Baie D'Anaho and on to Baie D'Hatiheu Nuku Hiva with more help from our friends

Caduceus
Martin and Elizabeth Bevan
Sat 3 May 2014 19:20

Position           08:49.51S 140:05.02W

Date                1120 (French Polynesian Time UTC -10½) Sunday 30 March 2014

 

Distance run - 5nm over the ground, 4.5nm through the water

 

On the arrival evening we had a great diner with Flomaida on board Tulasi very excellently hosted by Manfred and Annalise.  The following day we took a walk ashore and around the bay.

 

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There is no village as such but a scattering of permanent and what appear to be holiday homes and even a small church.

 

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In the evening we were generously hosted aboard Flomaida by Christoph and Dagmar in the company of Manfred and Annalise.

 

The following day, Sunday the Amel fleet decided to move a bay westward to Baie D’Hatiheu where there was the promise of a settlement and a restaurant serving a traditional Polynesian roast pig.  This plan was confounded by two factors.  Firstly it was Sunday and the restaurant was closed and secondly even if it was not Sunday it was the day of a re-run of the local elections and it appeared that the restaurant owner was also the mayor and returning officer.

 

Getting out of one bay and into the next with the fluky wind looked like a problem and we were taken in hand, and towed this time by Tulasi.

 

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Landing and getting shore was a real problem with a high jetty and a big swell.  Tulasi having the largest dinghy of our three boats took us all ashore and expertly secured the dinghy to a mooring buoy to stop it being dashed against the quay.

 

A two km walk through the village and out into the forest took us to what is said to be the largest archaeological site in the Marquesas, a very impressive Marae or religious and ceremonial site.

 

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One of he feature of the Marquesas, in addition to the feral chickens, are horses which are encountered everywhere and are obviously highly valued.  Some are tethered but others like this mare and foal appear to be free range.

 

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In the evening we hosted the third of the Amel dinners and introduced our friends to the delights of Pimms, an innocuous little fruit cup I think not, and tried Manfred out on drinking malt from a Quaich.

 

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