Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands
South Pacific
Day 1 - Sunday, Father's Day
June 17, 2007
First Mate:
Could you ask for anything better than to be celebrating Father's Day with people who cherish family more than anything in life? We listened to a Catholic Mass in Tahitian with songs that made you sway in grace and gratitude. They welcomed us, all the cruisers, who came dressed in our finest, beaming to be included in the festivities that followed, a Father's Day Celebration, with dancing, food (which they generously shared with all of us- Cheetahs, Cake, slice of a baguette with egg salad and a soda), and more singing and dancing. Then, the Encantoid's walked up the canyon, to the one room grocery store, and around the bend to see continued beauty. The grocer gave Anya and me his Father Day Lei's, made with fragrant mint, Elani/Frangipani, little red tomatoes-but not edible tomatoes, and other greens. Pinch me again, we are HERE!. Memorable moments: a little girl, Evelyn, who collected limes to give them to me by the handfuls- "Madame, madame for you.", another little boy and girl who were fascinated by Anya and her digital camera, and the hula dancing by the dozen little (think, ages 5-8) boys and girls who could move their hips with the best of them.
We made John a Father's Day meal of Roasted Chicken (bought in town, but grown and frozen in Mt Vernon, Washington $1.50/lb) smothered in herbs, fresh Limon from Evelyn, Coconut sticky rice, canned corn and a Poppy Seed Rum Cake.
Crew Gaby:
Father's Day started out pretty typical for us, giving our homemade card to Dad and talking to each other. The only difference was that the locals had invited all the cruisers to Mass and a party. It was Sami and my first time in Mass. We didn't get all the bowing and stuff but the singing was really very pretty. Afterwards the children put on a dance for the fathers. It was so cute. Then everyone ate and drank to their hearts content to which I still think they are drinking at the moment (2pm).
It was a lot of fun and a little difficult to start using French words instead of the Spanish I had picked up. So, the switching is still being worked on.
Crew Anya:
I keep pinching myself: am I really here?? Yep I am! What a great way to spend our first day in Fatu Hiva than joining church, listening to the town sing out loud. Watching the women all dressed up with flowers in their hair or behind their ears (on the left means married, on the right means single) and the fathers wearing Lei's made out of flowers, fruit and herbs.
I have never felt so welcome anywhere with people who I don't know yet. They seem like the nicest people. I even got to talk to one of the men about politics and the latest elections. Talk about putting that High School French into practice right away! Can't wait to see, what this paradise has to offer us more…
Crew Sami:
What a good Father's Day. We(meaning Gaby) made dad a homemade card, then we when into town to celebrate Father's Day with the locals. When we got to shore the first thing we did, was go the church. It was all done in Tahitian so we didn't understand it. They sang a lot, which was cool. Then after the ceremony was over, we went to the party that was packed with the locals in a large room. After, we went to the little store, and mom and Anya got some lei's. The whole day was pretty cool.
June 18, 2007
Fatu Hiva
Crew Gaby:
Today was a work day. Dad fixed the Head, Anya started cleaning the edge of the boat, Mom cleaned, and Sami and I did school. No Mah Joong today though. We just got back from a happy hour at s/v Barbara Ann's (kid boat) and we plan to do the waterfall hike with them and s/v Creola. That should be lots of fun. The wind is strong here and there are frequent rain showers so the boat is getting a good shower.
Crew Anya:
I don't know what's wrong with me but I sleep a lot. How can one get so exhausted from watching the rain fall and doing your nails? I mean, really…
I was glad that John and Judy had come up with a chore for me to do: cleaning the hull of the boat. I did the back (stern) today. After about an hour I got cold though plus that I need to get something to hold onto when I do the sides because the current (or currency as I mistakenly keep calling it!) is very strong. If I don't hold on to the boat I would drift right out to sea! Meeting the family on Barbara Ann was nice; they seem like very nice people. It will be fun for Gaby and Sami to spend time with more kids. I am looking forward to going on the hike tomorrow.
Crew Sami:
Today was a work day, not much else. We all had a project to do, Gaby and I had school to do. No Mah Joong today(Anya and I are happy). Dad had to do the nasty job in the Head, Anya scraped the stern of the boat, and mom, well mom did her normal stuff: cook, clean and laundry. At 5 pm we went over to BarbaraAnn, with Austin (14)and Tyler (16) on board. We are going to do the hike with BarbaraAnn and Creola tomorrow. So, we are looking forward to this.
First Mate:
Teenagers' getting together is a high priority. Tyler and Austin, finally were able to meet face to face with Gaby and Sami, for weeks while underway they have been chatting on the SSB radio on a TeenKids Net organized by Tory(Victoria) on s/v Purrfection. The boys are open to learning MahJoong, and wonder why the girls don't play Chess. Maybe tomorrow, the teens will get together and have a "play date". They must call it something different than "play date" when the kids cross to the teen years?
Maybe, even on a boat, I can create what my sister Cynthia created in her home's basement: a "teen haven"-a place with plenty of snack food, bubbly beverages, entertainment center (games, in our case), and "no supervision, except the occasional eaves dropper" illusion of privacy.
The rains are sporadically, heavy with gusting winds of 35 knots or more. Our anchor is holding even if a boat anchored on top of ours. Plenty of room here at this anchorage, but some cruisers like to snuggle up close to the nearest boat. Captain worries about bumper boat shenanigans and the lack of our ability to respond quickly to shifting conditions when our anchor sits below someone else's keel and might be fouled under them. We have asked them to re-anchor and they agreed to do it in the morning.
Only two boats have dragged, which is surprising as this is a very good holding. But the winds can be strong and they whoa, WHOA, hold on to your hats. There doesn't seem to be a pattern for the rainfall; some days it is heavy in the morning, other days, heavy in the late afternoon. Our clothes are being dried by the wind more than the sun. But the strong winds are actually getting our wind generator to produce some ENERGY. We've had a few casualties of clothes being ripped off the line. Temperature seems to range in the low 80's°F (28°C). The winds keep the few biting pests to a minimum. Yeh!
Captain is busy working on repairs; the HEAD. Nasty job, nasty job, which no one likes to do or wants to do, but someone (always the Captain) has to do. He had to take everything apart, finding that some fitting were worn and broke-off with little effort. So, the creative Captain had to design and makeshift connectors and fittings, then re-work the hose flow to a direct overboard outflow (no use of the holding tank). We have a working head. There remains saltwater leakage at the pump lever, but that is a minor inconvenience given now we no longer need the bucket.
Captain has started to hand sew, the edge of the jib's UV cover that came undone. While underway, more of the seam had unraveled, particularly where there were only two stitch lines holding it, instead of three. Most everywhere else, the sail is triple stitched. The hand stitching that he did while we were underway held, now it is just dealing with the new sections that have unraveled. AND then, there will be the tasks of dealing with the condition of the jib head that appears to be torn (?), the furling connection and at some time going up the mast to investigate the jib shackle that came undone. With the winds as strong as they are, even in the early morning, we don't know when we will be able to hoist the Captain up the mast.
When do we move on? Depend on our ability to finish these important boat chores. Yes, once again we are traveling to exotic ports of calls to do boat maintenance.
Did we mention? This place is drop dead GORGEOUS. When the cruising guidebooks say that this is THE most beautiful volcanic Marquesas Island, I have to believe that this is the truth, although we have nothing to compare it to, yet.