June 24, 2007, Sunday, Day 8
Tahuata, Anchorage Hanamoenoe (arrived on Saturday, late afternoon)
Captain's Blog:
It's Sunday morning and I just finished my morning coffee on deck watching the sun come up. I got up around 5:30 while it was still dark and was able to watch the sky lighten. I really do love this time of day on deck.
We are now anchored at Tahuata, and island just south of Hiva Oa. Yesterday was a 9-hour sail in which many of Encanto's sailing shortcomings were blatantly apparent. We were slow; we were the first of 4 boats to leave Fatu Hiva, and the last to arrive. I am still kicking myself for having a smaller jib built in Mexico. Really should have had an exact replacement made. Oh well. The other and possibly more annoying is the roll rate of Encanto. Being flat bottomed; we roll really quickly compared to
round bottom boats. Nothing we can do about it, if I had only known…
Anyway, we are here safely and that's all that really matters. The anchorage we are in is supposed to have the best snorkeling in all of the Marquesas. We are anchored in 35' of water and we can clearly see the bottom. The water is warm and I am really looking forward to getting in. This anchorage really reminds me of Ensenada Grande, and anchorage just north of La Paz on the Baja Peninsula, except instead of dry cactus, the vegetation is lush green. It's not as dramatic as Fatu Hiva, but it's a
very pretty place. There is a large sand beach that needs inspecting and best of all; there are reports of no bugs. The girls are all very happy about that.
I was disappointed with our stay at Fatu Hiva, only because most of my time was spent sewing the jib. It took 4 days, and while I was raising it yesterday (which is a story in itself) I noticed another small tear in the UV cover. Actually it isn't the cloth, but another seam. Someday we will pick up a good industrial sewing machine! We did get to go in and watch the locals practicing their traditional dances for Bastille Day. That was pretty special. I really do love this area; the people are so
friendly and warm. It seems real sincere too.
First Mate:
I wanted to jump into the water upon arrival but it was dark before I knew it. Then today (Sunday), I pranced around in my swimsuit all day long, but I was distracted by visitors and chores and never went into the water.
The water is turquoise and warm. We can see the white sandy and rock bottom. Drop dead gorgeous at this anchorage, although the terrain is very different than in Fatu Hiva. The hillsides are rolling in lush green vegetation, not ragged edged tall pinnacles and cliffs. Yes, we know we need to send more pictures to the website. Coconut palms and grape leaf trees bound the sandy beachfront, reefs are along the edge of the anchorage and best of all, a breeze and scattered clouds keep us cool during the
day. It is a lie, there are bugs here, but not as many while we are on the boat, most are living on the shore, in an amongst the lime trees, mango trees and coconut palms. A small fresh water river outlet is on the southern edge of the beach provides us with an opportunity to get a little potable ground water. Maybe I'll be able to sprout some spouts using the groundwater for sprout rinses. I've yet to succeed at that task; we think this is due to our using pure watermaker water, which doesn't have
enough minerals to support the sprout's growth. The watermaker water is TOO PURE!!!
Today, we invited all the teens in the anchorage, on s/v Encanto to play games and eat snacks. There are seven teens in the anchorage. That is a huge number as we rarely see such a cluster of teen community. I hope, Gaby and Sami report on this event since I wasn't there. We asked each teen to bring a snack and a game to share. The group hung together from 1:30pm until 6pm. Some knew each other from passages in the Caribbean; others were meeting for the first time. We are sure there were some personality
adjustments that had to happen, as well as time to get on the same page of pop culture and interests. Some like cruising, others do not. Their common bond was there ages (12-16) and that they all lived on a boat. Other than that, I think their styles; interests and attitudes ran the gamut of personality types.
All those over the age of 18 were invited aboard s/v Purrrfection for the afternoon. We enjoyed many laughs and a fun time was had at just being lazy, snacking and chatting about everything and nothing. What a great way to spend Sunday afternoon in paradise. For John, it was great to not be working on boat chores, instead, enjoying the company of other Captains and their crew. We did learn an old lesson, again. One boat we had met in Panama and then again in Ecuador. In both of those previous encounters, we found the wife loud, ditzy and even a bit obnoxious. The husband was quiet and fairly innocuous. However, in this small group of thirteen on six boats, we had more time to spend one on one with her and she turned out to be very genuine and an intelligent person. We really felt that we had judged her, too harshly and that we had not demonstrated much tolerance. "Never judge a book by its cover." How easy it is to be judgmental and close off a potentially healthy relationship!!!! Second lesson reinforced: "We are never too old to learn from others."