Categories

Archives

A sample text widget

Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.

Nuku Hiva

by KC2RIY, on May 19th, 2010 (Bristol Rose, Leu Cat, Marquesas)

We left Ou Pou around 6:30 waving goodbye (au revoir) to Dianne and Gerald and motored out into slack wind. The wind remained around 8-10 knots for most of the day resulting in slow progress towards Nuku Hiva. The winds picked up for the last hour or two resulting in 7-8 knot sailing and an arrival shortly after 2pm.

INSERT_MAP

First order of the day was to head to the shore to pick up the water maker pump. On the way I dropped off a weather file to Bristol Rose and a presentation of my tattoo. The pump was in and we soon had it in our hands. We dropped it off back at the boat before we all headed over to Leu Cat who were in the anchorage but we knew to be leaving in a couple of hours.

We had a pleasant hour and a half or so there before we had to get back to the pump and they had to prepare for their departure to the Tuamotus.

The pump kit contained less than I expected which caused me some initial worry. I had expected a new motor as well as pump assembly. However, Spectra seemed to have interpreted the information I gave them exactly and we are now producing water. Yay!!!!

We went out last night with Bristol Rose to the local pizza restaurant. Despite being one of the first there we were one of the last served and some of our pizzas ended up on the wrong tables so we ended up eating at different times. For the extortionate cost of eating out in the Marquesas you’d think they’d get it right. Tipping is not customary here. They work for every penny.

The internet is a bit of a struggle here but I’ve managed to upload a few pictures including those taken while we were having our tattoos done. I’ll try and get a few more up.

Category: Bristol Rose, Leu Cat, Marquesas | Here is my comment

Baie d’Hakahetou, Ua-Pou

by KC2RIY, on May 16th, 2010 (Bristol Rose, Marquesas, Whiskers)

En route to Ua-Pou I tried hailing Whiskers a couple of times but received no response either time. Later on, to our delight, we heard them hailing us quite legibly. We said our hellos and checked where we each were and where we were heading. Turned out they had left Nuku-Hiva and were on their way to Ua-Pou too. They’d heard of some difficulties anchoring in the main town of Hakahau and were contemplating going round the corner to Hakahetou. They chatted to someone else they knew in the area and confirmed the difficulties so we were all set to rendezvous at Hakahetou. We’d also learned that Bristol Rose was there who were good friends of Whiskers too.

We had a couple of strikes on the fishing lines on the way over. One was a large mahi mahi which leaped out of the water a couple of times before managing to shake off the hook. The other bite merely triggered the falling nut alarm but we saw no further action.

As we closed the miles to Ua-Pou we first saw Whiskers off in the distance through the binoculars, then with our naked eyes and finally they arrived just behind us – spitting distance away.

Ua-Pou is spectacular. It is a recent volcanic island with steep volcanic plugs standing out in the middle of the island. These plugs form as magma solidifies inside a volcano and then the outside of the volcano erodes away before the plug. It is therefore an intermediate phase which won’t last long before (maybe less than a million years) before the plugs and the landscape erodes down. For now get to enjoy a fantastic view right from our anchorage.

We were soon dinghying over to say hello to Whiskers and we agreed to all go ashore together. Ashore we bumped into Trish, Rob and their kids from Bristol Rose as they were returning from a little shopping. We soon agreed to meet up for food and drinks aboard Dignity that evening.

We walked around town with Dianne and Gerald and checked out both stores before returning to the boat for a couple of hours prior to the evenings festivities. In town we met a local who gave us a couple of pampelmousses (not sure on spelling but they’re like a large grapefruit).

In the evening, Bristol Rose’s brought some excellently BBQ’d Wahoo which they’d just caught and the Whisker’s brought some home made pizza. With our nibbles we had a great feast to go with the beer/wine and excellent company.

Today we’re off with Whiskers on a hike to a nearby waterfall. Bristol Rose are off today to Nuku-Hiva so we may see them again soon. We’ve had no news on our water make pump for a couple of days so we’re in limbo at the moment wondering if it’s made it to Tahiti and hence onto Nuku-Hiva. While we’ve been collecting water from ashore, we have not been putting into our water tanks as the little water there is pure from the water maker and hence has no contamination of any sort. We’ve long since turned off the fresh water pump aboard the boat to keep the last half tank of water for any system flushing we’ll need to do. We’re therefore living out of the bottles and jerry cans which is a bit of a pain. We’re all looking forward to running taps and a good shower.

Category: Bristol Rose, Marquesas, Whiskers | Here is my comment

Bristol Rose’s Rescue

by steve, on May 8th, 2010 (Bristol Rose, Informational)

This is a must read from our friends on Bristol Rose.

Category: Bristol Rose, Informational | Here is my comment

Last day in Fatu Hiva

by KC2RIY, on May 7th, 2010 (Bristol Rose, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Lilith, Marquesas)

As planned, John and I went exploring / snorkeling in the morning. We took Tim from Kamaya with us and dinghied around the corner searching for interesting places. Practically everywhere, the steep cliffs continued straight down into the water where even our 100ft dinghy chain would not touch bottom. We did find a rocky ledge around 8-10 feet down where we could anchor and go off swimming with the fish. It was quite a cool spot, the highlight being finding a couple of lion fish. We then moved further into the bay we were now in for a second swim hoping to find lobster for lunch. No luck there but we did see a white tipped reef shark.

When we returned to the boat we found that Gary and Jackie aboard Inspiration Lady had just arrived. We gave our welcome and congrats and invited them over for nibbles and drinks after dinner. We learned from them that Jackster and Bristol Rose were also due in that day. They duly arrived late in the day and were also invited aboard for a get together.

In the afternoon we all snorkeled near the boat. We found our old octopus and giant moray eel. When I free dove down to 45ft I found two octopus marching across the sand which was cool although I stayed a little too long and the trip to the surface seemed to take forever.

At 6pm all arrived although we picked up Trish, Rob, Elliot and Owen from Bristol Rose as they’d only just arrived and prepping their dinghy was not top on their list – understandably.

It was great meeting up with old friends. We’d not seen the Jacksters and Inspiration Ladies since Bonaire, six months ago, and the Bristol Roses further back still. I was surprised they all lasted three hours but by nine everyone was pooped. After all, they’d all just crossed an ocean.

We hadn’t drunk too much so we stuck to our original plan and overnight sailed to Hiva Oa. We did not know the anticipated delivery date of our part so we wanted to get our paperwork done in Hiva Oa before the weekend. We also wanted to see more of the festival here so this all worked out. As I type we’ve been here at the anchorage for about an hour. I’ve learned we all need to go in to check in so I’ll be waking Helen and John up fairly soon.

I’ve already met Richard from Lileth who is here for a while waiting for parts. There is internet here in the harbour but it is $5 per hour which is a bit steep. We’ll look for something in town a little less pricey. It’s a bit of a hike but the exercise is good.

INSERT_MAP

Category: Bristol Rose, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Lilith, Marquesas | Here is my comment

Friday Fish Night

by steve, on August 15th, 2009 (Bristol Rose, Grenada)

Did very little yesterday bar read a book all day long. In the evening we took the taxi to Gouyave for the Friday Night Fish night. They’d blocked off an L shaped street and filled it with music and standing frying up fish and fish related foods. Music, as ever, was blaring from speakers and there was a live steel band that piped up later.

We picked and nibbled on many different things and ended up quite full.

Trish and Rob from Bristol Rose were there so it was nice to meet up with them again before they head south to Trinidad.

Category: Bristol Rose, Grenada | Here is my comment
← Retrace Wake «  
  » Voyage Onwards →