Vicious Skunk Cut
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Mon 30 Apr 2012 00:56
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14:58S 147:38W
Rangiroa, Tuamotu.
Before we left Nuka Hiva, we were lucky enough to
bump into old pals Jeff & Jose (S/Y Stravaig) in Baie Hakahoa. We haven't
seen them for ages and that's because they have been hiding from us in a lovely
sheltered bay around the corner from the main anchorage in Nuka Hiva......But as
they found out, its not easy escaping us.
They have been in the Marquesas for 6 months and
pretty much seemed to know everyone and knew all the best local spots to visit.
Of course, being the mercenaries that we are, we took full advantage of this and
joined them on a walk up the mountain to a nearby 'Tiki', a local fete and a
meal with friends who ran a small restaurant where we could sample the
delights of French Polynesian cuisine, yum.
   Local lady's at the
fete They
do like their drums & Haka dances (so do
we) An
ancient stone Tiki
We left with a typical Polynesian farewell
(smiles & gifts) and were sent off laden down with half a ton of fresh
fruit. Simone, the local shop keeper, would adamantly not accept anything for it
and was just pleased to be of help. These guys are genuinely generous and the
longer you stay with them, the more they seem to adopt you......no wonder Jeff
& Jose were there for 6 months............. So off to the Tuamotus, a 3 day
sail, more or less.
The Tuamotus are an archipelago of low lying
islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Here, they are called 'atolls'. They
are essentially rims of old extinct volcanoes. With the help of time
and sea erosion, the rims have turned into palm & sand islets (Motu's)
fringing a large lagoon. The lagoon is, of course, the old central cone of
the volcano......freaky. This was going to be a whole new experience for us. We
have climbed up volcanoes, driven up them in 4x4's, walked up them, flown
over them and you can even ski down them........but anchor inside one with
our boat........naah, surely not.
We set off for Raroia, one of the most easterly
atolls, with the view to checking out all the others en route west to
Tahiti. A good plan except the wind freshened and we ended up close
reaching in 25 Kts of wind and with the waves steadily building. This, in
itself, isn't an issue other than being a bit uncomfortable, but arriving at a
low lying atoll barely visible until you are virtually aground on it and then
entering through a narrow pass fraught with strong tides, reefs and
eddies......now that's a different matter. So we bottled out, and bore-away and
headed for Manihi, an easier land fall to the North West......or so the pilot
books and sailing friends that had already been there had
suggested...............wrong.
Good accurate charts for this part of the world are
pretty scarce. To a large extent you have to deal with what you get, when you
get there, by eye-ball, depth sounder and experience. All well and good provided
there is enough water to enter in the first place. Nothing in the pilot
books or friends that had already been there suggested there wouldn't
be, but when the chart says there is only 2.2m over the bar and we draw
2.4m, things did not bode well. So discretion won over valor and we elected to
go to the next atoll, Ahe. But Ahe has a pass that is very tidal and we were
there at the wrong time. And so, and please excuse the punn, Manihi and Ahe
were no good atoll.
We had already been at sea for 3 days and I had to
break it to Joanne that we had to spend another night at sea and go to Rangiroa
instead. It didn't go down too well. But as we were only really interested in
two atolls Fakarava & Rangiroa and we had already missed out on
Fakarava, the bitter pill wasn't too difficult to swallow.
   Jo on 'Coral
Watch' The
beach just by the
boat View
of the 'Kia Ora Hotel' from the cockpit
And it proved to be the right decision. After a
gentle starlit downwind sail to Rangiroa we discovered the closest we have
come to the generally perceived idea of paradise. Flat calm azure blue
water, white sandy beaches fringed with palm trees, and with pristine coral
reefs to snorkel & dive on. And for icing the cake, there are bars,
restaurants, shops and a swanky 5 star hotel that features local
entertainment with a superb 5 star meal taboot. So after only the
second day here, we checked out the goodies on offer at the swanky Kia Ora Hotel
with their pretty thatch roofed bungalows on stilts over the
lagoon and tasted the goodies on offer with Roy & Gail from
S/Y Cordelia.
 Polynesian dancers at the Kia Ora (sorry a bit
dark, but it was at night and the flash didn't work)
It was great. We hob-knobbed-it with the rich &
famous (Paul Allen of Microsoft fame, boat 'Artic' anchored off) and tucked into
a multi course buffet of top quality scoff. I am ashamed to admit it, but
we filled our boots, so to speak, in true Henry VIII' th style, while being
entertained by local Polynesian dancers strutting their funky stuff. Yes,
it was great....a real treat, but it wasn't cheap. Believe me when I tell you
that 'not cheap' is a serious understatement. But, hey ho, you have to
do these things every now and then. A touch of grandeur helps redress the
balance. Especially bearing in mind we were back on Malarkey the following day
fixing the fridge and scrubbing the water-line!!
Anyway, back to the title of this
blog.
Going to a Swanky hotel for diner needed a serious
personal wash 'n' brush-up. I needed a hair cut and my beard had become long and
straggly. So out came the electric shears and Jo went to work on my head.
It must've been her time of the month or something, 'cos she was moaning &
groaning about doing it and then attacked my head with the shears without a comb
on the end. The consequence of which, after the first pass of the shears,
was that I had the start of a 'Skunk Cut' right down the middle of the back
of my head. Jo screamed with horror at what she had just done and then we both
fell about laughing. But the last laugh was going to be on her 'cos I said if I
have to go to the ball looking like a skunk then she have to go to the ball
looking like 'Orville the Duck'. So as pay back, I was to prepare an Orville
type quiff at the front of her head, gelling-up her fringe to a funky point. Of
course, Joanne agreeing to the 'revenge' out of sympathy, was not the
same as actually letting me do it. So Cinderella got to go to the ball looking
damn fine but was accompanied by a dodgy looking skunk........not quite the
fairytale affair we were hoping for.
 Skunk Cut (we were tempted to continue with the
buzz cut, what do you think?)
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