After we recovered from the long ocean passage to get here, we began to explore Taioha'e. This is a lush and sleepy place,
built around the bay. Mountains rise steeply behind the beach and neighborhoods spread up each of the valleys. This town is the largest settlement on
Nuku Hiva with about 3,000 people. With access to fresh water, we were
finally able to do all of the laundry that had built up during the passage. It felt great to stretch our sea legs by
hiking through the beautiful, green hills above the town. After the months that we had spent in the desert landscape of Mexico, and then the weeks of seeing nothing but the rolling ocean, we drank in the vibrant
green of the scenery. After a week or so, we started to get itchy feet again, so we set out to circle the entire island, stopping at interesting places along the way. The scene that greeted us was exactly
what we had dreamed of when we pictured sailing the South Pacific Islands. We felt like we had truly arrived. A white sand beach lined the shore while inland, soaring cliffs stood sheer over green valleys. At night, manta rays swooped in lazy
circles around the boat. They are big We had heard about a hiking trail that
went deep into the valley at the base of the cliffs, and we were excited to check
it out. There's no road to this valley and just a few families live at the mouth of the river. We visited with them and arranged
for a local style lunch after our hike. The Marquesas islands were home to a
hundred thousand people at the time of European contact, but by the beginning of the 20th century, that number had dwindled to just over two thousand. The ruins of this devastated civilization lined the path and peeked
out from the underbrush. A few of the old foundations were still
in use but most were returning to the jungle. This was a royal valley and we followed the old royal road along the river, trying to imagine what it must have been like with houses and farm plots all along the way. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. We had never seen anything like it. We arrived back at the beach and our
lunch was ready. We had smoky grilled tuna, breadfruit
and plantains. It was all forged within walking
distance by our host, just as it would have been done by the ancient people who
inhabited this valley. As we left they loaded us down with gifts of fresh fruit from their yard. How do you like it here? It's paradise The gentle downwind leg continued until
we rounded the leeward corner of the island and hardened up into the wind. Our progress slowed considerably as the current and seas were now opposing us. So we're running into Baie Hakaehu, or something like that, because the sun
is going down and we are not making very good progress into this wind and swell. We were hoping to go about five miles more, but we're not gonna make it. The
problem with this bay is it's not charted. The book says you can anchor in
it, and it says to be careful because it's not charted, so that's what we're
doing. We're on our way in we still got 175 feet of water so, so far so good. Our unplanned anchorage gave us good
shelter for the night, and the next morning we resumed our journey, again
bashing hard, back into the trade winds that had carried us all the way here. Each section of coastline was completely
unique, and we marveled at all of the dramatic rock formations that are so
indicative of the Marquesas. Are those sheep up there? See em? No way you can see them with the camera They're a speck I don't think I can see them See the base of the middle spire, those little white dots? Without any fringing reef, most bays have considerable surge, which requires careful handling when landing at a wharf or at the beach. I think this is a copra drying rack
for coconuts. We were starting to notice that the
Marquesans are excellent gardeners Every house was surrounded by flowers
and fruit trees. Most families kept animals as well.
In a place where imported foods are expensive and often in short supply,
people seemed well equipped to provide for themselves, even those with just a
small yard. A short hop around the headland brought us to Anaho. This lovely spot has another of the rare white sand beaches, and it is probably the most protected anchorage on Nuku Hiva. All right, let her rip We hiked over the ridge to a small farm
where we bought a bit of fresh produce directly off of the vine. There's no road in the area and horses
are used for transportation, as well as farm labor. One last push to windward brought us around the northeast corner of the island and we were able to ease the sheets once again for a broad reach along the coastline. The Typee Valley (Taipivai) has impressive archaeological ruins and recreations. This was the valley that the author
Herman Melville lived in as a captive guest of the feared Typee tribe after
he escaped his whaling ship as a young man. Melville wrote the book Typee about his experience well before he wrote his
classic, Moby Dick. So here we have chicken tracks, dog, dog tracks are everywhere in the concrete. I think these big ones are goat, and then over there we have baby goat. We were about to discover just how wrong I was about the goat tracks. There is another wild animal that has conquered these hills. Currently getting eaten alive by mosquitoes The valley is on the wet side of the
island and it is lush with tropical forest and absolutely humming with
insects. What seemed at first to just be dense
forest, on closer inspection was revealed to be full of many types of fruit trees.
The canopy was formed by massive coconut, breadfruit, and mango trees.
Below them grew an understory of banana, pamplemousse, and lime.
Families in the village have fruit orchards up in the forest, and perhaps,
some of these plants are descended from the old gardens of the large community
that used to fill this valley. We eventually ran into this large group
of wild pigs. Despite our shouts and some thrown rocks, they did not slow their pace towards us. So we hightailed it back down the road,
unsure how dangerous they really were. At the beach we filled our water jugs at
the public spigot and prepared to complete our mini circumnavigation with
a sail back to Taioha'e. All of the various Islands were
gathering at Taioha'e for a big soccer tournament. We joined the crowds to watch the competition. In the end the home team won, so
everybody in town was happy. Having circled Nuku Hiva, it was time to
discover the rest of the Marquesas. Nuku Hiva is at the leeward end of the
island group and recent policy changes had caused us to clear into the country
there, rather than at the windward end, which would have made the subsequent
cruising much easier. But having crossed so much ocean to get here, we were undaunted by the 80 nautical mile beat to windward to arrive at Hiva Oa. All day and night we tacked into the
wind. The short chop and the underlying
current slowed forward progress to a crawl. It was well into the next day before we
made landfall on the north side of Hiva Oa. A cryptic warning in the cruising guide about submerged logs prompted us to put a retrieval line with a float on our anchor, just in case. all right we're good When rested we headed back out into a
stiff breeze to battle our way farther up the coast. Hey there's the nut
we're getting there it worked hmm all right let's eat that It's very good This is so funny Over here on the hill we have a ton of
goats and they're all screaming. It sounds hilarious. You got your bug spray on? The village of Hanaiapa still uses
wooden outrigger canoes instead of the aluminum skiffs that have replaced them
in other areas. This community has planted their entire village as a flowering garden. The scent of hibiscus, and frangipani, and countless other flowers, drifted past us on the breeze. When we encounter a rough wharf like this, we simply haul the dinghy up behind us and
place it safely above the tideline. This situation makes us very happy that we have such a lightweight, skin-on-frame dinghy. It was built to the Annabelle design by Dave Gentry and it has proven to be a
capable and hard-working craft. Our next stop was Puama'u, the last tenable anchorage at the east end of Hiva Oa. We were hoping to find shelter there
from the trade winds, but the swell was rolling directly into the bay and
crashing unimpeded on the beach. We worked ourselves into the far corner,
behind some rocky reefs that cut down on the swell somewhat.
This was a very advanced anchorage, but it rewarded us with stunning scenery.
Rock spires and soaring cliffs surrounded us.
Unfortunately, there was no way to get to shore in the present conditions but we
spent an uneasy night listening to the breakers crashing all around us. At first light we were up and ready to thread our way out past the awash reefs.
It was time to set sail to visit the most beautiful island in the world, the
place that has been the epicenter of our sailing dreams since I first saw a black
and white photo of it in an old book. We were bound to Fatu Hiva, the most
remote and spectacular of the inhabited Marquesas Islands
