After all the holiday activities, we have sought the quiet of Hooumi bay on Nuku Hiva and spent much time on the boat catching up with chores and, of course, chilling out a bit.
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2016
07
Jan
2015
31
Dec
Happy new year!
We have returned to the big city, Taiohae, on Nuku Hiva for the new year’s eve parties. We wish you all a fabulous, happy and healthy new year!
2015
30
Dec
Amazing Hospitality
After we had cleared the boat after the passage, cut the tuna and had breakfast it was still only 9 o’clock in the morning, so we contemplated what to do. Head straight for the bunk and catch up with sleep or use the sunny weather to explore the island? We decided to seize the day, launched the dinghy and headed to Vaipaee’s dock. There was quite a crowd on the dock cleaning fish and hammering open shellfish and we were informed about the upcoming New Year’s Eve Party for the whole island and immediately invited.
We wandered on through the little town that is mainly hiding under a dense canopy. The valley’s of Ua Pou are quite lush, but hitching a ride to Hane (the next village) we found that the mountains of Ua Huka are less impressive and much more arid than on the other Marquesan islands.
As our first ride had taken us 11 km through mountainous terrain we were a bit worried about how to get back, didn’t linger too long in Hane, but immediately started back on the same track hoping that at least a few cars would pass us.
A car coming from Vaipaee stopped and the friendly Polynesian woman asked us where we had started walking, where we wanted to go and then she waved us into the backseat. She would take us to the easternmost of Ua Huka’s 3 villages, where we’d have some time to look around before going back to Vaipaee with her. We gladly hopped in and were suprised when she made a detour to her house in Hane where her husband had just finished cooking lunch and insisted that we’d have sashimi, fried tuna and rice with the family. After lunch Karen took us over to Hokatu to meet her sister, chatting about Ua Huka and the Marquesan culture and waving to everybody from the open window–apparently everybody here is either related or close friends. Karen’s sister gave us some Marquesan apples and then sent us off with yet another sister to the local artisanat and museum (she opened both buildings just for us) and then we went on a fruit quest. Imagine us in a pickup truck with two giggling Polynesi
an middle aged women, a daughter in law with a long stick on the truckbed and all watching out for ripe mango. We soon spotted a branch right over the road with juicy mangoes, the daughter in law used her high position on the truck to quickly fill a woven basket with mangoes, then pamplemousse and a few breadfruit.
After a few more stops Karen delivered took us back along the coastal road (Ua Huka’s road system only connects the 3 villages in the south, the rest of the island is unpopulated) and right to our dinghy that we overloaded with fruit. Even after all the time we’ve spent here, the Polynesian hospitality never ceases to amaze us…
2015
30
Dec
Merry Christmas
We had a very merry Christmas indeed. There was a fun international fleet of cruising boats anchored in Hantefau, we had a dinghy raft-up with drinks, tapas on different boats and for the 25th we asked the friendly people of the neighbouring village Hapatoni whether we could have a pot-luck at their little artisanat hall. They didn’t only agree with our plan, but decided to join us, so in the end we had a huge buffet with Polynesian specialities and the dishes the Canadian, American, Italian, French, Mexican, Spanish, Finnish and Austrian cruisers brought with them. It was a wonderful party with lots of interesting cross-cultural conversations (some including lots of pantomime), games of Petanque, Scrabble and even Bingo in the end 
2015
30
Dec
Ua Huka
We wanted to sail up to Ua Huka on Sunday, got the boat ready, were set to go–but then the engine didn’t start. Not even a cough, just a sad little clacking sound. Christian found the faulty connection on the starter the next morning, so we decided to sail with one day delay, even though the forecast predicted very light winds. In the end we had steady 15 knots blowing on the beam and a very pleasant, quiet nightsail up to Ua Huka–the only populated island of the Marquesas that we had not visited yet. Just when we were approaching the island at sunrise a big yellow fin tuna decided to bite heartily into our lure, dolphins accompanied us into the bay riding merrily on the waves which unfortunately make it right into the narrow bay of Vaipaee where they then get reflected by the rugged, volcanic cliffs that surround the bay. First we doubted whether we’d be able to stay, but after bringing out a stern anchor we’re still not overly comfy, but okay enough to stay for a day.
2015
21
Dec
HAKA!
The last two days were long, exciting, vibrating and exhausting. We had a fishing boat rented to take us over from Tahuata to the neighbouring island Hiva Oa and after a calm period the wind was up to 20 knots, the waves accordingly high and the 1 hour ride in the small boat quite adventurous–especially as we had a similar boat following in our wake, so we could watch them climbing up the waves, sliding down the valleys knowing that our boat was doing just the same…
When we saw the boats that were anchored outside the breakwater rolling and pitching like on passage and the tight anchor field behind the breakwater, we were glad that we had decided to leave Pitufa in the calm bay of Hanatefau (leaving Leeloo in these conditions wouldn’t have been fair and getting sleep in between the festival days impossible). The town of Atuona where most of the shows took place is half an hours walk from the dock, the organisers had tried but failed in putting up a bus system, so we had to walk to town and getting to the venues further away meant endless waiting. But that was the only negative aspect of the festival, everything else worked out perfectly.
The atmosphere in Atuona where more than a thousand participants from the different islands spent the whole week was just amazing. Friendly faces everywhere, dancers of the traditional Marquesian dance called ‘haka’ in their fabulous costumes performing or just walking around and as spectators of the other groups, artisans presenting their different handicrafts and the constant sound of drums in the air–we were overwhelmed by the impressions.
At noon all islands set up huge buffets in stands around one the venues (all for free!). The masses queued in front of the giant pots of poisson cru (marinated raw fish), meat from the umu (underground oven), breadfruit and manioc in all variations and everybody had to bring a plate, but no plastic was allowed (amazing!!), so people brought plates woven from palm trees, coconut shells, pieces of bamboo–of course we hadn’t known about that, but we got big leaves to balance our food in (quite messy with poisson cru in coconut sauce )
We had missed the early morning performances, but in the afternoon a maybe not very authentic, but extremely sexy group from Easter Island danced and after that the group from Ua Pou was on. We had heard that there had been some scandal and discussion whether they’d be allowed to do their act and we soon understood why: the group carried in a huge wooden tiki (god statue), danced around it, then a dancer in a white priest robe made them take down the tiki, but soon after he was ritually killed and the tiki put back into his rightful place Watching the savage performance it was easy to imagine why the Europeans were so scared of the Marquesan cannibals when they arrived here in the 18th century. Takitoa, a group of Marquesan expats who live in Tahiti did a rather modern version of the traditional dances, but they certainly had the most impressive tattoos of all participants (two tattoo artists from Tagaloa Tattoo where Christian and I got ours were with that group).
After a break the evening program with the groups from Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahiti, Nuku Hiva and Rikitea started with a bit of a delay in the program. As every act took over an hour with some delays in between our bottoms were put to the test sitting on rocks that seemed to get harder and more pointed by the hour. It was past midnight when the group from the Gambier finally danced in ‘rowing’ a raft over the stage.
It was past 1 o’clock in the morning when we got to our fishing boat, nobody of our cruiser’s group got to bed before half past two (the two kids who were with us kept up bravely until the end) and the fishing boat captain was back at 7 o’clock the next morning for our second day. This time the venue was far outside town on a mountain and again the transport situation was chaotic. In the end we managed to hitch there in two rides and then it was still a steep half hour climb to the historic temple site. Participants from all groups overtook us on the way up, carrying costumes and accessories–at least we could sit down once we had reached the site, for them the really strenous part was still coming.
The setting on the mountain slope, surrounded by stone walls, and the rainforest in the background was just breathtaking, the accoustics amazing and we enjoyed another 4 hours of rousing drumming, eerie woman choirs answered by hoarse warrior cries from the men–HAKA!
Festival des Arts des Iles Marquises
Every 4 years a big festival is held in one of the Marquesan islands, this year in December 2015 in Hiva Oa. We watched two days of the impressive spectacle.
(42 photos)
2015
17
Dec
Festival des Arts des Iles Marquises
Every 4 years cultural festival takes place alternately in one of the six populated islands of the Marquesas. Tomorrow the 10th Festival will kick off on the island of Hiva Oa and dance and drumming groups, choirs and artisans from the Marquisian islands of Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka, Ua Pou, Fatu Hiva and Tahuata, but also groups from Tahiti, the Gambier and even Rapa Nui (Easter Island) have gathered there over the past few days. On Monday a big military vessel went around Tahuata to pick up the official participants for the Festival from Tahuata–almost a quarter of the population of 600
We’ve seen the groups of Nuku Hiva and Tahuata practicing and can’t wait to see them perform in their impressive costumes. As the harbour of Atuona on Hiva Oa only provides space for a limited amount of boats and yachts started crowding in over the past few weeks, we’ve decided to stay on the neighbouring island of Tahuata with its safer anchorages from where a local boat will take us and 8 other fellow cruisers 10 miles over to Hiva Oa tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
2015
14
Dec
Dolphin show
The sea around the Marquesas is dark because of the black volcanic bottom, the water often murky and notorious for sharks, so it’s not too inviting for swimming and snorkeling. But sharks aren’t the only big predators around here–today we’ve had a large group of dolphins visiting the anchorage. Locals also call Hanatefau the dolphin bay, because they come here so often.
It was exciting to see them swimming in groups, circling around (rounding up little fish to hunt them?), jumping, pirouetting and backflipping just next to Pitufa. We hardly managed to get any tasks done, whenever we went under deck, the splashing noises so close to the boat lured us up again 
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2015
11
Dec
The world is standing still
…at least our little world on Pitufa We sailed just 2 miles south to the next bay Hanetafau where we’ve found the first calm spot in weeks. It’s amazing how your energy comes soaring back when you sleep through the whole night and no longer constantly bump head and toes on the rocking boat.
We used this rush of energy to explore the island per pedes yesterday. We left the dinghy at the protected little harbour of the charming village Hapatoni, where people told us we’d take about 1 and half hours walking to Hanateio on the other side of the island from which we wanted to hitch a ride back. We started out at 7 o’clock in the morning, hiked up the steep gravel road to the top of the ridge only to find that there was yet another ridge further up to cross and another and then another
In the end it took us about 3 hours to get to Hanateio (which is just a few houses and some copra sheds). We had given up all hope on catching a ride by that time as no car had passed us on the way and the road didn’t look like cars could make it over the rocks and potholes in any case. Just when we wanted to turn back a pick-up truck with two postmen came up behind us. They were on their way to Hanatete (the village in the northeast at the end of the road) and assured us they’d take us back after they’d finished work there. With that assurance we dared exploring further along the mountainous road with its amazing views over the craggy peaks, pleated slopes and black cliffs that fall off into deep bays. We reached Hanatetena by noon, had a picnic, chatted with the locals and waited for the postmen to finish their work on the dodgy internet antenna of the village.
By 2 in the afternoon they were ready to head back and we hopped on the truck bed for a slow and very bumpy ride back to Hapatoni.
2015
09
Dec
Full bays in Tahuata
We sailed up from Fatu Hiva to Tahuata the day before yesterday, using the last puff of a good easterly breeze before the calm arrived we’re having now. The last days in Fatu Hiva were wonderful (except for the sleepless nights because of the rolling on the boat and the terribly starved dogs ashore), we hiked to the gorgeous waterfall even twice and enjoyed swimming in the cold freshwater pool (the only real refreshment in this heat–the sea temperature’s up to 30 degrees…). On the last day we even managed to straighten the shank of our Danforth anchor using a heavy piece of steel pipe from the village. We had accidentally bent the shank when lifting our stern anchor in Nuku Hiva.
Now we are anchored in Vaitahu. The bays of Tahuata get fuller with sailing boats every day now as the festival in Hiva Oa is getting closer. In the bay of Vaitahu the swell is also entering from 2 directions, but with the help of a stern anchor we’re rather comfy. Dinghy landings are rather adventurous on the exposed dock where the waves break metre high (even there you need a stern anchor), but the walks through the picturesque village and the fertile mountains are worth the hassle.
2015
02
Dec
Back in Fatu Hiva
We have returned to spectacular Baie des Vierges where we made our first landfall in the Marquesas two and a half years ago. The picture of this bay adorns the cover of Ocean7′s current edition
2015
01
Dec
Sailing to the southern group
We left Nuku Hiva this morning, will sail past Hiva Oa and Tahuata this night and reach the souternmost island of the Marquesas, Fatu Hiva, tomorrow morning.
2015
30
Nov
Diesel days
Our Pitufa plus gear is generally very benign–when things break they usually do so at a suitable time (if there’s ever a good time for that…). E.g. the windlass stopped working just before we sailed to Tahiti where spare parts could be found, the clew of the genoa ripped off just 4 nm before we reached Huahine and the fuel line of our Yanmar engine decided to get clogged up when we were motoring out on the ocean on the way up here to the Marquesas. I don’t even want to imagine what catastrophes could have happened if the engine had just quit on us while navigating through a narrow pass with strong currents in the Tuamotus or in Maupiti. Brrrr.
When the engine died with a few blub-blub-blubs on the last passage we cleaned the diesel filters and found a little red sausage in it. Hmm. We immediately knew what had happened. After Christian had cut open the diesel tank 2 years ago in the boatyard (in order to clean out the goo that had accumulated over 25 years) he resealed the tank with red silicone which now started to dissolve. Therefore we emptied the tank, filtered the diesel, opened the tank again, thoroughly cleaned it and this time we put proper gasket material in. The whole procedure took 2 days and then we spent another happy day splashing around with diesel while refilling the tank in short breaks between tropical rain showers (it took 3 dinghy rides with jerry cans).
Now we’re ready to go sailing again and it looks like there’s a phase with northeasterly wind coming up which we’ll use to sail to the southern group of the Marquesas.
2015
20
Nov
Our photos of Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The name triggers associations of the perfect Southsea paradise at home. The landscape of the island's really extraordinary, but the sheer amount of hotels and traffic spoil the picture a bit. We stopped there twice while island hopping in September 2015.
(22 photos)
2015
18
Nov
Sauna
When we arrived in the Marquesas, the islands looked brownish and withered. Locals told us that it had been unusually dry (even for the dry season) and we moaned in the relentless heat of the sun. Our white (!) deck was so hot that you couldn’t step on it barefoot, the 30 degree warm sea acted as underfloor heating and the whole boat turned into a sauna. To get some relief we made sun shades for the hatches to be able to leave them open and catch a breeze.
Last Friday the weather suddenly changed and now we have torrential rainfalls pouring down several times a day. Our sun shades have turned into umbrellas (the hatches can remain open), the water tanks are full and we’re actually glad it has cooled down a bit. More rain in the east pacific area and droughts in the west pacific are typical for el nino years, so we’ll see how the weather will develop.
First it was too hot for excursions and then too wet, so we’ve only managed to go hiking in Nuku Hiva’s mountains once so far. As a positive side effekt we’ve got some jobs done at home: we’ve mended the genoa clew, finally finished the dingy cover (except some more velcro needs to be glued to the dinghy), changed the filter of the watermaker, changed the engine oil, etc. etc.–Pitufa really needed some maintenance.