Written by Mia back in July during our stay in the lovely atoll of Tahanea.

We arrived in Tahanea mid morning after a light winded night sail. At one point to get the timing right, we just took down the sails and drifted. We timed the pass perfectly and we entered the pass with two other family boats, Luminesce and Debonair. We compared notes and Luminesce entered 30 minutes before the tide change, they had three knots of current against them. Debonair followed and at ten minutes before, had one and a half knots against them. When it was our turn, it was five minutes past the turning tide and we had half a knot of current with us. It became very quickly clear how in the passes of the Tuamotus as in life itself, timing is everything.

The forecast showed that we could expect some strong winds in the days to come so we motored across the atoll to an anchorage where the palm trees would offer us a little protection from wind and waves. Tahanea is a national park and this is the prettiest water we have seen yet. There are not enough adjectives for this paradise! As we traveled from one end of the atoll to the other, we marvelled at the turquoise water especially where the bommies broke the surface along the way. All of a sudden the cobalt water appears to be brownish where the coral grows up just a half a meter beneath the surface. Moving across these atolls requires careful navigation and as many eyes on watch as possible. Once we were safely anchored, we spent lots of time in the water. There were beautiful coral heads nearby and even took the dinghies out to the closer bommies to snorkel. The rainbow of pretty fish are enchanting and on the way back we chatted about our favourites and the personality they seem to show.

We enjoyed a nice little neighbourhood of three family boats in Tahanea. We were invited to Luminesce for coffee and doughnuts one Sunday morning. The kids got along very well and there is no sound nicer than throng of giggling kids and it has to be said that the adults very much enjoyed their coffee chat as well. Itchy Foot hosted a games night that featured Qwirkle, Scrabble, Ali Baba Buckaroo and Apples to Apples complete with bursts of more laughter. And we went to Debonair to enjoy some dinghy sailing. What a lovely feeling! We even did some boat school ashore together where the kids mapped out one of the motus. They paced out the perimeter and made calculations and notes. They drew up proper charts and then they finally buried treasure for future boat kids to discover. Please contact us if you want the coordinates!

We attended a birthday party ashore for Arlo, a great guy and one of Teo’s favourites. Debonair throws a great party, complete with a scavenger hunt where the two teams of kids built boats, made art and recycled  and upcycled stuff from the beach. We munched on popcorn, homemade limeade, mango cake and enjoyed our time relaxing around the bonfire. The kids had a fabulous time and no one was keen to go back home and at one point there was even nighttime swimming, lying on their backs staring at the stars. It was a very memorable day.

We stayed in this paradise with lovely company for a little over a week. We watched the locals farm the wild coconuts for copra and light the husks into bonfires along the the shoreline. They were a family from a nearby motu stopped by to check in with us and take notes about the boat and the occupants. On a clear, calm day I climbed the mast for the first time and it was glorious to peer at the turquoise water and from up there the reef sharks were very clear as they cruised around. Teo showed his independence and took the kayak out on his own to visit his friends. He also staked a claim to a little coral reef behind Itchy Foot and he kept showing everyone “Teo’s reef”.

Once the weather calmed down we moved to an anchorage on the other side of the atoll and went ashore to a gorgeous set of islands. We had a picnic and great explore and even swam between the islands. It is always a special feeling to swim to a neighbouring island for an explore. There was such a pronounced feeling of really getting away from it all in this place. There was special sand that was made up of tiny perfect discs and lots of hermit crabs and sea birds that lay their eggs totally exposed on the sand, a sign of trust and little experience of danger.

Before we left Tahanea, Itchy Foot returned to our first anchorage to retrieve a forgotten hat and we found that the father of the family with a camp there had kept it safe for us. It is a wonderful feeling when human nature is generous. We have a rule or least a tradition for birthdays and anniversaries. We try our best not to be on the move for special dates. Jon’s birthday was celebrated in Tahanea with an afternoon in the hammock, handmade cards and gifts and a bubbles and bonfire dinner on the beach, complete with cookie cake. Tahanea holds some very happy memories for us.

Written by Mia back in June. Just to remind you, we are not currently in the Marquesas! We are in Tahiti as this gets posted. So this is a few months old. Sorry for playing catch-up!

The weather was not favorable to move on and so we got to add another anchorage to our list on Nuku Hiva. This time it was a gorgeous open bay on the northern coast called Anaho. There is no road access but there are a few people living here. They have some fruit orchards and a little church, although it didn’t seem to have services, even on the Sunday we were there. There are also some tables and a bar on the pretty little beach which we heard used to be a small cafe. We were sharing this bay with a dozen or so other boats.

We spent a lot of time in the water here and did some amazing snorkeling. A little silver fish adopted me, And followed me around for 30 minutes or so and I named him “Flash”. It is wonderful to just pause and watch a little fish community on the reef. As you spend some time with them, you start to see their personalities come out, some are definitely more curious than others while some are very shy and some kinds of fish are always hanging out together.  On a snorkeling excursion to the other end of the bay, we spotted lots of manta rays. They are amazing creatures and so graceful as they fly through the water. We swam with some that had a 2 meter wing span. A little research tells us these were only medium sized, although it didn’t feel like it when we were swimming together.

Ashore, we had a good couple of wanders although the mozzies kept us from hanging out too long in the evenings. Teo is amazing at spotting treasures and found us some beautiful cowry shells. One day we walked over the hill to Hatiheu Bay which does have road access and a couple of shops. We visited this place under odd conditions. The Aranui was in town. The Aranui is a supply ship that also has tourist cabins, it is a bit of a hybrid cruise ship that brings lots of supplies and tourists to the islands. We have seen lots of locations change dramatically while cruise ships visit and this was no exception. We cashed in though and had a lovely meal with live entertainment. Our walk over the hill to and from Hatiheu was muddy! It had rained a lot but it was fun to slip and slide and we were delighted to pick lots and lots of mangoes on the way. We met some horses and shared with them, too. We also had to giggle as we heard loud music approaching long before the cowboy on horseback with a ghetto blaster on his shoulder and his dog trailing behind came into view. Our feet all needed a good wash before going back to the boat. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Anaho Bay.

Written by Mia many months ago. This all happened back in June in the Marquesas. We are slowly catching up. Sorry for the confusion for out of sync posts. Such is life with 3rd world internet!

As much as we enjoyed Taiohae, the “big city” of Nuku Hiva with a financial district (two banks) and a educational sector (an adorable school with child made wind chimes made of shells and a public library that offers free Tahitian dance lessons) we had to move on and motored around to our second anchorage. As we entered Hakatea aka Daniels Bay, we were surrounded by tall, dramatic cliffs. As we anchored it seemed like we were surrounded on all sides.

We were anchored right next to Nicko on Urchin. One of our favorite things about this lifestyle is the variety of neighborhoods and being able to choose neighbors. Nicko is lovely and we shared some wonderful evenings. He was teaching Teo some chords on his ukulele and one evening we even organized a concert but it was just us so we were performing and spectating. In the bay we enjoyed lots of swimming and had a cruisers meetup on the beach with a bonfire and the sunsets made incredible shadows on the cliffs.

While we were there Nicko took us on an adventure. He had befriended some locals and had been hunting wild boar with them. That was an incredible story! We visited them in their hut and admired the detailed perfection of the place. It feels like even the best film set designers could not have dreamt up a cooler hunting hut. It was adorned with barrels as tables, skins, conch shells and all the skulls with names and dates on them. As we arrived they were “picking” pamplemousse with a tool that resembled a very long lacrosse stick. They had a few horses tethered outside and dogs that help them on the hunts.

We walked a path through a dozen homes with perfectly manicured gardens. These people clearly care deeply for their homes and they all are so beautiful. This valley is a special place. At one point, before the French arrived, 20,000 people lived here, now it is less than twenty homes. The path went on and on and we saw the ruins of the civilization that had been there. The people living there today are their descendants and very proud. We met many of them on our way, and the most memorable were two young guys with knife holsters (Teo was very impressed) and lots of tattoos, even on their faces. The Marquesan tattoo tradition is truly amazing and beautiful to behold. I smell another blog post.

We followed the path for about two hours using the trail and stones as steps and even crossing the river a few times. We were rewarded with an amazing waterfall. We shared the baguette the guys shared with us and some fresh fruit and then jumped in! Living on a boat, we do lots and lots of swimming, but there is something very special about lots and lots of fresh water! We loved our swim, even if we had to share the water with a good sized eel. He didn’t seem interested in us but the shrimp came over to see if we were food. We swam into the cave on the side of the waterfall. What an enchanting place!

On our way back we were invited to have some refreshments made by a little old lady who Nicko helped by transporting a stove in his dinghy the day before. We demolished a whole pile of fritters and two bottles of fresh lime presse. Oh, how wonderful it is to have a taste of France with all the goodness of fresh fruit. On our way back to our dinghies we bought some fruit from a couple who have a little orchard and offer meals for tourists who visit the waterfall. As we were picking out our fruit, I wish we had gotten video of the woman hacking down the stalk of bananas, because she took down the whole tree! Another video worthy moment we missed was a guy shredding coconut for his cats. I have never seen someone move as fast as he did as he threw the bowl down and dashed up the street. Only then did we register that the phone in the phone box was ringing! I think we have succeeded in showing Teo there are lots of ways in this world to live.