The Marquesas islands - arrival at Nuka Hiva Latitude 09 degrees South, 140 degrees West
Oceanpearl
Thu 14 Apr 2022 15:54
We arrived at Nuka Hiva island the point of entry to the Marquesas. An archipelago of 7 inhabited and numerous uninhabited Pacific islands.
Water maker problem
We arrived after 19 days at sea with a list of maintenance and repair jobs on Ocean Pearl. The most urgent of these was to repair the water-maker. This is a major ‘essential’ feature part of an ocean going yacht. It basically desalinates and removes other impurities of sea water converting it into pure water for drinking and all other water uses.
In older and /or smaller boats water was a big consideration on long passages in the absence of a water maker.
Our water maker has afforded us the luxury of plenty of water, with the super luxury of daily showers if required, running a washing machine - (on v calm days only, but sometimes several times a day at shore.
The water maker needs the boat generator on to power it. We developed the routine of running it twice a day. We have two large water tanks of 700 litres each. By running the water maker twice a day we have enough water to use liberally without running out, so it was a big issue when it developed a problem 3 full days before we arrived in the Marquesas. It was particularly worrying. as we knew there was no ‘potable’ water available in Nuka Hiva, where we would be at anchor. Most major stops have been in marinas where we have a fully serviced berth, where we can plug into shore power and fill our water tanks.
We took advice from a number of sources including other Oyster owners in the fleet and the Oyster Technical Support team, both those back at HQ and the support team on the rally.
All advice tried and failed. In conversation - most conversations are about boat issues, one of the owners offered to come and have a look. He immediately accessed the water maker under the saloon floor and methodically took it all apart. He found marine growth including shell his in the impeller which sucks in the water, more ‘stuff in the intake itself. He flushed it all out, put it all together again and hey- presto we had a functioning water maker again. What a relief! He had been in the Canadian navy responsible for the water makers on their ships.
So all that took a couple of days. Then, water restored, we had boat chores including cleaning, laundry (we have a washing machine for use when not at sea) and food shopping for the next leg- always a big chore.
Sarah (my niece, who has been with us since Galapagos, but will sadly leave us from Tahiti) did huge amounts to help with shopping and lots of other stuff. And , by this time I had developed an eye infection -probably related to water shortage for a few days. We staggered in the heat -maybe 30 degrees, to a pharmacy, where she showed her medical credentials and got some antibiotic drops for me. My eyes cleared up in about 4 days of drops - and they are fine now. Thank you. Sarah.
Meanwhile communications are still a problem. We got some local SIM cards which worked intermittently. I managed to speak to Amy when she WhatsApped at about 8pm here - and said try now. It was 06.30 am and they were all starting their day so I managed to speak and see all of them which was really great.
The next evening, April 7th, I called James and managed to wish Flora a Happy 7th birthday. That was great too to help feel not so removed from their lives.
The Marquesas party
April 8th was the day of the Oyster Marquesas party - drinks and artwork displays with local musical groups by the beach and a diner ‘with dancing ‘ in the evening in the Town Hall.
The food for over 100 of us was all cooked by a big team of locals. Traditional dishes were cooked in traditional method in underground ‘oven’. They light a wood fire in a huge hole , cover with lava rocks them when all that is hot cover with sacking and banana leaves and put the food in to cook. There was large quantities of pork and goat, a huge variety of sea food inc clams, spider crabs, all sorts of fish. A real feast - but I wouldn’t particularly recommend Marquesas cuisine.
The main focus of the evening was the dancing.
The Marquesans are of Maori descent and their traditional dancing reflects this . We were entertained to about an hour of very energetic NZ Hacka style dancing . There was a female version too, and after all that we were invited to join in! All great fun!
Our next major destination will be the Tuomotu islands, an archipelago of atolls surrounded by coral reefs.
Once we left the Marquesas , we were pretty sure we would not be back, so we felt we should see more of Nuka Hiva than just our anchor location, The Bay of Taiohae.
On Friday morning. Sarah and I had done a big shop in 3 different supermarkets . At about 11 am at the checkout of the last of these it was obvious we could not carry it all to where our dinghy was moored. I asked if they could get us a taxi. An enquiry was made and we got the news that we could have a taxi at 5pm. Another shopper asked where we wanted to go - the port was only half a mile or so away and she offered to take us.
She spoke excellent English, asked how much of the island we had seen. We confessed ‘very little’. I asked where she learnt her excellent English - it was from an English ‘capitaine’ that she used to sell marijuana to - she grows it in her garden!
She recommended her brother, Richard, to take us on a tour of the island. We followed that up.
Island tour
We met him ashore at 8.30 next morning and off we set off in his jeep with two bench seats in the open back and sears for 3-4 inside.
We immediately began a steep climb of the volcanic centre of the island with the Northern coast as our destination. The journey was a succession of tight hair-pin bends with occasional stops to admire quite stunning scenery including one of Ocean Pearl at anchor in the Bay of Taiehoe way below us.
We ended up at Yvonne’s Restaurant and had the recommended specialty dish - goat in coconut sauce - delicious!!!
Next blog will tell you about our ‘hike’ to a waterfall.
Sent from my iPad