A new boat in the Taiohae anchorage, Baidarka, is from the U.S. and has a teenage boy and his dad on board. Griffin and Ezra met and hung out a few times as did the adults before they took off around the corner to Daniel’s Bay. In the few days between visitors we did better with school, work, and I got to check in with my mom and sister who’ve been dealing with all sorts of woes from mom’s rental property. I got to clean the bottom and waterline growth off for the first time in a while, yuck and hooray.
Our fourth visitor was Margretta, Greg’s sister. We’re so glad she found time to get away and have a vacation so far away from home. We got the boat cleaned up and the sheets washed and put back on just in time for her arrival, Greg and Griffin actually left me behind to go pick her up at the airport so I could focus on some business chores that I hadn’t gotten to finish yet.
They hailed me on the VHF and I brought the dinghy to the dock to pick up everyone and we welcomed Margretta on board to get unpacked and organized. That afternoon since we still had a car we went back to shore to drive to the grocery stores and toured around the back roads of town a bit. Locals cheered us on when we turned around to head back to the main roads thinking surely we were lost up in the hills.
The next morning I excitedly dove into getting the shifting arm seal replaced on the transmission. I had to take off the plate too and was able to look at the old seal more carefully- it was cracked and obviously ready to be replaced. It all came apart and went back together easily. The plate didn’t have a gasket on it, just some sealing compound, now that’s replaced too. Now we can run the engine and hope it’s not hemorrhaging anymore!
Margretta was adjusting to the boat’s motion and recovering from the huge day of travel so we took it easy, did a little swim at the boat, and joined Henk and Caroline on Paradiso with Siebe for some delicious shared dinner and socializing. We got word that our Seattle friends on Flyer, Steve, Kristen, James, Paul and their cat Pelle, left from La Paz that day, 2/20, and are on their way here to Nuku Hiva! We are so excited for their ocean adventure and can’t wait for them to arrive.
The next day we made our sourdough discard pancakes and Greg went to pick up the stern anchor and won the battle with patience and determination. Shortly after we left Taiohae and motored around the corner west to Daniels Bay. The sea state going downwind was pretty calm for the ocean and there wasn’t enough wind to make sense to sail the few miles we were going. At Daniels we anchored near Baidarka and hung out on the beach with them later. It’s so great to get to meet more kids boats even for just a few days. Margretta and I walked up the ridge a bit for a view but it was so hot we turned around before to long. We had a peaceful evening of tom kha gai for dinner, watching Napoleon Dynamite which Margretta hadn’t seen, and viewing the night sky from the deck.
The next few days in Daniels bay were super. Griffin and I found a nice place to snorkel and paddle over the reef to get to a small sandy beach. One day we walked up to pool at the base of the valley where the King and Queen used to live. We ate lunch at Kua’s place and got some more fruit from her.
Margretta did really well snorkeling for the first time even though the visibility was worse than it had been a few days ago. We did see some mantas, lots of interesting fish, and some turtles from afar. We used our underwater light to see whatever may come up to check it out. The skies above were just as fascinating that evening in this dark bay even though the moon was nearing full.
Back in Taiohae we anchored near Paradiso again, it was great to see Annemarie and the girls back on board after their long visit to the Netherlands. We joined them on board and we watched Moana which felt so appropriate. Margretta’s last full day it rained more than it ever has when we’ve in the Marquesas. We went late on a walk up to the viewpoint and managed to only catch a bit of rain. Greg and Margretta walked around town in the afternoon and we all enjoyed dinner at the pizza place. In the morning, Margretta’s ride to the airport picked her up and she was off! Felt like a very fast visit or maybe I’m just getting used to having guests on board? I’m so glad she got to see some of this beautiful place and that we got to spend so much time with her.
Our transmission isn’t leaking fluid anymore, hooray! Next up is a nice long list of projects to work on, Pandion and Paradiso to hang out with, and watching Flyer make her way here over the next few weeks.
