Taiohae, Nuku Hiva is the state capital of the Marquesas Islands, and its four blocks are reputed to have some of the best supplies in the area. Our first day, we walked into town to pay the boater’s garbage fee and accidentally ended up at the prison, which looked somewhat similar to the state government building and school that we also visited before we found the municipal building to pay our $7 fee. Everyone except the prison guard was very friendly 🙂

In the anchorage off the town of Taiohae, we got a chance to have dinner with Dan & Jeanne on Lucky Dog, along with Karen & Dave from Dakota. The next day, we enjoyed “sundowners” with SV Kavenga who were part of the CohoHoHo, plus their new friends from Bob from Coastal Passage and Wiebke & Ralf from SV Flora. Bob built his own catamaran and despite his misnamed website has some incredible ocean crossing experiences. So many stories shared and memories made.

An outdoor market near the dock serves as a vendor cooperative. Vendors have their wares on separate tables and some items are labeled with a price. At the market, we bought eggplant, pamplemousse (grapefruit like aka pomelo), bananas, baked bananas, lime syrup, onions, tomatoes, and papaya. It is “winter” here so supposedly it is the end of the season. The fruit is so fresh and the pamplemouse and papaya require two hands to hold. At checkout, purchases are beautifully handwritten in the ledger, which are separated by vendor.

Our meanderings also included a stop at the new tiki on top of the knoll which lights the harbor approach. The Tiki Tuhiva commemorates the return of Fort Collet to local authority in 2013, and the subsequent recovery of its ancestral name. The arms of the nearby octopus stretch to measure the distance to other Polynesia islands.

Island Tour

We decided to join SV Dakota on a guided tour and we’re glad we did! Nuku Hiva native Richard Dean of Temarama Tours began his guiding career in 2008 and he had deep knowledge of the Marquesas history, plus the island’s flora and fauna. As we drove around the island, I marked some of the photo stops (blue push pins), which we could later reference as we boated around the island to different anchorages (gold anchor).

Every other year the Marquesas Islanders gather at one of the six inhabited islands for native dancing and other cultural celebrations. They alternate islands so each island only hosts every twelve years. Along with the historic sites, we also visited one of the sites that hosted the latest gathering, where they’d constructed the ceremony site, viewing area, and a house that provided an example of how natives used to live. A nearby banyan tree once housed skulls, until they were removed by the missionaries. Historically, human sacrifice and cannibalism were sometimes part of the celebration.

We stopped for lunch in Hatheu and afterwards went to a little museum for which Richard had a key. We could have spent hours examining the bone carvings and samples of tattoos. Some children as young as twelve begin trade school to learn carving or tattoo techniques.

Europeans brought horses, cows, goats, pigs, dogs and cats to the islands, where they remain. Many domesticated horses and cows are tied roadside where they provide roadside maintenance for the price of food. We saw pigs and goats roaming freely. With no veterinarian on the island, stray dogs and cats continue to propagate and roam the streets. We saw many people riding horses, which are still used as a major form of transportation, and for some horses or bicycles are the only form.

The missionaries helped plant coconut trees to help provide islanders an exportable cash crop. The copra/coconut meat is squeezed to extract coconut oil for export. The residual meal is used as animal feed or fertilizer. Speaking of flora, the lovely fern that grow on damp hillsides make great leaf prints on dark clothing.

Richard is excited to be growing his first vanilla batch. My explanation may be incomplete, but here goes. Plant the vine/tree and wait for it to produce drooping vines. When the vines are long enough, bury them, and loop them over. Wait and repeat. Wait and repeat. Six months later when the pods form, check them daily and separate if necessary, so that long, straight pods result. About three months later, pick the pods and dry separately from any cooking or other odor source. Now I understand why vanilla beans are so expensive.

Other things we learned:

• Nuku Hiva has the only hospital in the Marquesas, with one doctor and two assistants. A recently acquired helicopter provides quicker healthcare options for outlying areas. A fellow sailor jammed a finger so visited the hospital clinic: a couple hours, X-ray and $40 later she left with a prescription and knowing it wasn’t broken. We also heard of another person airlifted to the hospital from Hiva Oa with fairly serious injuries which we were impressed could be handled locally. More serious cases are airlifted to Tahiti which is a three hour flight.
• Education: Primary education is served through a combination of public and religious schools. Even small villages have local elementary schools. On Nuku Hiva, middle schoolers from outlying communities board and attend school in Taiohae. All Nuku Hiva high schoolers board in Tahiti and two trips home annually are included as part of their public education. Colleges in Tahiti primarily cater to the hospitality industry and students with other interests travel to France.
• Elections are coming up and I appreciate their handling of campaign signs. A few of the communities had a slate of numbered poster boards. The candidate with space #5 had posted a sign. Certainly reduces clutter.
• Richard introduced us to a few new birds that are endemic to Nuku Hiva. The Marquesan Swiftlet’s feet have adapted into fingers so they hang from branches rather than sit on them. The Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon has a call like a crow.

NoForeignLand App

We’ve grown to appreciate the NoForeignLand (NFL), which is a social networking app developed by sailors for people just like us. It provides realtime local information for anchorages, groceries, restaurants, and hardware stores, to name a few. We’ve found it to be an invaluable resource when we arrive in new areas. Plus we can see other boaters and get in touch with them. For our boater friends, I highly recommend it. Even if you’re staying local, it is so fun to see people’s voyages and learn about places.

Hooumi Bay

We headed out of Taiohae to spend an evening in the calmer anchorage of Hooumi Bay. We joined our Dakota friends for one last meal prior to our respective departures. They’re returning to Canada and look forward to seeing their friends and getting a golden retriever puppy.

Hooumi Bay was beautiful, but didn’t have much to do ashore or on the water, so we moved on…

Anaho Bay

Accessible by boat or a hike from Hatheu, Anaho is a gorgeous anchorage on the northeast tip of Nuku Hiva. The locals are working hard to restore and protect the coral reef in the bay. From the NoForeignLand app, we knew where locals wanted us to anchor and what areas to keep clear.

We rowed the dinghy ashore to hike over the hill to the bay facing the Pacific Ocean we’d just crossed. Water spigots were along the path through the little village and a public restroom and shower were near the dinghy landing.

We hoped to encounter the orchard owner to buy some fruit and when we inquired with a woman sweeping her porch, she said she’d sell us some fruit. Janine had just hiked over the hill from where she worked as a grocery store cashier. She cut some ripe and green bananas from the tree, then equipped with a pole with an attached basket, we headed towards the papaya. We wanted a green papaya, which we couldn’t pick with the pole, so Janine climbed a ledge to pull a couple off. Then we went next door to pick some limes from her uncle’s property.

On the dinghy ride back to the boat, as I rowed we were watching for coral heads. What I thought might be a rock turned out to be a turtle head! The turtle was about four feet long, and after checking us out for a few minutes, it swam off.

That evening, we had dinner at the sole restaurant on the beach. When we made reservations that afternoon, the proprietor told us the cost and that the food would be fresh and local, but she didn’t know what she was serving yet. While we waited for dinner, we watched the crabs crawl on the beach and hoped they didn’t bite our toes.

We stayed in Anaho bay for a couple more and enjoyed kayaking, swimming and snorkeling. One dreary day the rain kept us inside the boat most of the day. We kept busy watching the bay and the goats on the hill. We’d see a white spot on the hill, and pull out the binoculars to find the accompanying goats with better camouflage. It is amazing how the days fly by.

Tuamotus Are Calling

The Tuamotus Archipelago called so we pulled ourselves away from the Marquesas and headed south. We arrived to Raroia after a four day passage. More on our next post.