Tahuata
Wayward Adventure
Wed 15 Apr 2009 19:15
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09:54.859s 139:06.592w
Anchored in the south bight of Ivaiva bay.
Quite a contrast to Virgins bay. Here it is not as lush and each cove has
a small private white sand beach. The difference in the weather
from island to island is notable but even noticeable from bay to bay.
The shape and height determines if there is allot of rainfall and wind as the
high islands trap the clouds up in the peaks and provide rain almost constantly
and bays with long valleys going up get the wind tunnel affect .
We are enjoying the relative low wind and rain as they are always present but to
varying degrees. At present we are the only boat anchored in the bay and
enjoying the privacy but that will change I am sure because all of the bays
are getting quite full. This is the time that all the boats from the
Americas and Europe who intend to do the 'coconut milk run' (as the westward run
through the south pacific is called) descend upon the small coves of the
Marquises. We are going to stay here tonight and head back to Atuona on
Hiva Oa tomorrow. We are picking up a part for the Generator on
Thursday. The generator decided to quit on us our last day of the long
passage and so we have had to charge batteries with our engine and alternator
since. Not only is it loud but it consumes allot more fuel than our
genny. When it happened I was distraught, thinking how in the world do you
get parts out here. I called Panda generators in Florida and they assured
me what the problem was and said they would fly out the replacement parts to
Tahiti free of charge and our contact in Tahiti said that it just
arrived. The parts are going on an inter-island flight today and
all in all we got the parts in one week. Wow. It is harder to get
stuff shipped to you in Mexico. So back to Atuona to take care of
business and re-up on baguettes. Yes baguettes. There is a baguette
feeding frenzy on all the islands that have bakeries. The first time
we saw people leaving the small store in the harbor all smiling and
each loaded up with 5 or 6 full length baguettes we kind of
laughed. Then we bought one....it barely made it back to
the boat....mk the French got the fresh bread thing down. Baked fresh
twice daily and now understanding the true meaning of
selling like hot cakes, we will never buy just one again. C'est
bon.... a demain,
AP
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