We are on schedule to arrive in Manihi Atoll in Tuamotu’s
on Friday afternoon, local time (UTC -10). It is a beautiful starlit night,
with a gentle 12knt breeze which whips up to 25knts from time to time as the
line squalls come through. We are motor sailing with the engine ticking over at
1000rpm, and the Genoa
fully out (only serviceable sail left for now) and managing 6.8kts SOG towards
our current waypoint, some 188nm distant.
Today’s magnificent Ab Fab news is that KZ Marine in
Auckland, the manufacturers of the Leisure Furl equipment, have pulled out all
of the stops and they will be shipping a brand new custom made hydraulic Boom,
Vang and all associated fittings on a chartered 747 aircraft to Papeete in
Tahiti on 21st April. The very day we are due to arrive in Papeete!! How is that for
stunning “can do” service? So a huge thank you to Rick Hackett and all his
team in KZ Marine for a wonderful result. Just need to get it through customs
and fitted along with the re-built mainsail, running rigging, and Bimini and we
will (fingers crossed) be ready to leave with the rest of the fleet from Papeete on the 26th
April, for Moorea. This is just such a relief, because we were contemplating
having to drop out of the rally due to the damage to the boat and the likely
time required to fix it. So to say our spirits have been lifted by this news would
be a grotesque understatement!!
So, having given the brief history lesson on the Marquesas
in the last blog, herewith some more of what we got up to and saw during our
time there. The island tour of Nuku Hiva that we did on the first day was just
brilliant. Not just the tour itself. But especially the support from the other
Ralliers, who were with us on the day. Thank you guy’s you were great!
We were blessed by the fact that we shared a 4 X 4 with good
friends and Richard our guide for the day. If you ever get a chance to visit
Nuku Hiva, book an island tour through Rose Corser (everybody knows her) and insist
that you get Richard as your guide. He speaks fluent English, is articulate,
intelligent, witty and VERY knowledgeable about everything to do with the
Marquesas. He made the day trip for us. He will even organise fresh local
fruits for you (more of which later), for a bottle of wine!
The trip started from Taiohae Bay,
and Richard met us at the quayside at 0830. We soon discovered why most people drive
4 x 4 vehicles. The roads were either concrete or well made dirt roads, but the
inclines left you with your heart in your mouth from time to time!
View
of Taiohae Bay looking South
We stopped off on several occasions to take in the views around
the island, and to visit local craft shops. These were in fact the artisans
homes, with a small area set aside to display the wonderfully hand
crafted goods. These were not your usual tourist toot. There were hand carved
wood and leather items, beautiful carvings and jewellery made from carved and
polished bones (not human I hope) and mother of pearl. We did buy a
beautiful leather, pearl and mother of pearl necklace for Jennie at one of
these stop over’s, and the price was quite reasonable. I only have to sell
one of the holiday cottages to pay for it.
As mentioned, these craft shops are the artists homes. So in
one of them the children were keen to show us their new pet pig. I believe this
one was less than 3 weeks old, but not 100% sure. Whilst Jennie was stroking it
Reinhardt from “Blue Raven” said he preferred them with an apple in
the mouth, mounted on a stick. That went down well with the girls,,,,,,,,,funny
at the time though.
We visited Anaho Bay in the north of the Island
and enjoyed a walk in the beautiful surroundings, including a magnificent
church and a Copra plantation. This is in fact Coconut palms. They take off the
shell and the flesh inside is broken in to chunks and dried, This is then collected
by the visiting cargo ship that tramps between Papeete and the islands on a three week
cycle. The Copra goes on to be used in the manufacture of oils and cosmetics.
Other than craft work, it is really the only form of industry on the Islands that we saw.
Next we trolled around to Hatiheau. The mayor of this
beautiful hamlet is Yvonne. She runs a small thatched restaurant opposite the
beach, that does the most wonderful sea food lunches. The fresh grilled Lobster
looked superb….I had the Pawns which were also great….but the
Lobster…..hmmm. The views from just outside of the restaurant as you can
see below, are simply breathtaking.
View from outside Chez Yvonne
The tour returned to Taiohae Bay,
where we visited Rose’s museum, shop and new “Yacht Club”
which was to be the venue for our “big” Rally party. Richard then organised
the previously mentioned fruits, A local fruit that grows in everyone’s
garden is call Pampelmousse. It is like a grapefruit, but about 50% larger…and
deliciously sweet. Local limes are quite small, and inside the colour of an
orange, but have the acidity and taste of a lime. Then there is Breadfruit.
These grow on huge trees. They are the size of footballs and are the local staple
food. They “make” a potato like meal from it. Can’t say I was
overly impressed with this one. Then there are Mango trees with large
green and livid pink skins, Taste just divine! There is another local fruit
that is grown for medical reasons. The fruit looks rather like a yellow hand grenade.
These are all bought up by the Mormon church (of all people) to make an
anti-cancer drug that is dispensed among the cancer sufferers in the church. Finally
there are Star fruit......very big too, and also very sweet and of course the ubiquitous
Water Melon.
Taiohae is well served for shops, with two “super
markets”, a liquor store and craft shops,. There is also one good quality
hotel with a fine restaurant with stunning views over the bay and bungalow
rooms and mostly French staff. On the quay side there is “Yacht Services”,
run by Moaitae, a local “can do” chap. He has internet access (very
slow), a laundry and some charts and pilot books and can arrange taxis etc.
Useful “Man Friday” but don’t expect too much. Especially on
weekends…………Also on the quayside, early in the morning
the local fishermen sell there catch. But don’t touch the reef fish as
they can be poisonous (Ciguatera). Finally there is the Saturday market. It
opens at 0400 and closes promptly at 0600. So shopping here is a sort of sleep
walking experience with everything conducted in monosyllabic (pigeon) French,
in the dark. Lots of fresh veg and well worth the effort. (No really….)
Now one of the more curious aspects of Marquesasian family
life is to do with the way the third (or it might be the fourth) son is raised
in the family. The fact is that they are boys, but they are raised as
girls. The “chap” on the left below is in fact one of these. They
are very camp, and rarely homosexuals, In fact quite often they are married and
have children of their own. Romeo, who is the one on the left as mentioned previously,
was the head waiter in the Hinano restaurant in Taiohae. This was the favourite
hang out for the Ralliers in the evenings….oh and sometimes at lunch.
Romeo took quite a shine to Jennie and used to give her a big beaming smile every
time he (she) saw her. Which was fine, because this co-worker gave me a big smile
too………………
Well that’s it for now. This is another big file so I
just hope Mailasail don’t “bomb” this one.
