11:2.979S 143:12.400W On our way to Rangiroa
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Sat 9 Jul 2011 22:10
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Finally... Dear Diary...
We're on our way to Rangiroa at the moment. Since
the last blog entry we've been to two Pacific islands: Hiva-oa and Nuku hiva.
Hiva-oa was our first stop after the long crossing and we were looking forward
to kicking back and enjoying a meal and a drink whilst admiring the beauty of
our first pacific island and the hospitality of it's people. Unfortunately the
weather was grey and gloomy and so were the people. We won the race though by a
whole day after doing 3313nm in 17 days at an avg speed of 8.12kt which is
brilliant!
But... before we got there... I caught a Marlin...
yes a real one even if it's a small one. We got him up on deck and decided to
let him off the hook so to speak. I removed the hook and he slid back over the
side into the depths and away. Unfortunately it was such a mission to get him on
board that we forgot to take a photo. (Highly Peaved!!) We did however get one
of him alongside.
  Gotcha!!
Hiva-oa on the Chart and Radar
My first trip ashore, i was confronted by Jonah
Lomu looking chap with a french accent who withoput any greeting told me in no
uncertain way to get lost... lovely! Nevermind they can't all be like this, I
thought. The people in the little supermarket i visited were the same, except
that they took my money for some bread and a coke first. I don't think they like
tourists much in Hiva-oa. I guess they feel there's not enough space on their
little island for them, the french administration and tourists. We did
however meet aniother yachtie couple Sylvie and David. Sylvie's a zimbo and her
boyfriend David an English Naval Architect... crazy couple but good
fun.
  We were the biggest yacht in Hiva-oa till SPIIP
ptiched
up Leaving
Hiva-oa bright and early
So as soon as we'd checked into The Marquises and
the french Gendamerie (police and customs) we were outta there hoping to find
better restaurants and friendlier people in Nuku hiva. Liquid Living were also
in Nuku hiva so we thought at least we could maybe hang-out with them. The trip
across to Nuku hiva was 102 miles and the wind was not very favourable so we
used up some of our fuel to get there. We arrived at night and had a grand time
getting in because the lights on the charts just weren't there. Luckily Matt had
ushered us into a great big space next to them so we anchored fine
enough.
  Dad's night-reading system... Kindle and his Red
Torch
The first sight of land after 17 days
crossing the pacific.
Matt was alone on Liquid Living because the family
had flown off to Papete to get their emmigration stuff in order for Australia.
The poor guy was bored out of his mind because there just wasn't anything to do
on these islands. You couldn't swim because the water's really murky and Matt
saw a rather large Tiger Shark swimming around. You couldn't go diving 'coz we
found no dive shops open, no fishing without casting reels so just alot of
reading and eating. Which explains the size of those islanders. Their average
weight I reckon is around 150kg.
Anyway to cut a long story short, we hung-out with
Matt a bit on land, found a fantastic hotel with a restaurant, so that's where
we ate and then we left. I sure hope the rest of the Pacific will be a little
more entertaining. I'm thinking: clear blue water, sandy beaches, diving,
spear-fishing, island tours.
The next stop is Rangiroa, it's an atoll in the
Tuamotu Archipeligo and it's apparently absolutley beautiful. Theirs also a
really good shark dive their which I'm looking forward to. So i guess we'll do
another entry once we've checked it out and have some good pics to show you
all.
  Arriving at Hiva-oa... and the
bay
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