Ua Pou

May 14-15, 2014

Hakahetau Bay

Ua Pou

We sailed from Hanaiapa Bay at 5 am. It was a wet ride with clouds dumping on us and the wind was all over the place. It was late afternoon before we reached the island of Ua Pou (Poe) and we still had a way to go to reach the anchorage we wanted. We tried to stop at Hakamaii Bay, which was a bit closer, but our instinct told us to move on… too unprotected and we would not have slept that night. We finally reached Hakahetau Bay and spent the night there.

When we woke up we saw an impressive skyline. Huge spires rising out of the island and they are truly striking. We had our morning coffee and decided to kayak to shore and explore. We tried twice to do this, but we did not make it (a humbling explanation in lessons section). Our instincts finally screamed at us to move on. We did not see the village of Hakahetau…

Lesson for today (with humility and embarrassment):

Do NOT assume anything… communicate with your partner ALWAYS.

Explaination: Our Kayak Drama (or as Marie would say “A little movie”).

We had read that it was tricky to get onshore in Hakahetau Bay. Motorized inflatables were not recommended, so we decided to take our double kayak and drag it on shore once we arrived. Our kayak routine is that I sit in front and hold on to our “stuff” and Theo sits in the back, gets the paddle and we go. There was a crazy current and swells. I got into the kayak and when I felt Theo sit down behind me…  I let go of Et Voila. A huge mistake that will not be repeated… EVER. I heard Theo say “I don’t have the paddle”. We look back at the boat and, sure enough, there it was. The current was so strong that we had already drifted an alarming distance away in just seconds. I began using my arms as paddles and Theo jumped in and tried to swim and pull me to safety. He reached the boat, but the rope had slipped from his hand.

I was still adrift and all this time I was still using my arms like crazy trying to move, but it was not happening. I will never forget the force of the current that day and how I used all of my strength with no results whatsoever. Thankfully, Theo managed to get me the paddle and I got back on the catamaran. We were exhausted. Okay, this was totally avoidable and in normal conditions would not have been a big deal… In this bay, it was a very big deal.

We are not ones to give up, so we tried again (with two paddles this time). The current and swells were too treacherous. We pulled anchor and left for Hakahau…

Quote for today: “If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it is no longer a mistake.” Eckhart Tolle

French Words: Oups Translation: Oops

Desole’ Translation: Sorry

Les faute Translation: Mistakes

C’est une ide’e bête Translation: Foolish Idea

Ocean sightings: zero (thank goodness)

Books: The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

             Love With a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche

NoNos: Zero

Tears: Zero

May 15-23, 2014

Hakahau Bay

Ua Pou

We anchored and saw another impressive skyline. It is cooler here with a light breeze and we have a protected spot next to shore. Hakahau Bay has one of the nicest dinghy docks in the Marquesas and the water is clear and inviting. We will stay a while.

Hakahau Bay skyline

Et Voila

 Our fresh vegetables have decreased to onions, garlic and two cabbages. I tried to make salad for lunch and Theo (who is usually quite tolerant) clenched his jaw and hissed “I do NOT want any more cabbage”. We heard there were a few well stocked grocery stores here, so we set out to find them right away. We found fresh croissants, pastries, potatoes, onions, garlic and cabbage. Thank goodness the pastries cheered Theo up for a little while.  If any of our friends want to play a prank on him while visiting us, just buy some cabbage before you come onboard!

Typical things we see around the village:

Shopping for starfruit.

On the way back to the boat we saw a sign that said “Pizza”. This sounded like a dream, especially with an ice cold Hinano Beer. We sat down and the owner, who was delightful and spoke English, showed us the written menu of the day. There was no pizza in sight. I ordered the Poisson Cru and Theo said he wanted to try what the locals eat. For those of you that do not know my husband, he loves to try different types of food, and over the past 26 years I have seen him eat some daring things. That being said… one plate arrived with different kinds of raw mussels and crabs ( we have seen these clinging to the rocks at every dinghy dock), different varieties of  fish which were both cooked and smoked, fried bananas and cucumber salad…. amazing. Not what we expected. The owner even let us use his Wi-fi…  we were extremely happy and will definitely go back.

Crab on rock

Crab for lunch

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There is also a pension that will serve you dinner if you reserve ahead of time. It is called Pension Pukue’e and the owners, Eliza and Jerome, are lovely. This is actually their home, but you can stay in the extra rooms and eat meals with them. The large covered patio is very pretty and has a nice view of the harbor. We ate our dinner at a communal table with the owners and some guests that were visiting from France. The company was fun and Eliza made us an unforgettable meal of lobster, sashimi, slow cooked goat with mangos, a breadfruit casserole ( I could have eaten the whole thing), and for dessert a homemade tart made of passion fruit, mango and kumquat marmalade with ice cream… Yum.

It is interesting to experience the “vibe” here during the week versus the weekend. This is a very traditional way of life. We can hear the school bells ring as children attend classed during the week. On Friday night we hear music as locals gather on the beach. We can smell the BBQ they prepare and serve on the picnic tables. On Saturday most of the kids are out laughing, swimming and playing together on the beach and in the evening there is more music. They seem really, really happy. When we walk through the town, children will lean out the window of their cars to give us a high five and then laugh hysterically when they touch us.  We sit at the stern of our boat and watch people ride their horses on the beach and swim. In the evenings everyone around us is sitting outside watching the sunset. On Sunday there are the church bells and after mass it is a family day. All businesses are closed and there is peace and quiet in the village.  That is it… Simple.

Stunning beach and spires.

One afternoon, customs officers dropped by our boat to check our paperwork. I will try to explain this the best I can, but it was so strange. Three officers approached Et Voila with their inflatable (no shoes). I locked up the dogs and Theo grabbed their boat line. After that, it was all in slow motion. One man jumped on board no problem, but then the second man grabbed our stern ladder. Our ladder is NOT fixed in place. It is meant to swing down into the water so swimmers can get back onboard. So you can imagine when he grabbed the ladder, he fell backwards as the ladder moved towards him taking the man behind him down as well. The two of them were in the water with guns, phones, sunglasses and everything else… Oops. I offered them towels, but they wanted to go change and said they would come back later. Theo and I giggled the whole time we waited for them to return. We had our serious, responsible faces on during the inspection and it went fine... Awkward though.

Theo, Mambo and our famous ladder.

There is one gentleman on the island that is extremely social with the sailing crowd. He was born in France, but now lives on Ua Pou among the Marquesians. He knows English so we were able to communicate just fine. Theo and I have nicknamed him “The Floater” because he floats around the anchorage on an old body board wearing his crocs. Every day he comes by for a chat, and when he is ready to move on, he floats to the next boat and repeats the same with them. One day he joined us on Et Voila for a lunch of French fries and Rum drinks and we all exchanged stories. The cruisers are like his family. Thank you for your time… We will remember you always!

Theo, Mambo and "The Floater".

On the morning of May 21^st a huge ship, the Aranui , docked in Ua Pou.  All of the cruisers were out on their boat bows at 6am with coffee to watch it maneuver into place. Fascinating! If I wouldn’t have seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed a ship that size would be able to dock here. Today is a big celebration on the island because the Aranui’s arrival means more tourists to entertain and feed, and also new provisions for the island from Tahiti. In the afternoon, we walked through a local artists exhibit and after we saw a traditional dance performance. In the evening there was a concert and barbeque put together for all the cruisers. The people here are generous and gracious hosts. We are thankful that we experienced this special day.

Arrival of Aranui

Kids playing with the Aranui dock lines

Traditional dance by Meheani

Dancers and us.

Meheani and me.

We will be leaving Ua Pou soon. We have lingered longer than expected.  That’s fine because we are meeting people on the boats around us and exchanging ideas about where to go next. We will definitely sail to Nuku Hiva tomorrow to buy some fresh vegetables and fish at the early morning market on Saturday. Then we are off to the Tuamotu Archipelago.

Lesson: Sharks are only a problem in the anchorages where the fishermen clean their fish on the docks. In Ua Pou, the fishermen only clean their fish outside the bay. They are very strict about this. It is so the children can swim without danger. Very nice.

Quote: “People will forget what you said; people will forget what you did; but people will never forget how you made them feel”. Maya Angelou

French: Au marche’   Translation: To the market

 Voulez-vous une chou?   Translation: Would you like a cabbage?

Oui, oui ! Duex choux s’il vous plait   Translation:  Yes, yes! Two cabbages please.

C’est bête comme choux   Translation: That’s foolish as cabbage

La Douane  Translation: Customs

Flotteur  Translation : Float