Around Nuku Hiva in 3 Days

The route around to Ananhoe Bay

May 23
Thursday
While waiting for our new shrouds to come from Tahiti we decide to circumnavigate the island of Nuku HIva. We won’t be sailing, as this would put too much strain on the mast and shrouds, so we are motoring.

Anahoe Bay is awesome!

We motor to Anahoe Bay, one of the most protected anchorages on the island and only twelve miles north. We motor through some choppy confused seas with cross swells. Rolly and bumpy. Not very comfortable for the 4 hrs passage.

Our crew guy, Mark at the helm

 Oh, it's a beautiful bay!  The anchorage is tucked 1.5 miles into this snug protected bay under steep mountains lined with sandy beaches and palm trees. There are a few residents, a church and Chez Raymond, a pension/restaurant where we reserve a Marquesan dinner with other cruisers for the next evening.

Coral reefs exposed at low tide

This is a shallow bay with many coral heads that we didn’t see until the next morning at low tide….Wow! coral reefs all around us! Good thing we followed the chart instructions and stayed away from the West side and the marked buoys!  We anchored right in the coral reef opening in sand.

Beach landing at Anahoe Bay

May 24
Mark and I decide to hike over the ridge to the next bay village, Haatihue to see what’s there. It’s a steep 45-minute hike up, but the views are worth it! We can see our boat anchored in between the coral reefs from this view.

The view from the hike and Wizard anchored in Anahoe Bay

Resting on the hike over tothe next cove,  Hatihue Bay

Our Marquesan dinner ashore is promptly at 4:00pm we arrive at Raymond’s Restaurant and the menu is laid out in the set table:
Poisson Cru-raw fish marinated in coconut milk
Octopus- marinated in lime juice
Grilled Chicken
Fried potatoes
Steamed breadfruit
Cucumber-tomato salad
Mango for dessert
All this for $15.00 US. Not a bad menu and in the middle of nowhere.
We met some new to the anchorage cruisers Joni and Ken on s/v Dancing Walrus who joined us for the dinner. They had just made a 17-day passage from Hawaii and this is their first landfall, Anahoe Bay.
As interesting as meeting the islanders is meeting the” revolving door “of cruisers:
Joni & Ken on S/V Dancing Walrus- 42 ft Catamaran from Hawaii, with crew Michael from Holland, are accomplished divers, she a video photographer is interesting as she had been a professional crew for several boats, lived in Indonesia for 20 years and met Ken on Crew.com and now married. Cute story.

Oleg and Sophie on S/V Kotik (we call the grumpy Frenchman, but he only looks grumpy). We met them last week in Daniel’s Bay, but meet again in Anahoe Bay. They are interesting because they have lived on a boat for 40 years! They had Kotik made in South America, a steel ketch and they have traveled from as far away as Brazil and up the Pacific to Alaska! These are world travelers!

Last week at Taiohae we met three Swedes on a 28ft sloop- they sailed all the way- Atlantic through Caribbean, through Panama, Galapagos to Marquesas. If you saw their boat (really quite a wreck) you too would be amazed at these tattooed covered, ex-Marine “salty dogs”! Oh, but the small size of their boat-incredible!

Don’t forget the “Earl” from Ventura, California…his real name is Tom, but we call him the “Earl” as his 36ft Santana racing sloop is called the Earl of Tasmania. The name has something to do with liking the rear ends of women  or “tassy” as called in Australia. Something like that. Anyway, we really liked the Earl, a single-hander making a circumnavigation around the world in 2 years! He is on a time schedule to see it all before he gets too old or his family (read girlfriend and kids) call him back home. His simple-equipped racer is bare-bones without some cruising necessities expected, like he has no water maker, no wind vane or dodger to get out of the elements. And he prefers to steer by tiller! He WILL be an “old salty dog” before his journey is over!

Another interesting couple we met the other night (sorry didn’t get their names) who had just completed rounding Cape Horn and here they are in the Marquesas!  He says he’s the only American to have completed the passage this year. Wow! Now, that’s a salty dog!

Then we have the most horrible passage story:

 Bill and Belinda on S/V Orca Suite (Pacific Puddle Jumpers) made landfall in the Marquesas after a record LONG passage of 40 days, kind of like Noah’s Ark! Their autopilot went our early on and with no back up wind-vane, they HAND-STEERED for thousands of miles! Only two on board, they had blisters on their hands and feet! Now, that’s a horrible passage! But, they are unfazed and moving on to the Tuamotus!

May 25
Morning reveals coral reefs all around us on the minus tide! Good for snorkeling and exploring the reefs.

Beautiful coral formations

f

Colorful parrot fish

The colors are more fabulous in person!

Hatihue Bay on a rainy day

May 25
Motoring three miles to Hatiheu Bay, a quaint little village known for it’s restored archaeological ceremonial site.  This is the village Mark and I hiked over to yesterday. It starts to rain on and off, the anchorage is rolly and uncomfortable, but we’ve been in worse. We choose a sandy spot in front of the village. Off to shore we go-land the dingy in the timed waves, pull it up high on the beach. It begins s to rain harder and the waves are building. We hurry up to the noted Chez Yvonne Restaurant- waitress says, “you boat too close- wind, waves, no good!” So we listen… when a local says that it must mean they know something! So, back John and I go- roll dingy down into water, waves crashing, swamp dingy, rain pouring and back out to way anchor.  We move to another spot in the bay. It’s still rolly.  We move two more times and still can’t find a suitable anchorage. Mark had stayed onshore to visit the ceremonial site, which he said was the best he’s seen in the Marquesas. Upon his return, we all decided the best anchorage would be to motor BACK to Anahoe Bay where we would have a comfortable night. So we do. By 4:30 Anchor Down! That’s four anchorings in one day! But, who's counting?

Round we go the North side of Nuku Hiva

May 26
Motoring North today to Haahopu Bay a small anchorage on the North side of Nuku HIva.  We pass the only airport on Nuku Hiva and watch as an airplane readies for take off and flies out over the water.  Cool to see from our boat. It's remote and wild, but we have a very comfortable night at anchor.
May 27
Next day, off we go to finish the circumnavigation of Nuku Hiva, round the east side and back into Taiohae Bay. Home away from home! This will be our fourth visit!
We check in with Kevin, of Yacht Services and YES! our ordered shroud will be arriving from Tahiti tomorrow. We will be repairing and provisioning. Then leaving for the Tuamotus on Wednesday. We are ready to go!