ende

2016
07
Feb

New Article in All-at-Sea Caribbean


Birgit Hackl: A Cruiser’s Toolbox, All At Sea Caribbean, February 2016, p. 38–40. Free download from allatsea.net.

2016
05
Feb

Travelling by mail coach

…or at least with a modern version of it ;-) We hadn’t made it to the central part of the northern coast yet (the anchorages are open and difficult by boat and there’s hardly any traffic going up there so no point in hoping to hitch a ride), but reading the guides about this rugged piece of coastal line we were eager to get there. Yesterday I chatted with the young post woman and she explained that she had to cover 3 offices at the moment (Taipivai and Hatiheu and Aakapa on the northern coast), because her colleague has been on leave for 5 weeks. I casually mentioned that we were searching for a way to get to Aakapa and she immediately offered to take us with her the next day. The only problem: she has to leave at 6 o’clock in the morning to be there by 7…

So today we set the alarm to 4.30 (getting the hiking things, taking the dinghy ashore and marching to the meeting point took a while) and met Norma and her mom at the agreed point and time. The road to Hatiheu is very steep, but still partly paved and in a fairly good condition. The stretch further on along the coast is a dirt or rather boulder road with more potholes than flat bits. While Norma opened the post office in Aakapa we walked through the tiny village and further west up along the coastal road to a ridge with magnificent views over the wild northern coast with ocean surf fringed bays, volcanic cliffs and pillar-like rock formations. We got back just in time when the post woman closed the office again at 10.30 and back in Taipivai still before noon. We went to the shop in search of a thank-you gift. Fortunately the shop owner’s Norma’s cousin, knows her taste and was able to point us in the right direction :-)

2016
03
Feb

Taipivai

We’re still in Nuku Hiva, waiting for the cyclone season to cool down. The latest predictions suggest that another cluster of cyclones will hit the South Pacific mid February and we hope to leave the Marquesas after that to spend the rest of the season in the Gambier.
In the meantime we’ve settled in in the bay of Hakahaa off the friendly village Taipivai. This village got famous in the 19th century, because the writer Herman Melville deserted his ship here, lived among the locals for a while and wrote a book called ‘Typee’ about his experiences. Despite the friendliness of his hosts he lived in constant fear, as they had a reputation for being fierce warriors and cannibals. It seems he suspected them of just fattening him up for a feast with him as the main course at some point, but nothing ever happened ;-)
At high tide you can take the dinghy up the river directly to the village, so we docked there and walked into a minimarket (the middle one of the 3, Simon’s the owner) with just a short list of groceries to buy, asked whether they knew where we’d be able to find internet, were offered a table in the rear of the shop to use their internet connection and left with a big box of avocados, mangos and pamplemousse and a stack bananas–everything for free. If we were as paranoid as Melville, we could have gotten similar fears ;-) The hospitality of the Marquesan people keeps amazing us.

2016
20
Jan

Kitchen project

Three factors are really grinding down our nerves and energy in the Marquesas: the rolling in the open anchorages, the heat (how can you get anything done when you’re sweating like a pig even in idle mode?) and the nonos (in places where they make it to the boat).

Hooumi bay is reasonably calm (at least with a stern anchor), the nonos haven’t found us out here and the past few days we’ve had grey rainy weather so it’s been a bit cooler–even inside the boat as we’ve arranged various canvas tents on the fore and aft deck so that we can leave the hatches open even when it’s pouring down (or when the sun is burning down).
We’ve used the pleasant conditions to work on a project we’ve been postponing for months: the tap in the kitchen sink was completely rusty (a low quality piece we had bought in Panama…) and the woodwork around the sink was also in a sorry state due to the saltwater that’s especially hard on varnish (we have a saltwater tap in the sink to save freshwater when doing the dishes).
On Sunday we removed the old tap (we needed a saw to get the rusty fittings out), the gross mouldy silicone and then we sanded the wooden panels. Yesterday we started varnishing, today we’ll add 2 more layers and tomorrow we’ll be able to install the new tap (this time we bought an expensive one–hopefully it’ll last longer) and have a shiny new galley :-)

2016
17
Jan

Nonos

The Wikipedia only says the following about Nonos: Simulium buissoni, the black nono or no-no noir des rivières, is a midge species in the genus Simulium found on Nuku Hiva and Eiao, Marquesas archipelago in Polynesia.
This short sentence gives no idea how annoying these critters are. Their bites itch at first, but after two days they get infected, swell up and keep itching like hell for almost a week :-(

At the moment there’s some southerly swell coming up that makes the anchorage in Taiohae quite bouncy and rolly, so after doing some internet chores and some shopping, we motored into the neighbouring Baie de Controleur which is much calmer. We anchored in the middle bay of Hakahaa, sat down for lunch enjoying the blissfully still boat when the first nonos started biting…
We put up the mosquito nets, lit a smoke coil and were able to keep them out of the boat for a restful night. This morning we put on the nono protection gear (long sleeves, a thick layer of coconut oil and mosquito spray on top), hitched a ride up from Taipivai to the pass, got a beautiful view over the northern coast with the bay of Hatiheu and then walked back down over the steep serpentines. We made a detour to a waterfall (which we searched for but couldn’t find two years ago–it was dried out then) and then hitched another ride back to Taipivai (every car stops on friendly Nuku Hiva :-) ).

Back on the boat we quickly lifted the anchor, motored out of the nono bay, had a quick bath in the clear water outside before motoring into the murky water of the neighbouring bay Hooumi. Now we’re rolling a bit again (not as bad as in Taiohae though), but hopefully(!) the resident nonos won’t make it out to Pitufa.

2016
10
Jan

Two new articles in January issues…

January is a good month for us, at least publication-wise. Both magazines, All-At-Sea Caribbean and Ocean7, have new articles of us in their January issues.


Birgit Hackl: Plant a Garden on a Cruising Boat, All At Sea Caribbean, January 2016, p. 42–46. Free download from allatsea.net.


Birgit Hackl, Christian Feldbauer: Nachtwachen, OCEAN7 01 (Jänner/Februar) 2016, p. 44–46.

2016
10
Jan

Exploring

The giant Baie de Controleur east of Taiohae is divided into 3 inner bays: we just spent a few days in the easternmost Hooumi, we stayed in Hakahaa with its charming village Taipivai when we visited 2 years ago and today we took the boat over to the westernmost bay of Hakapaa. Despite the northeastlery wind direction there were still quite some confused waves coming into the bay from the South. We checked out Hakapaa, but Pitufa was rolling so badly that we decided to go on to the side arm called Haka Puuae. This tiny bay didn’t look like much on the chart, but in the end we found a nice basin with a sandy bottom surrounded by shallow reefs and surprisingly calm seas.

We had to anchor close to shore (unfortunately close enough to have some of the annoying nonos coming to visit–tiny, biting flies) and went ashore in full protective gear (long trousers, T-Shirt and all exposed skin areas lathered with monoi oil and mosquito repellent) to find a waterfall the cruising guide had mentioned. There’s one house in the bay and some locals were having a weekend picnic on the beach so we asked for directions and were told that the walk was difficult and the waterfall dried out. We walked into the valley anyway and followed the dried river bed into the quickly narrowing and steepening canyon. We gave up when we got stuck in the dense undergrowth, but the views of the canyon were worth the effort. Tomorrow we’ll try another hike in the neighbouring Hakapaa Bay.

2016
07
Jan

Time-out

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.

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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