make the crossing to the Tuamotus yet, and -as one might imagine- there’s a ton to see and experience here in Nuku Hiva. And we have great friends by our side to experience it all with! Dark Star arrived around a day and a half after we did, and it’s really fun to have them join our Seattle cruising gang for this special time together in the Marquesas.
Shortly after we arrived we did an island driving tour that Greg organized for us. The crews of Flyer, Dark Star and Rocket Science all piled into two trucks, helmed by our incredible local host and her husband. We made our way around many of the island’s sights, up and over some of the most gnarly and spectacular roads I’ve ever seen. We visited the recently constructed Cathedral of the Marquesas (built in the 1970’s), made our way see Taipivai (the valley featured in Melville’s book ‘Typee’) and Hooumi, both on the east side of the island. We then kept driving up and over another steep pass to see Aakapa and have a delicious lunch in the small village of Hatiehu. We completed our tour with a visit to Tahakia Kamuihei Teiipoka, one of the few remaining (and preserved) Marquesan cultural sites on the islands.
We have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the provisions found here, particularly at the Utile grocery store in Taiohae. The food is understandably pricey but surprisingly diverse, and our favorite findings include locally grown produce (lettuce! tomatoes!), fresh daily baked goods, and copious amounts of brie which we’ve found to be priced competitively with our home stores in Seattle! Utile brand potato chips are cheap and delicious too. And the local Tahitian beer has quickly become a favorite among the middle-aged males.
The other local bounty is impressive as well. We’re now totally hooked on our daily pamplemousse – a large, sweet relative of the grapefruit. And the local mangoes are quite something too. While at anchor a couple days ago in Taipivai, Greg and Mara’s local friend Thomas had 3 large boxes of local fruits delivered to the beach, including the aforementioned as well as breadfruit and two gigantic stalks of Marquesan bananas. Even when split three ways, each boat was still totally overloaded with goodies.
And, not-to-be-missed, is the local fish being sold at the wharf in Taiohae. At $4/kilo, the yellowfin-tuna-caught-earlier-this-morning is the best deal around. We’ve had poke bowls and tuna steaks like you can’t imagine! What is also not-to-be-missed is the posse of juvenile black-tip sharks that stick to the sea wall there like glue, waiting for any large fish carcass (or is that a human toe?) to drop in the water. I’ve equated the boarding and de-boarding of the dinghy to a ‘Fear Factor’ stunt – navigate a slippery stainless steel ladder onto your violently pitching inflatable boat, or get eaten! In the time that Rocket Science has been here, at least 3 people have sadly found that fate, including one boy who lost his leg.
Now, onto the weather, which has been a bit of a mixed bag lately. We’re seeing bursts of very hot sun punctuating a mostly-cloudy, often rainy sky. This has continued to make life aboard Flyer sticky, but suffice it to say, we’re getting used to it. It’s great to have friends next door to commiserate with, because misery loves company, right? Turns out misery also likes portable USB/battery powered fans, which we are hoping to procure on an upcoming bout of family travel. Clearly Flyer’s six 12v Sirocco fans going full-bore just aren’t enough to keep this clan feeling comfortable.
Pelle has now permanently adopted the upside-down-kitty pose during the day, choosing to completely air her undersides out in hopes of a hint of cooling. She -like the rest of us- is finding life here a bit more lazy and slow than before, choosing to sit and rest more than explore the decks, though she has discovered that our foredeck tent -which we put up to cover the forward cabin hatches when open at anchor- as her new favorite hangout spot.
Leave a Reply