Blue lagoon

By Nicole

Protected from the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean by coral reefs, the blue lagoons of the Tuamotu Archipelago are what South Seas dreams are made of. But it’s not just the turquoise-hued water that makes these coral atolls so special. Add in white- and pink-sand beaches, swaying palm trees and a colorful underwater aquarium, and you’ll see why these atolls are a little slice of tropical heaven. (And why we had to abandon you for nearly a month … if only they had wi-fi, this really would be paradise!)

Sandy islets and endless shades of blue in the Tahanea lagoon

Bird’s eye view

Paradise

After spending weeks exploring the dramatic peaks of the Marquesas Islands, it was time to take advantage of a  stable weather pattern and make the five-day run southwest to the low-lying coral atolls of the Tuamotus (where few things are taller than a palm tree). The passage was great, with only a few squalls to shake things up. Now this is a bold statement, but I think this was our best passage ever. It was fast and comfy, nothing broke and I didn’t even get sick! Right on.

Double rainbow! What does it mean?! Only that a squall just rolled through. I was a little slow finding the camera, but trust me … it really was a double.

I like rainbows. And glitter.

Back in the days before radar and adequate charting programs, the Tuamotus were referred to as the “dangerous archipelago” by sailors. Countless boats were lost on the coral reefs that litter the ocean between the Marquesas and the Society Islands. And countless more were damaged transiting the turbulent passes from the ocean into the calm, protected lagoons. In many ways, the time we spent in British Columbia, Canada prepared us for navigating in these tricky areas where current runs swiftly and underwater hazards are everywhere. I’ll take Polynesia’s 90-degree water over Canada’s 45 degrees any day, though! (We still love you, Canada.)

We arrived at our first atoll, Tahanea, just before slack tide and were prepared to wait outside the pass if we saw standing waves or other sketchy sea conditions. But the pass was smooth, except for a few whirlpools, so we radioed our friends on s/v Estrellita who were waiting on the inside and headed on through. They’d been to Tahanea before, so they led us the 8 or 9 miles across the lagoon to their favorite spot. Transiting the lagoon is a bit stressful, I’m not going to lie. Coral heads and reefs lurk just under the surface, so it’s imperative to have the sun at your back and keep a sharp bow lookout.

Bow watch. Keeping an eye out for coral heads while sailing across the Tahanea lagoon with s/v Estrellita.

Aaron joked that Livia and I were acting like a couple of hens in a henhouse, since we couldn’t seem to stop chitter-chattering on the radio as we followed them across. What? It had been a year and a half since we’d seen each other! We were just excited. After a couple hours (the last bit spent in silence, since we ran down the batteries in Estrellita’s radio), we made it across the lagoon and got settled, nestling our boats between coral heads over the sandy bottom.

At anchor in the Tahanea lagoon

View from the top – Bella Star in 25’ of crystal clear water.

With the anchors down, it was time for an Estrellita/Bella Star reunion! We had bonfires on the beach, went snorkeling, hunted for green coconuts, played games and generally had a blast. So much fun.

Knocking down coconuts is harder than it looks. Perhaps a boat hook isn’t the best tool …

Learning to open green coconuts from the master

Opening green coconuts for fresh coconut water … and maybe raiding a village or two.

No complaints

Relaxing on the beach post-coconut hunting

You know us; we’re always up for exploring. And the dozens of palm-tree covered motus found just inside the coral reef provided plenty of ground to cover.

Coral reef and storm clouds

Ancient coral

Walking the ocean-side of a motu, watching the surf break on the reef

Scallop shell in coral rubble

Arm shot!

It probably goes without saying, but we spent lots of time playing in the water, above and below. The water is gin-clear and warm, but I still never felt 100% comfortable. Why? Sharks! No matter how many times we swim with them, I  have to fight my primal instinct to bolt from the water. Yeah, yeah … I know they’re just reef sharks, but still!

Shark bait

Wait. Is that my shadow or a reef shark?

Cool corals

Gorgeous, but these “bommies” are what you don’t want to hit with the boat!

Shark’s eye view of Bella Star

Believe it or not, up until this point in his life, Aaron had never touched a palm tree. That’s right, he was saving himself for just the right one. Apparently this lucky coconut palm measured up, and he decided to take the big step.

No longer a palm-tree touching virgin

I lost track of the number of beach bonfires we had, but this one was special. Why, you ask? One word: s’mores.

Who knew coconuts made such great marshmallow-roasting coals?

Key lime pie, ice cream (all flavors minus bubble gum and licorice) and s’mores: my favorite desserts of all time

Bonfire arm shot!

So many islands to conquer, so little time. Add five more to our total! Poor s/v Palarran is never going to catch up. :)

After a few days, Estrellita needed to move on to another atoll to meet up with friends. We almost went with them, but the idea of having the lagoon all to ourselves was a treat we just couldn’t pass up. So we waved goodbye, knowing that we’d catch up to them in a few days on Fakarava. A few days turned into a week, but who’s counting out here? I don’t even know what day it is. Oh, wait. It’s Saturday. Right?

Next up, sailing through the pass on Fakarava after some engine trouble … and more sharks!

Ua Pou and Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Wrap-up

By Aaron

Ua Pou

We decided to do the 70-mile trip to Ua Pou as an overnight passage.  The first few hours were nice, but then it turned very squally with 30-knot winds and lots of rain broken up by periods of no wind and motoring.  But we made into the harbor without any problems and put the anchor down right as the sun was coming up.

Bella Star, dropped and stopped on the island of Ua Pou.  You can kind of see one of the spires in the background, of which there are several.  Unfortunately they were generally obscured by clouds on otherwise blue sky days.

Nicole not only conquers the island, but some very heavy bananas as well!

We had a nice pizza lunch here. We asked a lady sitting in her truck where the restaurant was. Without hesitation, she kicked her kids out of the truck.  Literally kicked them to the curb and loaded us up, and drove us over to the restaurant. After thanking her we sat down and ordered our pizzas, amazed at the generosity of the people on these islands. 10 minutes later, the truck pulls up again. We thought maybe somebody left their sunglasses in the back or something. No, she just wanted to bring us stalks of bananas and a huge box of mangoes. The people here are just amazing. We’ve never felt as welcome in any other country.

So the big event on Ua Pou was the hike across the island with Bravo.  This would prove to be a very challenging hike.  Maybe our last … 

Blew out my Keens so this is all in flip flops. 

Me, a mere few miles into it.  So far, so good!

Not even 1/4 way and I was starting to feel pretty wrecked.  Not surprising considering that I spent the last month training my gluts by sitting on them while watching movies and 6 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm… seriously there was some major vertical climb involved here that had me wishing we owned a helicopter.

After a few wrong turns and Bravo ominously procuring a goat skull for their bow pulpit, we decided what was goat path and what was human path and made our way through the jungle and across several valleys…

… to a tiny village that to our profound disappointment had no place to eat.  Oh well, at least we found a truck ride back on the island perimeter dirt road for a mere 6,000 francs.  It was either that or die, so it was a bargain.

Next stop Nuku Hiva!

As we put Ua Pou, astern it was hard to believe that we hiked all the way over the top of that island to the opposite side.

On approach to Nuku Hiva with SV Bravo pulling ahead. Tropical tradewinds and sunshine… 18 knots true, sailing on a broad reach… Hull speed and no equipment breaking in over an hour… This is what it’s all about!

Nuku Hiva

We arrived in Taiohae Bay on Nuku Hiva and were again impressed by the dramatic scenery these islands have to offer.

This is a great stop to reprovision with easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  Also there is internet!  So we got to catch up on emails and do some blogging while munching on baguettes. 

The town is very pretty, like every other town we’ve seen in the Marquesas. 

Just 5 miles around the corner from here is another bay known to sailors as Daniel’s Bay.  The bay gets its English name because of Daniel, a Marquesan famous among cruising sailors who used to live at the head of the bay and would welcome visitors.  Apparently he was also known to assist with procuring water and fresh fruit.  He is mentioned in every guidebook we’ve ever seen on the South Pacific and sailors, anchored there would sign his guest books.  Daniel unfortunately passed away several years ago.  Adam from Bravo and I went to get tattoos on Taiohae – turns out the artist, Francois, is Daniel’s grandson.  He is in possession of the guest book so I got to read the entries for hundreds of yachts that have stopped there since the 1980s.

I even found an entry from another Hans Christian 33, Delphinus, owned by Linda and Ray Beauchesne.  Where are you now, Delphinus?

So after a few days we upped anchor and headed over to Daniel’s bay.  A cold beer sure was good after the epic 5-mile journey. 

Daniel’s bay offered pretty 360-degree views.

As always, we’ve got chores to do before we go play.  Although we put them off to go play most of the time.

We decided to walk over to the tiny village of Hakaui and from there hike to an 800-foot waterfall.  With a quick stop to conquer.

The village is only about 1km and 1 stream away from the anchorage.

Once we got to the village, a tattooed Marquesan dude came running out at us quite excitedly and motioned for us to go to his house.  This was the first local I’d seen with the face tattoos so that was pretty cool.  And he has a big scar on his side that he later told me was from a gunshot wound.  He said his cousin (or uncle, I’m not sure) mistook him for a pig during a hunt. 

Meet Teiki and his wife Kua, another shining example of the friendliness of the people here.  They seem to be pretty happy people too, which shouldn’t be surprising since they live in a quintessential paradise.  Teiki had us sit down at his table with them and cut open a coconut for us to drink and gave us some mangos for our hike.  They’ve got fruit trees growing coconuts, limes, mangoes, bananas, star fruit, papayas, oranges, pamplemousse, and breadfruit.  They sell their fruit crops to a sorbet maker (we think that’s what she was trying to say) in Tahiti.   They’ll also sell fruit to visiting sailors fresh off the tree at very reasonable prices.  We got more than we could carry and had to make two trips back to the boat!  Teiki also provided me some coffee.  “Make you strong!”

The trail to the waterfall starts as a truck road through the orchards and turns into a winding path marked by cairns, stone walls, and various foundations from villages hundreds of years in the past.

We spent hours walking around in a tropical Bob Ross painting!

I’m a happy hiker – It was super beautiful and just the right distance, with very little elevation gain and the biggest obstacle was a couple of stream crossings.

Approaching the waterfall in the canyons… with the sun directly overhead and the dark canyon walls rising vertically it made for some interesting views and green light that seemed to just glow.

Nicole at the base of the waterfall.  Too bad it was only a trickle this time of year!  We heard that after some rains the water is clear and makes for some good swimming at the base.  Oh well, the hike alone was worth the trip!

Also when we were at the village some of the locals told us to be careful of  leaving our dinghy on the beach around 5pm.  Because of the cows of course.  The dinghy is the natural enemy of the cow, and in the past they have apparently been gorged and popped by these dinghy-hating cows.  #cruiserproblems.

So of course we found a bunch of cows hanging around our dinghy when we got to the end of the trail.  Fortunately our dinghy had not been gouged.  I suspect this is because it’s so old and beat up with patches all over and fittings falling off that they really didn’t feel that inflicting further damage was necessary. 

Well that’s about it for the Marquesas.  It’s time to move on to the Tuamotus!  It’ll be about a 4 or 5 day passage to get there and we probably won’t have internet access for quite some time, so this might be the last entry for a while.