Log 10 - Marquesas to Tuamotus, French Polynesia See Photos Here After spending about 5 days at Contoleur Bay on Nuku Hiva, we moved about 6 miles to the west to Taiohae Bay the largest bay on the island and the economic and political center of the Marquesas. This bay is actually a submerged volcanic crater and you can really see that fact when staring at the steep cliffs and mountains totally surrounding this anchorage. Very beautiful. While anchored here we got to meet alot of the people on the boats that we had talked to on the radio while crossing from Mexico. Its was fun to get together and tell "war stories". While in Taiohae Bay, we celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary by going out to dinner at a nice little French restaurant. It was a delightful (and not too expensive) meal, during which we got to talk to the proprietor, a Frenchman who has lived on the island for many years and actually met Jaques Brel when the poet/composer lived here. After our dinner, and as we were walking back to the boat in a light rain, we heard Polynesian drumming coming from somewhere through the trees. So we hiked across some fields and through an empty schoolyard until we found a bunch of drummers, hunkered down in a cement, open air, hall just jamming away. Very impressive log drums and other large skinned drums. Also while in Taiohae Bay, we did some minor re-provisioning. We bought a case of Coke for $36, a 6-pack of beer for $15 and a few other expensive items. Then, we went to the Saturday morning farmer's market. This open air market starts at 4:30 am and is all done by 6:00 am. But it was worth getting up early for because we were able to get our first fresh lettuce, cabbage, green onions and tomatoes since leaving Mexico. Mmmmmmm, lettuce! You don't wanto to know how much we spent for those veggies. After spending about 5 days at Taiohae Bay, we moved another 7 miles to the west to Daniel's Bay. This is an absolutely stunning bay with REALLY HUGE cliffs surrounding the anchorage. And for all you "Survivor" fans, this is where Survivor Marquesas was taped. We met Daniel (of Daniel's Bay fame) and his wife Antoinette. They have lived in this bay for 60 years. They lived in a small hut on the beach until the Survivor crew showed up. They were then moved to a newer house on a different beach so that they wouldn't be "in the way". They told us that the TV crew completely sealed off the bay so that no other boats could come in during the month that the "survivors" were onshore. Also while anchored here, we made the trek to the third tallest waterfall in the world. Or, at least we ATTEMPTED to reach the falls. This hike starts out pretty easy but, after about an hour of hiking through muddy trails, we had to cross a fast-running river. Then the trail started getting rugged. And the mosquitoes started biting. And the sun got really hot. And Nancy got heat stroke. And we couldn't find the trail after crossing a second river. We DID get some good photos of the falls from about a quarter mile away, but we never got to the foot of the falls. Oh well, maybe next time! See Photos Here We spent 4 very enjoyable days at Daniel's Bay but soon it was time to head off for the Tuamotus. We took off one morning on a planned 4-day passage to Kauehi atoll. We noticed after about one day out that the wind was strong enough that we were going to have to slow down in order to reach the pass at slack water (a necessity in the Tuamotus because the currents cause dangerous conditions in the pass if you try to enter at any time other than slack tide). We tried slowing down but, even with a triple-reefed main and a mostly rolled-up headsail, we were still doing 7.2 knots! Then the wind shifted to the Southeast and built to 20-25 knots. It soon became apparent that, if we were going to continue to Kauehi, it was going to be a very uncomfortable beat to windward. So, after 8 hours of bashing, we bailed out and headed for a different atoll, Manihi, which was downwind of our current position. We were much more comfortable headed in the new direction but we were still sailing too fast and had to heave-to (for you non-sailors, this means basically dropping your jib, sheeting the mainsail in tight and pointing the boat directly into the wind, causing the boat to stall and basically "park" in one position) for about 8 hours. We finally reached Manihi after about four and a half days and just barely got through the pass, fighting about a 5 knot out-going current. We then motored about 2 miles across the atoll to the anchorage, dropped the anchor, and immediately found out that we had snagged a coral head with our anchor chain. After spending about 2 hours trying to maneuver our way out of the situation, we decided that, since we were hooked solid, we might as well relax and enjoy the anchorage (and wait for a boat with a scuba diver to show up). Within a couple of days "Flocervida", with Flo and Jasper aboard, showed up and they are both avid divers. So we knew that when it was time to leave, we had help available. We spent a very enjoyable week at Manihi, snorkeling in the lagoon (and seeing sharks swim around us!), visiting the village to get baguettes, ice cream and eggs, having a potluck ashore with about 10 other boats, and wandering around on the reef looking for shells. When it was finally time to leave, it was discovered that just about every boat in the anchorage was hooked on coral. Jasper spent about 2 hours diving in the 60-foot depths unwrapping the "mother of all anchor snags" and we were on our way, out the pass, and on to Toau. We had a relatively uneventful, overnight, 70 mile trip to Toau. The only excitement was the early morning squalls with associated wind gusts. But by then, we were pretty used to them. Entering the Anse Ameyot anchorage on Toau was a piece of cake. Since the anchorage is a "false pass" in the reef (it partially breaks through the reef but then re-forms into another reef), it turns out to be a small, totally protected bay. And, as we pulled in, we were greeted by "Manna", one of the local fisherman, who helped us tie up to a mooring buoy that the family living on the motu had installed just for us cruisers. What a relief after worrying about another anchor chain/coral head wrap! We soon met the rest of Manna's extended family: Valentine and Gaston (who work some of the fish traps and live in one of the houses on the motu), Liza (Valentine's sister) and her husband (who work another set of traps and live in a house about 100 yards from Valentine's, Manna's father and brother (who work yet ANOTHER set of traps and live in another house) and Valentine's mother and her husband (who live in still another house). And then there were the daughters: Davina, Leticia and Sedony (beautiful young Polynesian girls who do the cooking, fish cleaning and baby-sitting). We became particularly friendly with Valentine and Gaston and had dinner at their house one night. What a meal: poisson cru (raw fish, marinated in lemon juice and coconut milk), fish fried in coconut, barbequed fish, barbequed lobster, barbequed chicken, baguettes, French wine and coconut cream pie! We reciprocated a few days later by having the family out to Gumbo for pizza. We took lots of digital photos of the family and gave them prints. We also burned copies of music CDs for them. They, in turn gave us gifts of black pearls, a pearl necklace and a shell necklace. Kurt was then asked to feed the pigs during the weekend that all the families left the motu to deliver their fish to the neighboring atoll of Fakarava. This job consisted of, twice daily, finding 2 or 3 coconuts, chopping them in half with an axe, and tossing them into the pig pen. And, of course filling the water trough. Pretty easy, but smelly work. However, the cruiser on another boat in the anchorage had worse luck with the pigs HE was supposed to watch. Two of them got out of their pen. One disappeared (and is presumed dead) and the other we found, dead, apparently killed by the dogs that no one had told us to feed. We had a very enjoyable time at Anse Ameyot and were very sorry to leave our new friends. But, time was flying and we had to leave for our next atoll. So, after a week at Toau, we departed for the 25 mile sail to Apataki. We had a light air, downwind run to the pass at Apataki and timed the entrance perfectly. After entering the lagoon, we motored our way to the Southeast corner to anchor behind long motu. The water here was absolutely stunning with 60 feet of visibility. After dropping the anchor into white sand, we wandered ashore and met the "owner" of this particular motu: Mrs. Friedman. Mrs. Friedman is a Polynesian lady who is married to a Jewish Polynesian who lives in Moorea. She is apparently quite well-off (she claimed to have houses in Moorea and New Zealand) but she has tired of the big cities and has decided to live on this motu. She, along with her mother and some helpers have built a paradise of authentic Polynesian huts, made out of mats woven from palm fronds. The interiors are decorated with Tahitian fabrics, Polynesian art and seashells she has found on the reef. She has TV, 2 generators, well water and flush toilets. It looked to us like the perfect setup - we could happily live there for the rest of our lives! The next day, we went to visit Mr. Assam, who owns the pearl farm on the next motu. He's a very friendly gentleman who immediately offered us 3 fresh fish as we pulled the dinghy up on his beach. He sells eggs from his chickens, so we bought a dozen, and then got a tour of his pearl farm. Quite the operation and, when you figure that he had just delivered 12,000 pearls that sell anywhere from $15 to $200 each in Papeete, he wasn't doing too bad for himself. We spent a week at Apataki, snorkeling the crystal clear water, walking the reefs and doing minor boat maintenance. It was then time to head for Tahiti. The weather looked good for this 235 mile run, so we left at 0830, motored to and through the pass, and were on our way! Both days of this passage were perfect tradewind sailing conditions: 15 knots from aft of the beam, light swells and blue skies. The first NIGHT, however, was another story. Nancy woke Kurt at 0200, saying that she thought some squalls were coming. Oh yeah, was she right! Kurt spent the next 6 hours slugging through one squall after another. And some of them packed serious rain and wind. Nothing dangerous, but it was the first time Kurt had to wear foul weather gear since leaving California! After 2 nights out, we approached Tahiti early the next morning. The island was huge! We had to locate and enter the pass which, while always nerve-wracking, was really quite easy this time. We contacted the harbor master, who has to give permission to enter the harbor and to pass by the airport runway, and then we motored inside the reef for about 3 miles until arriving at the Maeve Beach anchorage. And what a nice spot: flat water (protected by the reef), light winds, and a stunning view of Moorea in the near distance. Since arriving in Tahiti, we've done some visits to Papeete (its about a 20 minute ride in "Le Truck" from the anchorage to town), instigated some repair projects (visiting machine shops and mechanics), and started provisioning (there's a great market - alot like Fred Meyers - called Carrefour). The prices here are high, but not as bad as we had expected. The real killer is the price of booze, so we guess we'll have to find religion. We plan on doing another week of sight-seeing, boat maintenance, and relaxation before heading over to Moorea. The immigration officer in Papeete told Nancy that he would extend our visas for a week so that we could attend the Bastille Day festivities on Bora Bora, so we should be in the Societies until July 16.