Bay Hanamoena, Tahuata
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Tue 25 Mar 2014 01:27
The wind was not helpful, so it was engine on all the way north. This bay has been named in one of the guidebooks as the third best in Polynesia, so missing it out seemed a bit silly, especially as it was on the way.
When we arrived, we dropped anchor, thankfully no stern anchor was needed, and John and I got ready for a swim. We were just about to swim ashore, when we looked down and realised we couldn't see anything beneath the boat at all, just slightly murky, blue water. A dinghy ride ashore, and a walk on the beach and a swim seemed a better idea. This was borne out when we stopped at another ARC boat who said the bay was full of sharks!
The bay in Tahuata
The beach was nice, but as is nearly always the case in the Marquesas, very buggy. The islands are known for the no-nos, biting flies which hang out on the beach making sunbathing and being on the beach generally, fairly unpleasant. The are three types of no-nos, some which bite, some which sting and some which are just annoying - I think this bay had all 3!
That evening, as there were a few rally boats in the anchorage, we met up for sundowners on the beach. On the way back out to our dinghy, which we had anchored as it is too heavy to pull up the beach, I got a large jellyfish sting down my arms, which has left a nice scar. Once we got back to the boat and turned on the floodlight at the back, it was less surprising that I had got stung, and much more surprising that John, swimming next to me, hadn't, as there were thousands of the nasty little critters - no more swimming here then!
As an early morning swim was out of the question, we upped anchor fairly early to head back to Hiva Oa to drop off Doug, who was catching a flight back to the UK the next day.
The use of a stern anchor in Hiva Oa was still necessary due to the swell, so, as we wanted to leave early on Friday morning, we 'Med moored' stern to the wharf for an easy get away. The stern anchor is very heavy and needs 2 people to get it back on board, added to that, you need someone on the helm if the anchorage is tight, and ideally someone dealing with bow anchor as well - tricky with only 2 of us.
Doug left us on Thursday morning after 11 weeks, with lots of memories of fabulous adventures and experiences along the way. It is now down to just John and I to get Seaduced to Australia.
That evening, we had settled down with a glass of wine and, just as we were falling asleep in bed at 23.00, we were woken by our next door boat, to say a surprise supply ship was on its way in and needed the dock - we would have to leave.
This obviously caused us some consternation as, although we were partly prepared for an early cast off in the morning, we still had a few last minute things to do, and the lines were coming off in 20 minutes. We got organised as far as possible and once cast off headed out into the very lumpy sea outside the breakwater. We had 3 choices, anchor where we were but put out a stern anchor as well, head back to the anchorage on Tahuata, and wait for daylight before heading off again, or just go overnight to Ua Pou, 75 miles away. We went towards Baie d'Hakahetau, in Ua Pou, taking things as steadily as the rolling seas would, allow and arrived about 10am, absolutely exhausted and, having dropped the anchor, went straight to bed!
Later that day, when we had the chance to explore ashore, we found a lively village, with a surprising amount of well stocked supermarkets. We even got a few packs of our favourite french style jaffa cakes. The village had a great community feel to it, with a very popular canoe club where they raced outrigger canoes around the bay each day - it is a huge local sport and they use the surf to come in towards the bay, turning at the last minute to avoid the sea wall, high adrenalin stuff! We had a walk around the town, up towards the local church which had been mentioned in the guidebook as a great example of the use of local stone and carvings. The pulpit inside is in the shape of a boat, with mermaids and sea creatures, all carved from a single pice of tou wood,a tree indigenous to the Marquesas. I couldn't get a photo as there were people praying when we went in. It had a very restful atmosphere and it was nice to just sit and look around, and have a quiet moment.
The local church - the stone work reminds you a bit of Yorkshire stone cladding!
The majestic spires towering over the bay
Another view of the spires - this time as were headed towards Nuka Hiva
We had dinner ashore that night in the local pizzeria with the crew of Firefly, which was fun - it was full of locals and obviously a popular place to hang out.
Whilst walking around, you see lots of beautiful gardens full of fruit trees and vegetable plants. It is very obvious why the shops don't sell fresh produce, as there would be nobody to buy it.
Tomorrow we are heading to Nuva Hika. We have a stopover planned in Baie de Tai'oa, also known as Daniels Bay, Daniel is the name of the owner of the house who has lived there over 60 years, to walk to the famous Vaipo waterfall.
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