08:56:66S 140:09:81W 14 June 2010
The Adventures of Sunboy the Sailboat
Al Sparkes and Deb Swain
Wed 16 Jun 2010 03:25
Hi everyone, it is now Tuesday evening and we are getting ready to head off tomorrow in the direction of Papeete in Tahiti. We had the last couple of days at an anchorage called Daniels Bay which is about 4 miles from the main port of Nuka Hiva. We headed up there on Sunday morning and had a couple of really nice days there. Our first job was to replenish our water supplies so we took the dinghy ashore with all of our water containers and spoke to a couple of local guys who lived on the beach. They had plenty of beautiful fresh spring water that they were only too happy to give us and would not take any cash for it but were very happy when we brought over a few beers for them. The beer was from our Panama supplies and the price we paid compared to the price you would have to pay here its no wonder the guys were happy chappies. We got our tanks full and then had a bit of a look around the anchorage and then around to another part of the bay where there is a beautiful lagoon. We had a wander around there and the surrounding village and were told about a water fall that was a couple of hours walk from the village.
We made arrangements to head to the water fall and had a really enjoyable trek up through the village, across the mountain streams and through the forrest to the waterfall. Whilst there was not much water coming over the incredible rock faces, it was truly an incredible place to be and as Nikki said, we guess there are not a whole lot of people in the world who get to visit it. We had a very nice little picnic by the fresh water pool at the base of the rock face and fed the resident huge eel and fresh water shrimps. On the treck back we picked up some fresh limes, mangos and chillis and a nice big coconut which have all found their way into our larder.
We left the anchorage this morning and came back to check out with the local Customs officials and give the boat a good check over, now finding a couple of problems with the rigging which we hope we have managed to secure and strengthen enough to get us to Tahiti. We plan on leaving tomorrow morning and maybe stop in the Tuomotos for a day or so or of the weather is good and the rig is ok, we will push through to Tahiti. All being well we will blog as we go.
We have enjoyed Nuka Hiva very much, have been able to refuel, get plenty of water, have some nice meals and rest, rest, rest. We have loved the fresh baguettes and our dinner one night of lamb chops, mashed spuds and honey carrots with a bottle of red and a big slab of brie for afters was fantastic.
I dont think anyone is looking forward to another 800 miles of handsteering but it has to be done to get us to Papeete to try and get things fixed. Just have to put head down and backside up and get it done. So will keep you posted as we go, till then...........................