Nuka Hiva
Wayward Adventure
Fri 24 Apr 2009 02:50
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08:54.682s 140:06.393w
Anchored in Taiohae bay. The town here is the
administrative and economic center of the Marquesas. It is here that we
will reprovision for the Tuamoto islands our next region to be explored.
We have enjoyed our stay in the Marquesas and other than the rolly anchorages we
have to give high praises to the people and the landscape. Before we left
our last anchorage we had a memorable few mornings. Our friends we met in
Sausalito aboard 'Imani', a catamaran with the Gounard family living
aboard, took us snorkeling with Manta Rays. The Mantas were
about 5ft across and very gentile swimmers. I would also describe them as
very curious of people as they swim up to you but always stay just outside of
arms reach. The second morning just Lauren and I swam with them as they
were feeding right around the boat. On their undersides they usually have
a few sucker fish or Remora, I think they are called, and to our suprise one of
them jumped ship and was intent on attatching to me or Lauren. Now these
fish are about 2 ft long and ugly and no amount of kicking fins of waving hands
would deter it from its goal. It finally drove us out of the water
and into the dingy, oh well, sometimes it's better to run than worry about
pride. The anchorage we are curently at is very large and right now has
about 40 boats anchored here with room for 100 more. We hope to get fuel
here and have aquired a duty free fuel permit that allows us to get fuel for
half price, around 2.75$/gal U.S. . We burned more than we thought we
would on our crossing but luckily the prices here are reasonable. The next
group of Islands are still in French Polynesia but are a stark contrast to the
high mountainous islands of the Marquesas. The Tuamotos are a chain of
atolls or basically coral reefs left behind after the islands eroded away.
They are usually circular and are of the shape of the island that has
disapeared. Most atolls have a pass into the inner lagoon and once inside
you are basically floating in an aquarium. So we are ready for the next chapter,
500 miles or a 3 to 4 day crossing. Maybe leave Monday or
Tuesday. So Long,
AP
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