Our choice of arrival destination in the Marquesas was determined by Hiva-Oa being one of only three ports of entry. We did not want to risk non-compliance with entry formalities having had a brush with French Authorities over the registration of Bagatel when we were living in France. We had discovered that once you get on the wrong side of their bureaucracy it is not easy (or cheap) to escape.
However, our arrival marked the start of my (our) difficulty in describing where we were. In particular I found the pronunciation of so many vowels in juxtaposition real tongue twisters.
We had anchored in the harbour, such as it was, of the small town of Atuora at the top of Baie Tahanka. However, when we went ashore the following morning to present ourselves at the Gendarmerie it was immediately apparent that we had arrived in an outpost of France. It was much like we had found the French Caribbean islands. This first impression would be confirmed and reinforced throughout our time in French Polynesia, but for now it was sufficient to marvel at the genuine friendliness of the local islanders.
We had no sooner landed and were setting off on the mile or so walk to the town when we were given a lift together with instructions of where to go and how to get there. We were dropped outside the Gendarmerie and filled out the appropriate forms. Our official entry would not be completed until we arrived in Tahiti so whilst the forms were duly stamped, we had to send a copy to Papeete. This cost us the grand sum of 55cents for a postage stamp and would be the only charge for our stay in French Polynesia for up to three months. What a nice change from the Galapagos!
Being citizens from the EU had the advantage that unlike any other citizens we did not have to post a bond for each crew member. This was the equivalent to a one-way air ticket back to the country of origin and apparently arose because too many crews arriving in Paradise jumped ship and decided to stay but ended up depending on French Social Security.
Of course, to buy a stamp, we needed local currency, namely the Coloniale Franc Pacifique. Needless to say, the ATM was not working so I went inside the bank to change $200US. Flush with 1000s of francs (119CFP=1euro approx) we made our way to the mini supermarche for some supplies. Now we had read that French Polynesia was expensive. In fact, in one of our cruising guides it recommended that the area should be avoided because of the high prices. Nevertheless, it came as a bit of a shock to part with £20 for a bottle of cheap (and corked as it turned out) wine and local beer was not a lot less.
Laden with a few supplies and nearly franc-less we were given a lift back to the harbour almost as soon as we had set foot outside the supermarket. Whilst we had been waiting at the Gendarmerie, we had been chatting to an American couple who advised us that the expected southerly change would make the harbour very uncomfortable, if not dangerous. With that in mind, as soon as we got back to the boat, we slipped anchor and proceeded to Tahuata, an island just 10 miles away and found a beautiful spot in Ainse Ivaina Ai
We spent an idyllic few days here amongst beautiful scenery and completing repairs to the halyards and mast head lights, and whilst swimming we even cleaned the hull. A lovely day’s sail took us the 85nms to Nuka Hiva where we anchored in the Baie de Taiohue surrounded by two-foot-long black tip sharks having a feeding frenzy around the boat. The town surrounded a horse-shoe shaped bay with the dinghy dock (such as it was) at the eastern end. There were three well stocked supermarkets, one of which had a fresh vegetable store outside. We had never thought that buying a fresh lettuce would provide such joy!
We ate in a little Pizzarea on the first night where we came across the first Polynesian, we would see of what the locals called the third sex. These are males that have been brought up as girls. Apparently not all are homosexual but in the most part we saw them in the service industry. Our waiter/waitress looked very elegant in tight shorts and top spoiled only by a marked five o’clock shadow. The pizza we shared washed down with two beers cost just over £50. We clearly were not going to eat out very often!
We followed the east coast around to the north of the island to Anaho Baie where we met a Frenchman who planned to stay there for six months. However, he had been told by the locals not to eat the two splendid red snappers that he showed us that he had caught. This was the first example of the danger posed by eating reef fish or fish that live off reef fish. This is because of the risk of being poisoned by ciguatera. The advice in the cruising guide is to ask the locals not can you eat this fish - but do you eat this fish? Ciguatera is caused by toxins derived from dinoflagellates found on coral and seaweed and passed along the food chain. We were later to meet an American who had suffered from this after eating a fish he had caught. It was clearly not a pleasant experience.
We returned to Taiohae and bunkered some fuel by jerry cans and rewarded ourselves with lunch at Keikahanui Pearl Lodge which is the hotel above the bay with stunning views of it and Moonbeam sitting gently at anchor in the middle. On 25th April we checked out of Huka Niva and the following day set off to complete the 30nms to Ua Pau. Ua Pau is a fantastic outcrop of rocks climbing up to the sky like fire in the distance and close up, near vertical cliffs with lush vegetation clinging on to them. The cruising guide says that it is much like Bora Bora, but in truth it is like so many of the volcanic islands we were to see in French Polynesia.
It was time to set off for the Tuamotu Archipelago which stretches over approximately 1000nms east – west across the Pacific Ocean. Our plan, initially, was to head for Tepoto. We had some dolphins to see us off as soon as we departed Hakehatau Baie and as we looked back at Ua Pau the island stood out on the skyline in the most amazing beauty. A good two day’s passage making of 361nms, less one more lure and line to yet another fish that got away, made us decide to miss out on Tepato. This was because our landfall was going to be at night and so we decided to change our destination to Raroia. This is where Kon Tiki made landfall in 1947, and our visit there prompted us to re-read Thor Hyerdal’s book once again. I had forgotten what a unique and brave adventure it had been.
We approached our first transit through the reef with some trepidation. Firstly, we had no assurance that the GPS and plotter, or even the paper chart, could be relied upon. Secondly, the two Standard Ports for the tide tables were 1000nms apart, so the tidal predictions were something of a black art. This was coupled with the Admiralty sailing directions of slack water being moonset +/- x hours being hit and miss, by observation, from place to place. However, we slowed ourselves down and hove-to for nine hours to make our transit at the predicted (best guess) of 0935-1005 local time. As luck (or good planning) would have it we got it about right and we transited the pass without difficulty. In fact, being part of France, the passage was well buoyed, and the GPS and chart was spot on, and when we found the anchorage off the village, we were able to drop our hook in 20mtrs.
Initially we were alone in the lagoon, in crystal clear waters surrounded by sand sharks, but subsequently we were joined by a couple of American boats who transited the pass on the next slack water. We went ashore to explore the village - Sarah insisting we go by dinghy rather than kayak on account of the sharks. Most of the houses were built of wood but some were constructed of concrete. Power seemed to be from solar panels feeding battery banks provided by Total oil and many houses sported satellite dishes. However, the most impressive building was the airport terminal. The airport itself looked as though it had been recently constructed and the terminal building was positioned at the head of the car park adjacent to the apron. The most interesting aspect was that the car park had 35 spaces including one next to the terminal marked for a handicapped vehicle. Interesting and amusing because we discovered that there were only two cars on the island!
We stayed for two days and then set off for Makemo. Our moonset – x calculation was in error by about an hour, but the pass was no problem, if a little entertaining. In addition to verifying the accuracy of the GPS and charts, we could see the reefs at about ten miles on radar. This, of course, would be obliterated in any sort of sea or by a rain squall, but in calm conditions showed up quite clearly. Our hearts sank when we sighted Makemo because there seemed to be dozens of masts and we were quite used to be either on our own or one of a very few yachts. In fact, the masts turned out to be a wind farm!
We had an exciting ride through the pass which was well served by leading marks and arrived to find ourselves alone again. We found a busy little village with no less than five shops and even a mobile telephone mast which linked us to the rest of the world. We were joined in our anchorage by a pleasant Swedish couple on their yacht ‘Roxy’ and with whom we would meet up with from place to place until we reached New Zealand. After four days we set off for Raraka, but the wind died and we missed our arrival time for the pass, so we decided to continue onwards to Kauehi. By this time, we had come to the view that one island in paradise looked much like another!
We navigated the pass and motored the 8nms across the lagoon to the village which we were to discover the locals called Kauehi City! When we went ashore the following day (my birthday) the village – sorry – city was very sleepy and quiet. Of course only mad dogs and Englishmen………….Anyway a lady stopped her car and apologised for the shop being closed even though we had arrived after the advertised closing time. She was wearing the most magnificent black pearls and asked us (Sarah) if she was interested – silly question! We returned to Moonbeam and watched as our anchorage was shared by a number of arrivals, one of which was ‘Robyn’ last seen in the Galapagos.
On Monday we went to find our pearl lady who owned the shop to find that her husband, who was also the mayor, ran the pearl farm. They obviously had fingers in many pies because the pearl farm tour was not available on Mondays or Saturdays because of the airplane movements. The mayor (a retired Tahitian policeman) looked like a Polynesian warrior with tattoos all over his body complimented by a dagger strapped to his leg. We arranged for a tour for the following day and returned to the boat to find that the hull had been colonised by limpet fish. These guys, who use suckers to hang on, obviously had mistaken Moonbeam’s blue underside for a passing shark!
Our visit to the pearl farm with the mayor (who was also the proprietor) started with a visit to the airport. He was obviously very proud of this addition to the island’s infrastructure. It was another example of the design we had seen previously; however, this terminal building boasted a coffee shop that was manned on Mondays and Saturdays by no other than the mayor’s wife! The pearl farm was a collection of purpose-built dwellings to house the staff – all of whom were Chinese, adjacent to the ‘factory’ which was built on stilts over the water.
Here each oyster was carefully prised open by one of the Chinese girls. A seed of plastic was inserted along with a dye (to provide/assist the colour) and a growth hormone. The oyster was then put in a fishnet bag and returned to the lagoon. This process was repeated three times before the pearls were harvested. It was here that we saw the purpose of the mayor’s dagger – he used it to open the oysters and we duly ate them. The shells, of course, were processed for ‘mother of pearl’ so nothing in this enterprise was wasted. He told us that he regularly flew to Japan and China to sell the pearls. We bought a selection from the many pearls he spilled on the table for us. Added to this sale, he charged for the tour, so it wasn’t a bad day for mayoral enterprises! Kauehi City is not an example of a socialist state!
By now, we had already come to the view that one atoll looked much like another; and so, we decided to head for Tahiti to await the arrival of our progeny. We calculated that the ideal time to navigate the pass was 0635 the following morning so we crossed the lagoon and anchored just inside the entrance. We were hard on in 16mtrs with 60mtrs of chain out. However, when we got up with the sun the following morning it was to discover that Moonbeam’s pirouettes during the night had tied the chain around a bollard shaped coral head. It took an hour and a half with me in the water and Sarah using the engine and bow-thruster to untangle ourselves. This delay made the transit through the pass somewhat exhilarating!
It was only 270nms to Tahiti but the wind was fickle and light, so it took us three days. It was so calm one night that my 3-star fix was only in error of our GPS position by 2nms! We anchored in a lovely, peaceful lagoon at Tautira on the east coast of Tahiti. It was amazing to be here, and we had a wonderful feeling of achievement with only 2000nms to go to New Zealand. The following day we moved around to Papeete suffering an autopilot failure on the way. This was subsequently tracked down to the computer, which needless to say is no longer supported. However, happily the spare took over the commission.
We moored up Mediterranean style stern-to right in the centre of Papeete. It reminded us very much of Antibes with blocks of flats hanging onto the hillsides above the city. There was heavy traffic around the port which started up at about 0500 and did not stop until late. We had a lazy few days with excursions into the city and we completed our formal check-in to French Polynesia. Our forms sent from the Marquesas had clearly arrived safely. A visit to Carrefour on the other side of the airport re-enforced the feeling that we could have been in France, apart from the prices and the transportation. The local bus service was fashioned from trucks with wooden benches either side below large no-smoking signs which were duly ignored by the locals. The bus fare was paid to the driver either as you got on or off the bus or sometimes not at all.
On our way back to the boat Sarah was saying hello to some fellow yachties on a German boat on the other side of the pontoon and whilst not looking fell down a gap between them. Luckily, she just sustained some very nasty grazes and bruising particularly on her right thigh. It was very fortunate indeed that her injuries were not a lot worse because the pontoons were flat-topped steel barges with a narrow bridge between them and no guard rail to stop you from falling. Although we cleaned the cuts and grazes up and applied Fucidin cream, by the next day it was obvious that she had an infection in her thigh. We started her on a course of anti-biotics from the medical kit and happily, that led to a rapid improvement. Meanwhile, I lost a filling during lunch and went over to the dentist adjacent to the dock to make an appointment to have it fixed. The dentist saw me there and then and when he discovered I was paying his fee in cash; he halved it!
The port filled up with the arrival of the ‘Maltese Falcon’ a truly remarkable looking ship painted silver with three huge un-stayed masts with crosstrees into which she furled her sails. When she arrived the crosstrees were aligned fore and aft, but later when we saw her under full sail she really was a magnificent sight. We moved out of the port to the anchorage which entailed getting clearance to cross both ends of the runway of Papeete airport. It felt good to have a cooling breeze through the boat once again. We were positioned amongst many others that we had met or seen along the way and there was constant activity with lots of boats going to and fro. Outrigger canoes were extremely popular and were out from sunrise to sunset. Those manned by more than one, were co-ordinated by the helmsman (who also paddled) and on his command the crew would swap paddling to the other side. This was all with the incredibly dramatic backdrop of Moorea only a few miles away.
For weeks Sarah had been on an emotional roller-coaster with Gemma coming to Tahiti then not. Simon was not comfortable with the idea of his six-month year-old daughter travelling to the tropics, but at last the decision was made and they were on their way. We moved into the marina Taina so we could get Gemma and Eloise safely on board with all the ancillary baby clobber. And there they were! AirTahiti delivered them at 0510 from LAX. What a joy to see them both. We had found a little paddling pool which fitted inside the cockpit. Eloise used it alternately as a swimming pool and bath – it was a great success.
After a couple of days we sailed over to Moorea into Cook’s bay and were welcomed by some dolphins coming to play alongside. We took Eloise ashore and walked her in her buggy which was protected from the sun by a cover which looked like a birka. The Mclaren buggy has really evolved since Gemma was in one! I needed a three-week technical course to understand how it worked. We re-positioned ourselves to Baie d’Opunuho where we got more of a cooling breeze and the water was much clearer for swimming. I had obviously used the outboard once too often as a depth sounder because the propeller stopped driving the boat. Unfortunately, I was several miles away from Moonbeam on a shopping expedition at the time. I managed to beach the boat which has no oars; it can only be paddled and walked back along the shore to be given a lift back to the boat. We subsequently retrieved the dinghy by taking the boat back around to Cook’s Bay and used the kayak. Happily, we could replace the propeller in Papeete but in the meantime a jury rig using rigging wire would have to do.
After another spell in Baie d’Opunuho where Gemma and I saw some rays whilst we were snorkelling off the reef, we returned to down-town Papeete for a little retail therapy for my wife and eldest daughter. Then a day of really mixed emotions because we had had a lovely time getting to know our grand-daughter and seeing what a magnificent mother Gemma was to her, but it was time for them to go home. However, the tears of farewell were replaced by tears of joy as Annabel and Tom appeared in the arrival’s hall. How’s that for timing? Luckily, we had brought sun-glasses for the first sighting of Annabel’s engagement ring!
We moved around to the anchorage but our plan to celebrate Sarah’s birthday ashore was scuppered by a 30kt wind which would have made the dinghy ride soaking wet, so we made do on the boat. The next day we transited to Baie d’Opunuho again and then subsequently set off for Hua Hine. We rocked and rolled all the way – not a pleasant passage but our arrival off Fare was a delightful reward. It is a cosy little town with a supermarket like a Tardis – a tiny entrance into a huge well-stocked store.
It was here that we ran into a retired Naval Officer, Brian who was headed in the same general direction as us. He was solo in a boat called ‘Scraatch’ and over drinks that evening we discovered he talked non-stop and listened not at all – most amusing.
Brian brought over a couple of baguettes for breakfast as he was leaving as well. We were through the pass by 0900 and had a lovely sail to Raiatea which is the southernmost island of two nestling inside a single reef. We anchored off Uturoa which is the second largest town in French Polynesia, but we were unimpressed. The next day we motored through the lagoon and out through Pai Pai pass on the west side of Tahaa Island to set course for Bora Bora. The surf breaking on the reef looked like a cliff of white water – quite terrifying.
We had plenty of time to admire the view of Bora Bora as we had to sail miles around the reef to get to the pass on the west side. It’s not difficult to see why Bora Bora features on so many postcards because the scenery is absolutely stunning. We visited an island near the reef, which was obviously used as an outpost for one of the resort hotels, to collect some shells and then moved to the bay off the Sheraton which is reported to be one of the best resort hotels here. They might be the best, but they weren’t very friendly and by the time the receptionist had consulted with the manager and security to see if I could leave the dinghy on their dock whilst we had a drink in their bar before Sunday lunch, I was so disgusted that we didn’t bother. However, our reward for being here was to go snorkelling and see about a hundred rays gliding in formation in the bay – fabulous.
We shifted our anchorage to a position off Bloody Mary’s restaurant where we could also pick up a wifi signal and Annabel treated us to lunch. Afterwards we took the dinghy to Viatape which is the island’s main township and Annabel and Tom booked themselves a flight to Papeete. So much for Annabel doing her competent crew certificate! The days drifted by and all too soon Moonbeam was like a ghost ship when they had departed literally into the sunset, and we were on our own again. As the saying goes – don’t cry because it is over; be happy that it happened.
We picked up one of the moorings off Bora Bora yacht club to do the washing and otherwise get ourselves ship-shape again. It was decided to return to Tahaa and Raiatea to provision and bunker fuel before setting off for Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango). We had a bumpy ride back to Tahaa and so congratulated Annabel and Tom on their decision to fly to Tahiti! We couldn’t understand why the fuel dock was so busy until we were chatting to Ulf from ‘Roxy’ – apparently the fuel price increased on 1stJuly. It had gone up by 12p a litre and we needed 700ltrs! Timing is everything! We also saw Ian and Julia from ‘Moasi’ last seen in the Galapagos. He had not been well having caught Denghie fever whilst there. They gave us email addresses for boatyards in New Zealand which we would later use as our plans for returning to England for Annabel’s wedding, materialised.
We spent a couple of days off Toapuhi and visited the Taravara yacht club to watch traditional Polynesian dancing. Over once again to Uturoa to bunker fuel and top up our supplies and whilst there, we bumped into Wayne, an American on his own (not surprisingly) on ‘Moonbreaker’ a lovely Irish yacht. His plan was to sail to Rarotonga and perhaps, Nuie on his passage to Tonga. It was a shorter sail by about 550nms than our plan to go to Pago Pago. Additionally, it got us thinking about our decision to miss out on Tonga, last seen 9 years before when we chartered a yacht there for our 25th wedding anniversary. Maybe this would be a better plan and it would avoid the potential problems of entering America.
Back to Bora Bora to check-out of French Polynesia at customs in Viatape. It was amazing to think that we had been here nearly three months. Our only regret that it was so expensive we missed out on some of the excursions that we would have normally done. But then the reward to offset that was the pleasure of seeing our family. So, on July 7th, with the outboard off and the dinghy cover on it was time to leave French Polynesia – destination Rarotonga and then onwards to New Zealand.