Spot, Speedy, Nacho, and Tiger

Our crossing to the isle of Tahuata in the Marquesas went smoothly, it was so nice to be out on the ocean again. The wind kept encouraging us to head further North but we stayed in point mode and arrived in Hapatoni after 74 hours of sailing. We planned not to go too fast, especially at the beginning, so we could arrive in daylight. 

We left with a double reefed main and full water ballast and adjusted the jib size with the wind speed. When we first filled the ballast tank, we had missed that a valve in the transfer/dump tube between the two tanks wasn’t all the way closed. We sailed along happily as the ballast slowly transferred to the low side and our angle of heel increased until Greg corrected it. There were a few night squalls, but we were canvased appropriately and moved with the wind more, then not at all, then more again, and then as we had been as the squall moved on. No fish were reeled in all the way but we didn’t lose any lures. The few strikes didn’t stick. We saw two big fishing boats that slowed down so we could pass ahead of them as they cruised along parallel to each other. 

The three hours on/three off watch schedule worked well. We were all tired but in the groove, even the cats. We even ate more normally after the first day, actually felt hungry enough to enjoy some bean burritos with precious frozen vacuum sealed Mexican blend cheese, what a treat. We all drank tons of water and I’m not too bad at peeing off the transom so I don’t have to go below, winning! 

Our friends on Balloon, who left the same time as we did, ended up going to Nuku Hiva, further North, to avoid tacking back and forth and extending the passage even more. Hopefully we’ll see them again before they haul out in late November. 

Passage highlights included spinner dolphins surprising Greg right by the cockpit at night, the bow sail locker staying dry despite many waves over the bow (hooray for vented loops, a functioning pump, and working drains), and me only throwing up once at night at the end of my shift. Thank you to this fantastic boat for another speedy and safe passage. 

Anchored in the northern corner of Hapatoni Bay, the luscious green hillsides are quite the contrast to the flat sandy beaches and palms of the Tuamotus. We like it here.

We ended up staying in Hapatoni Bay for almost 3 weeks. There were so many highlights and amazing things that happened there! I’ve been intimidated by trying to catch up with all of it but here it goes. 

After some naps and post passage clean up the little town over in the southern corner of the bay was calling for a visit so we zoomed over to check it out. First impressions of Hapatoni included an easy dinghy tie up area, outrigger canoes ready to go at the boat ramp, people welding on a big boat trailer, a huge mango tree with so many cute little mangoes ready to eat on the ground, and getting to meet Tahina, the unofficial boaters’ helper and town matriarch. Near the boating area was a big information sign that a bunch of guys were building a new area for it. The public spaces were tidy and maintained, the few dogs around were healthy, and the chickens scurried out of the way whenever we walked by. There’s a loop road that goes around town that’s lovely to walk on, everyone’s yards are well maintained and tidy. Some of us joined some locals at the patanq area and played a few rounds. What a nice place to hang out and recover from our little passage. 

Our friends on Paradiso brought over some eggs and bananas as a welcome, so kind! Annemarie, Siebe, Charlotte, and Marjolein are on a Juneau 54’ and were part of the big kid boat posse we met up with in the Tuamotus a few times. We get along well with them and the kids find overlap in games, playing in the breaking waves on the beach, and being goofy. Their fellow Dutch sailors on Pandion are anchored here as well, we enjoyed getting to know Henk and Caroline.

A few nights later we joined Paradiso, Pandion, and a fun Belgian couple on Filou de Mer (Isabel and Lars) all had dinner at Tahina’s house. She made a massive feast including so many available local goods. Breadfruit fried and boiled, two kinds of sashimi, goat with curry, goat with coconut, mountain pig, rice, coconut bread, and more. For desert there was a huge fruit salad and coffee.  

We hung out a while enjoying Tahina’s stories of the island, most of the people who live there are related to her in some way. She had a young French couple, Barbara and Robin, staying with her who helped her prepare the feast. They had gotten a ride over in a tourist boat and asked permission to camp and use a bathroom but Tahina had them stay at her place. Barbara and Robin invited Griffin to go on a hike with them the next day along with a local guide as the last part of the hike was tricky. In the morning, Griffin went to Tahina’s house for breakfast at 5:30 and they all left from there. Who knew when they’d return? 

Meanwhile, Carolyn is a Zumba teacher and was leading classes in a covered area on the waterfront. Her magnetic personality and kindness convinced everyone to do Zumba and there was quite the crowd of us trying to follow her dance steps. After Zumba we looked up to the peak above town and we could see the hikers up at the top! We all hung out a while longer working on some of the Zumba steps. I had the VHF and let Greg know I was going on a walk to see if I could find the endangered kingfisher-like bird. There was a dead tree with some holes where some lived just up the road, I’d just walk up a bit and see if I saw any. One thing led to another, the view was so beautiful, and I thought the hikers would be just around the next bend in the road coming down. Before I knew it but a few hours later, I was at the top of the road and didn’t want to miss them by going too far. They took so long I worried that someone had gotten hurt but eventually they came down the road, hooray! Griffin reported it had been so steep that the guide cut steps and helped pull him up many times. At the top their guide got out the fruit tray he’d been carrying in his pack with sliced fresh guava and starfruit while cutting the path in his flip-flops (locals are amazing). Coming down, Griffin said he just squatted and slid much of the time. What an amazing gift of an experience from Barbara and Robin, thanks again you two.

Tahina had mentioned someone was smoking some tuna and asked if we wanted any of it, yes we did! I had no idea what we were in for but now I wish I had asked for as much was available. It was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted and we enjoyed it plain, as sushi, and as a topping in rice bowls. Local avocados are delicious too if you can figure out how to catch them at the hot second between unripe and rotten.  

A local tour guide who boats over from Hiva Oa multiple times a week with tourists had us join in his presentation and practice of local dancing, that was fun. We followed them through old rock formations that supported the huge community that used to be there. In its hay day, Hapatoni had thousands of inhabitants and much more of the area was populated and farmed. It’s an amazing place and all the old rock structures make it easy to imagine a time when many more people lived there. 

One evening it was quite windy and when Griffin was closing up the companion way before bed he noticed a wire hanging down from the dodger. Greg came to look and found out that our largest solar panel had been blown away! Crazily, the next morning we could see it on the bottom behind the boat in about 30 feet of water. I used our mini scuba emergency air and the weight belt and dove down to get it, it was time to refill the air in that anyway. Paradiso has a compressor and had been encouraging me to use it up so they could refill it, mission accomplished. Once the panel was dried off, Greg plugged it back in and it worked as well as it had been before. Unfortunately, that is at only about 50% of what it’s supposed to, it wasn’t working like it should before it spent time at depth and now we’d rather preserve the rest of the system than risk it. A new one that fits in its tracks is way too large to fly down here with so we’ll suffer along with less solar power until we get home.

The next largest town on Tauhata is Viatahu and is just 10 miles up and down the road to the north. One morning we all walked there along the mostly paved road. After 3 hours of beautiful views we scrambled down the shortcut path into town. We hurried to the store before it closed for lunch and then headed over to Jimmy’s where we enjoyed a big lunch of local dishes. We had heard Jimmy would give us a ride back in his Land Rover for a fee which he did. It was totally worth it as it included stopping at his place and filling up the truck more produce than I’d seen in a long time. A totally fun ride and the first time I’d been in a vehicle in months. Check out Paradiso.Sietzema on Instagram to see more of our adventures with them- Annemarie is really good at posting updates and often we’re in there.

A french catamaran, Loulou, joined us in the anchorage for Zoomba and more adventures. Their 2 kids have English that’s akin to my French. It’s great for me to get to hear their communicating as my French has not gotten the push I wish it would (sorry Duo). They joined us for a visit to another local’s house where they sometimes host tour groups for meals, we got lucky and they made a pizza feast for us on their porch overlooking the beautiful bay. The pizza was plentiful and delicious and it was so cool to see her beautiful house and garden. We’re so lucky to get to have so many neat interactions with the locals here.

Another evening we had a cocktail hour on Filou de Mer, Isabel and Lars have a nice catamaran for hosting gatherings. We all brought snacks which turned into dinner and before we knew what was happening Lars (who’s an amazing musician) had gotten out his computer and microphone, the disco lights were going, and we were singing Karaoke! That’s the last thing I expected and we had so much fun singing and laughing. I hope the other boats in the bay didn’t mind too much, ha!

I mentioned Zumba already but it deserves more. Carolyn and Henk rallied us just about every other day to get ashore at 8am and dance around clumsily at first and slightly less so after a few weeks. The music was hummed all day long, Carolyn’s smile was stuck in our heads, and our feet and bodies were tired. It’s just the kind of peer influenced fun workout I like! The locals often came to chat or try a few songs and the view and breeze at the covered space we used was perfect. I hope we get to do it in other locations too.

One of the locals we kept seeing around, Cyril, is easy to recognize for all his tattoos. He seems the most friendly and maybe typical Marquesan who carves, paddles his single outrigger canoe, and shares stories of history and culture with a smile with anyone around. One day a group of us got to visit his house where he carves to learn more about traditional Marquesan designs used in so many things. He even gave the kids some wood to carve which Griffin has really enjoyed. Cyril is an extremely skilled artist whose joy and passion about his culture is so fun to share.

Still reading? Whew, because we haven’t covered one of the best parts about Hapatoni yet, the dolphins! About every other morning we would wake up to hearing dolphins right through our hull as hundreds of them swam around the anchorage. We swam, paddled, and dinghied with them again and again, it never got old. The kids would take turns driving the dinghy and the others would lean over the front as the dolphins sped over to catch them and play in the waves. A lot of the time there they were in slow mode and getting to see them hanging out in the clear waters filled a lot of curiosity about what else was going on there. Sometimes they hung out in small groups vertically but they were always interacting with each other. The kids were able to recognize a few of the most playful dolphins and named them for their characteristics- Spot, Speedy, Nacho, and Tiger. 

Last thing I’ll squeeze in here is about the outrigger canoes. There was a 6 person boat and a few singles that regularly went out from the boat launching ramp and it was really cool to watch them zoom around the bay or go out of sight on the ocean. One day they recruited Robin to fill an empty seat and he said I could probably too if I made myself available. Language barrier aside, I finally managed to get a seat and a paddle and head out on the water with them. I didn’t get any instructions except for to switch sides every 8 strokes. On stroke 7, one paddler would yell a “huh” and that meant one more stroke and then, without losing the rhythm, quickly switch your hand positions and which side of the boat your paddle is on and keep on going. I only messed that up about half the time. It was fun! Not rowing kind of fun where the boat speed alone makes you smile, but out on the water doing the thing with others, working hard, and going somewhere fun. I’m not going to turn in an oar or oars for a paddle but I’m super glad I got to try it here. A week or so later some French sailors who did Zumba a few times also wanted to try it and got a huge group together to go out so Greg and others got to try it to. Super cool. 

Okay one last thing… We finally saw  the “green flash”! While staring without blinking at where the sun is disappearing into the ocean, there was a distinctive green glow. I’m not sure it could ever be captured in an image but this bay is perfect for sunset viewing. We saw it twice here and now I know more what to look for.

Whew, long post! If you got to the end (even if you didn’t read it?) leave us a comment? It’s great to hear if people are reading.