Lat: 09:06 S: Long: 139:54 W - Blog 9

Sulana's Voyage
Alan and Sue Brook
Sat 6 Apr 2013 00:48

Lat: 09:06 S: Long: 139:54 W

5th April 2013 –

Seventeen and three-quarter days after leaving the Galapagos Islands we finally reached Hiva Oa in the Marquesas , and not a moment too soon!

The passage was hot, humid, rocky-rolly and boring – at least I thought so, although the men say they enjoyed it.

We were all disappointed at the lack of wildlife, with just a couple of dolphin pods cruising alongside and Alan’s glimpse of a few whales blowing a mile away. Apart from that, there were just three ships spotted, which seems incredible after such a long time at sea.

 Most of my time was spent cooking, reading and sleeping while the men did their best to keep Sulana going as fast as possible, helping with the chores (Will and Jack) and standing night watches.

They also enjoyed playing card games and fishing. Unfortunately and incredibly there were very few catches. In all of the 3,093 miles we covered, we only caught one wahoo, one mahi-mahi and one skipjack tuna. Actually it was only half a skipjack tuna as something BIG bit off more than half before we could land it. Jack and Will also battled for 40 minutes to try to land a magnificent blue marlin but it wasn’t prepared to die and fought free. There were a couple of other fish which were thrown back as they were too small to keep.

Jack and Will both cooked tasty suppers from their catches as well as helped re-stock the freezer; and Will also produced a very impressive selection of sushi dishes.

On the catering front, Jack and I have been persevering with the bread-making. We think we’ve cracked it now that we have fresh yeast and strong white bread.

I even made a dozen hot cross buns on Good Friday – not perfect but they disappeared pretty quickly so they couldn’t have been too bad. Easter Sunday’s lunch of roast beef, roast potatoes, spiced red cabbage, spinach, carrots and gravy with Waitrose’s finest horse-radish sauce was something of a challenge as Sulana was heaving all over the place and it isn’t easy trying to stop pots and pans suddenly taking off!  The poached- pear galettes for dessert were rather short of their glaze as the jug I had just decanted it into (having dutifully stirred it for ten minutes) lurched into the crockery cupboard making a nasty mess.

April 1 was not only April Fool’s Day but also Jack’s 25th birthday. Having shown great restraint in not opening his pile of cards and presents from home before the due date, he chuckled away at the good will messages and now has his cards strung across his headboard.

Although he is a self-confessed chocoholic there was no chocolate on board with which to make him a cake but he seemed pleased with his lemon-drizzle cake and managed to blow out all his candles in one go!

Other points of interest:  Alan is very happy to report that we sailed under spinnaker for three days during which time we covered more than 600 miles; we didn’t have a single drop of rain during the whole passage; Jack was treated to a show of phosphorescence one night and we had two flying fish trying to get aboard. One suddenly flopped onto the saloon floor having come in through the companionway and the other we found wedged into a drain tube next to our hatch – thank goodness it didn’t get through and land on us during the night!

Those horrible days at sea were almost immediately forgiven when we reached the beautiful island of Hiva Oa, which is about the same size as Mersea Island, but with a population of only 2004.

There is a danger of saying that each new landfall was better than the last but I think the anchorage in Baie Taahuku, at Atuona, on the south  coast of Hiva Oa, is one of the most stunning I’ve seen, with sheer cliffs covered in trees and shrubs of all types and shades of green sprinkled with attractive modern  properties. Not a thatched hut to be seen!

Being one of France’s “overseas departements” the island is beautifully maintained with miles of newly-concreted roads (there are still many miles of dirt track) and smart buildings, such as the gendarmerie where we had to present ourselves for Customs clearance. This had a security system on the gate, wheelchair access, further security at the doors – all financed courtesy of the EU!

Yesterday, the four of us took a guided tour of the island in a four-seater truck with a canopied back which Will and Jack chose to sit in. We were amazed at the mile upon mile of spectacular scenery with trees laden with mangoes, papayas, grapefruit, coconuts, bananas and much, much more – many growing wild and free for the taking.

As we drove up into the clouds on our journey from one end of the island to the other we spotted the local aerodrome – a long flat stretch across a ridge in the middle of an extinct volcano. Flying in or out of there would be quite special.

We visited several sites of ancient monuments where we saw a variety of gods known as ‘tikis’. At one, John, our guide, merrily pointed out a “table” made of huge stones which had a small hole in the middle.

“For keeping prisoners until they were about to be slaughtered and then eaten,” he said. And, he added, with a twinkle in his eye, the last time a person was known to have been eaten by local cannibals was only 114 years ago. Apparently the “dish of the day” was a young man from a neighbouring valley who had one half of his body completely covered in tattoos.

John took us to a typical Marquesan restaurant where we were served a selection of dishes including ceviche with banana and coconut milk; chicken; pork; fish; rice; plantain; taro chips; with little nuggets of banana, coconut and honey for dessert – all washed down with freshly-squeezed Jus de  Carambole (starfruit juice).

During lunch, John told us about his sciatica and how he will be flying to either Nuku Hiva (a larger island) or Tahiti for medical treatment  - all fares paid for by the French government, who also pay for two return air-fares per year to youngsters who leave the island to take up further education. John obviously appreciates all these benefits of being an overseas departement of France so he is mystified as to why there are some on the island who want to break free of the home country and be independent.

There is certainly a lack of job prospects on the island, other than fishing and tourism, and the Marquesas are rather a long way off the beaten track to attract too many visitors. Also, although the numerous bays and beaches are beautiful, local people don’t swim in many of them because of the abundance of large sharks.

However, everyone we met was charming and friendly and the young women, almost invariably seen with a fragrant tiare flower tucked above her ear, were beautiful  - as I’m sure the men would agree.  Women visitors have a daily treat of watching fit young men taking part in their sunset ritual of going to sea in long colourful outrigger canoes. It is obviously an important aspect of island life, attracting dozens of spectators as well as paddlers – all jostling for position along the sea-wall with families casting lines to catch sardines.

We saw several family groups where mum was doing the fishing while the youngsters were removing the catch.

Our visit to Hiva Oa was very special but very short. We left again this morning to motor-sail the 88 miles to Nuku Hiva from where I’ll fly home on Monday (via Tahiti and LA) hoping to arrive in time for Fiona’s baby’s birth. I’ll then return to Rangiroa on April 28.

Meanwhile the fishing line is out, the sun is shining and the sea is like a gently-undulating mill-pond, so could be time for a spot of reading.