We have been in French Polynesia for 6 weeks now and in some
ways it feels like we’ve been here a lifetime. But perhaps that’s because we
have been dreaming about this reality for a really long time! The dream started
in earnest 8 years ago when we bought our beloved Infinite Grace and a
copy of Lonely Planet’s French Polynesia and Tahiti. While we cherished
our time in Mexico, made lasting friendships, ate delicious food, and set our
hook in the midst of some spectacular scenery, there is something mesmerizing,
enchanting, and bewildering about these islands of French Polynesia.
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| Some glorious sailing... |
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| And some storm sailing |
Hopefully you made your way over to our PredictWind tracking
page (https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_InfiniteGrace)
and followed our journey from Mexico across the equator to the South Pacific
Ocean and the Marquesas. The Marquesas are one of the five archipelagos in the region
of French Polynesia; the others are the Tuamotus, Australs, Gambiers, and the
Society Islands. The Australs and Gambiers are the southern-most archipelagos
and because of the prevailing winds, weather windows must be carefully chosen
to reach them unless you are approaching from a more southerly position (e.g.,
arriving via Easter Island). While it is unlikely that we will visit the more
southerly Australs, we do hope to visit the Gambiers while we are in French
Polynesia. But, for now, let’s talk about the Marquesas!
We made landfall on April 8, 2023 on the Island of Tahuata
after 20 days and 20 hours at sea. We caught our first glimpse of Hiva Oa in
the wee hours of the morning as she rose majestically out of the ocean cloaked
in darkness but ever-so-subtly illuminated by a nearly full moon. Over our 20
days at sea, our senses became finely tuned to varying levels of light, sound,
and smell. A weird thing happens when you are two people on a small boat in the
middle of a gigantic ocean, especially at night; you become aware in so many
ways that it is impossible to experience on land with constant sensory inputs
from lights, phones, people, cars, TVs, etc. You become attuned to the sound of
the wind, the smell of the ocean, the way the moonlight illuminates the waves,
the sound of your heartbeat and breath when things “pipe up” to an almost
uncomfortable level. Everyone has their own ocean experiences but the one
refrain we hear over and over is the undeniable fatigue that grips you much of
the time. So, Hiva Oa was a welcome sight!
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| Land Ho! |
Since we arrived over Easter weekend, all of the government
offices were closed which prevented us from completing our check-in
formalities. Instead of anchoring in the very small, crowded bay of Tahauku on
the south side of Hiva Oa, we headed over to the west side of Tahuata where our
friends on Sea Bella had anchored the day before us. Tahuata lies just south of
Hiva Oa and has several idyllic anchorages, mostly on the west side of the
island. We dropped our hook in Baie Hanatefau, just north of Hapatoni. We dove
in almost immediately to check our anchor and to delight in crystal clear, warm
tropical waters. It was definitely a “pinch me” moment. While some of our
friends experienced Easter mass, we elected to get a well-deserved night of
good sleep…together…in our bed…for the first time in 3 weeks! We woke feeling
refreshed, happy, and in disbelief that we were in such an indescribably
beautiful place. Admittedly, it did take a couple of days to feel completely
rested and ready to release our adventurous selves. On Sunday, we dinghied into
Hapatoni and set our feet on terra firma or, perhaps, we should say terre
ferme. We were gifted a big, freshly-cut stalk of bananas, breadfruit, and
pamplemousse. We had no idea how to
prepare the breadfruit but we learned the technique on Fatu Hiva (stay tuned
for the next blog for details).
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| Excursion to Hapatoni with Sea Bella |
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| Hapatoni |
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| Fresh-cut bananas |
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| Our girl in the bay |
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| Our bounty! |
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| Anchored in Hanatefau with Sea Bella and Bird Song |
On Monday, the 10th, we headed over to Hiva Oa so
that we could be prepared to check in on Tuesday when the offices opened. The
bay was very crowded and there was little swinging room but, thankfully, it was
shallow so we didn’t need to put out a lot of chain. Our friends on Sea Bella,
Bird Song, and First Light were in the bay with us, as were about a dozen other
boats. It did remind us a bit of “The La Paz Waltz” at times when you could
observe boats swinging in all directions! We hiked 45 minutes into town with
Scott and Kathy from Sea Bella. Everything was closed except for the ATM and
the ReLais Moehau restaurant where we enjoyed a cold beer and good pizza.
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| Beautiful sail from Tahuata to Hiva Oa |
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| Hiva Oa |
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| Anchorage on Hiva Oa (south side) |
On Tuesady, we met with our “agent” (a representative that
we paid to help us with the check-in process) and she drove Sea Bella and us
into town to check into French Polynesia. It was a very easy process and, since
we had flown back to the US in January to obtain our long-stay visas, we didn’t
have to do any further paperwork; our passports included our 1-year visa. We
turned our laundry into Sandra and she washed, dried, folded, and returned it
to us on Thursday – for a mere $40USD (yes, you read that right…FORTY US
dollars!!). Needless to say, that was the last time we will have someone do our
laundry for us in FP.
On Wednesday, the 12th, we rented a car with Sea
Bella so we could go explore the island. We had a lovely day visiting the east
side where there are ancient tikis, adorable little villages, and a beach where
we swam and drank cold beers. We had lunch at a small beach and then took a
walk. That’s when we ran into Mario! Mario showed us his copra drying shed,
whacked open 4 coconuts for us, and talked to us about his family. Although our
French is limited, as was his English, we discovered the universal language of
hand signals, smiles, and genuine warmth he displayed toward us; those are
enough to break down language barriers – a lesson that would be awesome for all
people to learn!
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| Exploring Hiva Oa |
We spent some quality time with our friends on Bird Song and
Susimi, did a little fresh veggie provisioning, and fueled up IG. On Saturday, the
15th, we headed back to Tahuata where we were supposed to meet up
with Sea Bella in Hanamoenoa Bay. We left Hiva Oa a few hours after them and
when we got to the bay, we found it to be very crowded. We anchored twice but
were not happy with hearing our chain drag across rock so we decided to head up
to a small cove just north of Hanamoenoa; on our Navionics chart it was called
“Tahuata NW.” We dropped the hook in crystal clear water and could see that we
were well-set in sand. The sun began to set not shortly after and we were
treated to another spectacular display of color. We were the only boat in the
cove and had the white sand beach all to ourselves, not counting the wild goats
and horses! We snorkeled and walked on the beach. Jeff shucked a coconut using
a sharp stick and a rock – at least if we get stranded on a deserted island
with coconuts, we won’t go hungry or thirsty! The coconut water and meat were
the sweetest we’ve ever tasted – do not be fooled into thinking that the boxed
coconut water and bagged shredded coconut you get at the store taste anything
like fresh! We spent 2 glorious nights in the cove before heading back to
Hanatefau. We met up with Bird Song and enjoyed snorkeling, hiking, and some
foredeck Dead dancing! On our hike, we collected dozens of mangoes from the
thousands (yes, thousands) that had fallen to the ground.
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| Our private cove on "Tahuata NW" |
On Wednesday, the 19th, we went to Vaitahu (still
on Tahuata) and anchored near Sea Bella and Bird Song. We explored the town
including the church, the cemetery, and Chez Jimmy where we ate a very good,
but expensive, lunch. We hosted Bird Song and Sea Bella for sundowners on our
foredeck in the evening as the next day, we (and Sea Bella) were headed south
to Fatu Hiva while Bird Song made their way north. It is such an amazing thing
to be in the company of friends in the midst of such splendor – sharing
experiences but somehow making memories that are uniquely our own!
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| Anchorage at Vaitahu |
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| Our welcoming committee - Vaitahu |
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| Church at Vaitahu |
In the next blog, we will bring you along on our glorious
sail to Fatu Hiva, our time spent on that magical island, another glorious sail
to Amanu in the Tuamotus, and our time in Amanu.
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