Quick Update: Hanamoenoa Bay, Tahuata Island Thursday 13 - 15 May 2014

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Fri 16 May 2014 21:12

09:54.509S 139:06.312W

 

A straightforward day sail lasting eight hours brought us here two nights ago.  As we turned into this delightful bay with a pristine sandy beach and palm trees we were met by bubbling water which on closer inspection were Mobila Rays.  Manta Rays only smaller.  By small we mean 1.5 – 2 metres across so not that small!  Or they could have been small Manta Rays which is what everyone seems to call them.  An amazing sight up close to the boat.  Apparently on some days in fine weather they come into the bay as a crowd, word goes round on the VHF radio and everyone gets in and swims with them.  We are hoping to do the same.

 

Harry, single handed at the moment on his yacht Malua, is here so we finally met him having followed him and spoken to him since January on the long range radio.  He invited us over for a drink along with Laurie, Sonia and Joel from Moanaroa.  We had met Laurie very briefly in Galapagos but again have been in contact on the net throughout so it was good to hold a face to face conversation with them all. They have their three children with them and there are four kids boats as they are called (meaning boats with children on) here at the moment including Sud Oest.  The children all do schoolwork in the morning and then get together in the afternoon.  They have made a club house in an abandoned fishermans hut behind the beach and are having a high old time.  It is great to see.

 

Yesterday we woke to torrential rain and thick cloud and it didn’t clear all day although it seems a bit brighter this morning.  Torrential rain meant that the boat got a good pressure washing and is looking quite sparkly now.  It also got us properly investigating a small leak into the front cabin. By using a small syringe filled with water coloured pink with Angostura Bitters we found that it was tracking down a wire from the pulpit (guard rails at the very front of the boat) through the anchor locker and back into the boat.  It was getting through tiny holes in quite considerable quantity.  Once everything has dried out Carol will go back into the anchor locker armed with a tube of silicone gloop and liberally apply said sticky stuff round the holes that the wire runs through. 

 

Today we will go to a town called Atuona on the Island of Hiva Oa in order to finally check in with the authorities, unload rubbish, do some proper laundry and some shopping.  Or maybe we won’t .  It is only nine miles but if the sea state is a tad rough after yesterdays winds, and the anchoring in the harbour there can be a bit of a challenge anyway, then we will leave it for another day or two.  We are not going to starve and we have a tiny amount of rubbish even after nearly six weeks.

 

All for now, all is well.  PS.  We were just getting ready to send this when Harry shouted ‘Carol – Manta Rays are in’  so we dropped everything, quickly unpacked everything we had carefully stowed ready to leave, got to our snorkels, slithered off the back because the ladder was tied away with the blue barrel lashed to it, and set off towards Harry.  Wow.  Two rays swimming very close, diving, surfacing, turning tumbles and not at all bothered by us.  So lucky to see that.