Last Stop in the Marquesas: Nuku Hiva

After leaving Ua Pou, we headed to Nuku Hiva, where we happily ran into our friends from SV Kazaio and Zorba. This is where we were also finally able to catch up with Simon from SV Mandala, before his solo departure to Tahiti, where he will try to haul out his boat. They have decided to take a year off, so that his wife can properly recover in Canada. We were sad to have missed saying Goodbye to Marie-Noelle and the kids, as they boarded a plane just one day before we arrived. (Meghan wrote them a nice letter and made little gifts for them that she gave to Simon though).

Although Fatu Hiva remains my favourite in terms of sheer beauty, there is much to love in Nuku Hiva. It is a place where I could live. Again we saw beautiful scenery, flowers, manta rays and warm welcoming people. We made breathtaking discoveries like a small river, straight out of a biblical garden of Eden, that we stumbled upon while out on the paddle board. We had a great hike to some very tall waterfalls, and watched more traditional dancing and signing in a village (they are preparing for a big dancing festival in August, with all islands participating).

We were able to rest and find fresh provisions (and found internet!), and there was plenty of time to socialize and meet new cruisers. One night they organized a "Dinghy Drift". People come out with snacks and drinks in their dinghies and they all raft up and drift together, meandering for a few hours until sunset.

Meghan had a chance to try sailing an 'Opti' (Optimist sailing dinghy) again (last time was in the BVI in 2011), and this time she had the guidance from a former Olympian! Owen from SV Seabattical, was on the 1996 Australian Sailing Team. Under his helpful guidance she really learned fast! What a great opportunity for her!

                                            

Photo Courtesey of SV Seabbatical

3 day crossing: Mark to the rescue!

He says to me: "I think there's water in the engine". He looks grim. This is Day One of a difficult three day crossing towards the Tuamotus, a group of Atolls (reef islands) south of the Marquesas. Difficult crossing because we are close hauled (almost into the wind), the winds are 20 and gusting to 30, and the swell is bigger than expected. MC's seasickness has made an unwelcomed come back and generally everything seems ALOT more difficult than our 20 day crossing from a month ago! At any rate, Mark made the disturbing discovery about water in the exhaust when our engine would not start. He thinks the constant batttering of waves hitting us from the side have pushed water back up the exhaust and made it into the engine....somehow...."How can that be?" , I ask, "These boats are designed to get hit by waves, and its never happened before?"

We don't know how it happened, but one thing's for sure, this problem HAS to be solved within the next 48 hours....or we can't stop at the Tuamotus....it would be insane to try to navigate the atoll passes and reefs without a reliable engine.....our PLAN B would be to keep sailing and head towards the Society Islands(Tahiti) another 2 days away .

It is 4 pm and we have less than 2 hours of daylight left before sunset, Mark gets to work right away....he has drained the exhaust and turned the engine over by hand to ensure all water has been cleared from the cylinders, but wants to get the engine started to try to get any remaining water out, but there is a problem with the starter now. He looks worried. Even within the fog of seasickness, I am not. I have been married to to this guy for a long time and I have 100% faith that if there is a guy who can fix this problem out here, it's Mark. The starter for the engine is located in a difficult place to work on it, but he won't let that stop him....only stopping to eat dinner, he trudges on. At almost midnight, I can hear the roar of the engine at is starts. As I am lying in my bunk, I smile, he did it.

When I come up for my watch at 03:00 am, he is visibly more relieved, although covered in cuts and bruises on both his arms and chest. This is the cost of doing work in heavy seas while underway. He deserves a medal.

The next day Mark spent doing oil change after oil change (3 so far, and he's planning another one after the engine has run a few more hours) as it looked like some water got into the oil. We keep all the used oil on board, for later disposal, and he had bought enough oil and filters back in Panama and Columbia so we are ok. Looks like we will be seeing the beautiful Tuamotus after all! Thankfully, it doesn't appear any damage to the engine was done, but he'll have to figure out how to prevent this from happening again, and we'll have the engine more thoroughly checked out when we get somewhere with better services.

We are now anchored inside the atoll of Raroia. There are no words to describe this place. It is so immaculate that it looks fabricated. There is no one here, this island is mostly uninhabited, but there is a very small village about 6 miles from where we're anchored and one building where there is a pearl farm. We can see the buoys indicating where the pearls are to be found. Scattered around us there are outcrops of reef which create a wonderful spectrum of yellow, green , blue and turquoise at the surface of the water where they break.

Last night we went for a short walk on a small motu (small island), and discovered hundreds of large hermit crabs and land crabs....when we turned the flashlight on them, they all moved together, like in a well choreographed dance routine : ...and FIVE, SIX SEVEN EIGHT and ...LIFT claws up above your head,,, SLIDE to the left, three steps...,thats it....and .....STRIKE A POSE.... Freeze !

We were looking for the Coconut Crabs, the largest crabs in the world....and yes, they are big enough to haul away large coconuts and eat them. We will keep looking for them, but for now, this latest display by these smaller land crabs will have to do !


We will spend a couple of weeks here in the Tuamotus and then will head off towards Tahiti. Where we are very excited to be welcoming some friends from Calgary on board Amelie, (Megs best friend Olivia, her sister Alexis and their mom,our good friend, Sonia) in July!)