11 | Sailing the Marquesas Islands, Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa

After we recovered from the long ocean passage to get here, we began to explore Teyohi. This is a lush and sleepy place built around the bay. Mountains rise steeply behind the beach and neighborhoods spread up each of the valleys. This town is the largest settlement on Nuku Hiva, with about 3,000 people. With access to fresh water, we were finally able to do all of the laundry that had built up during the passage. It felt great to stretch our sea legs by hiking through the beautiful green hills above the town. After the months that we had spent in the desert landscape of Mexico, and then the weeks of seeing nothing but the rolling ocean, we drank in the vibrant green of the scenery. After a week or so, we started to get itchy feet again, so we set out to circle the entire island, stopping at interesting places along the way. An easy downwind sail brought us to Hakatea Bay. The scene that greeted us was exactly what we had dreamed of when we pictured sailing the South Pacific Islands. We felt like we had truly arrived. A white sand beach lined the shore, while inland, soaring cliffs stood sheer over green valleys. At night, manta rays swooped in lazy circles around the boat. We had heard about a hiking trail that went deep into the valley at the base of the cliffs, and we were excited to check it out. There's no road to this valley, and just a few families live at the mouth of the river. We visited with them, and arranged for a local-style lunch after our hike. The Marquesas Islands were home to 100,000 people at the time of European contact, but by the beginning of the 20th century, that number had dwindled to just over 2,000. The ruins of this devastated civilization lined the path and peeked out from the underbrush. A few of the old foundations were still in use, but most were returning to the jungle. This was a royal valley, and we followed the old royal road along the river, trying to imagine what it must have been like with houses and farm plots all along the way. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. We had never seen anything like it. We arrived back at the beach, and our lunch was ready. We had smoky grilled tuna, breadfruit, and plantains. It was all foraged within walking distance by our host, just as it would have been done by the ancient people who inhabited this valley. As we left, they loaded us down with gifts of fresh fruit from their yard. How do you like it here? It's paradise. The gentle downwind leg continued, until we rounded the leeward corner of the island and hardened up into the wind. Our progress slowed considerably as the current and seas were now opposing us. So we're running into Baye Hakiahu, or something like that, because the sun is going down and we are not making very good progress into this wind and swell. We're hoping to go about five miles more, but we're not going to make it. The problem with this bay is it's not charted. The book says you can anchor in it, and it says to be careful because it's not charted. So that's what we're doing. On our way in, we've still got 175 feet of water, so so far so good. Our unplanned anchorage gave us good shelter for the night, and the next morning we resumed our journey, again bashing hard back into the trade winds that had carried us all the way here. Each section of coastline was completely unique, and we marveled at all of the dramatic rock formations that are so indicative of the Marquesas. Is a sheep up there? See him? No way you can see him on camera. There's a speck. I don't think I can see him. At the base of the middle spire, there's little white dots. Without any fringing reef, most bays have considerable surge, which requires careful handling when landing at a wharf or at the beach. I think this is a copra drying rack for coconuts. We were starting to notice that the Marquesans are excellent gardeners. Every house was surrounded by flowers and fruit trees. Most families kept animals as well. In a place where imported foods are expensive and often in short supply, people seemed well-equipped to provide for themselves, even those with just a small yard. A short hop around the headland brought us to Anajo. This lovely spot has another of the rare white sand beaches, and it is probably the most protected anchorage on Nuku Hiva. We hiked over the ridge to a small farm, where we bought a bit of fresh produce directly off of the vine. There's no road in the area, and horses are used for transportation as well as farm labor. One last push to windward brought us around the northeast corner of the island, and we were able to ease the sheets once again for a broad reach along the coastline. The Taipi Valley has impressive archaeological ruins and recreations. This was the valley that the author Herman Melville lived in as a captive guest of the feared Taipi tribe after he escaped his whaling ship as a young man. Melville wrote the book Taipi about his experience well before he wrote his classic Moby Dick. So here we have chicken tracks, dog. Dog tracks are everywhere in the concrete. I think these big ones are goat, and then over there we have baby goat. We were about to discover just how wrong I was about the goat tracks. There is another wild animal that has conquered these hills. Currently getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. The valley is on the wet side of the island, and it is lush with tropical forest and absolutely humming with insects. What seemed at first to just be dense forest, on closer inspection was revealed to be full of many types of fruit trees. The canopy was formed by massive coconut, breadfruit, and mango trees. Below them grew an understory of banana, pompomoose, and lime. Families in the village have fruit orchards up in the forest, and perhaps some of these plants are descended from the old gardens of the large community that used to fill this valley. We eventually ran into this large group of wild pigs. Despite our shouts and some thrown rocks, they did not slow their pace towards us. So we hightailed it back down the road, unsure how dangerous they really were. At the beach, we filled our water jugs at the public spigot, and prepared to complete our mini circumnavigation with a sail back to Te Iohi. All of the various islands were gathering at Te Iohi for a big soccer tournament. We joined the crowds to watch the competition. In the end, the home team won, so everybody in Having circled Nuku Hiva, it was time to discover the rest of the Marquesas. Nuku Hiva is at the leeward end of the island group, and recent policy changes had caused us to clear into the country there rather than at the windward end, which would have made the subsequent cruising much easier. But, having crossed so much ocean to get here, we were undaunted by the 80 nautical mile beat to windward to arrive at Hiva'oa. All day and night, we tacked into the wind. The short chop and the underlying current slowed forward progress to a crawl. It was well into the next day before we made landfall on the north side of Hiva'oa. A cryptic warning in the cruising guide about submerged logs prompted us to put a retrieval line with a float on our anchor, just in case. All right, we're good. When rested, we headed back out into a stiff breeze to battle our way farther up the coast. Hey, there's the nut. We're getting there. It worked. Mmm. All right, let's eat that. Excellent. Very good. This is so funny. Over here on the hill, we have a ton of goats, and they're all screaming. The village of Hana'iapa still uses wooden outrigger canoes instead of the aluminum skiffs that have replaced them in other areas. This community has planted their entire village as a flowering garden. The scent of hibiscus and frangipani and countless other flowers drifted past us on the breeze. Feeding the horse some treats. Grass from out of reach. When we encounter a rough wharf like this, we simply haul the dinghy up behind us and place it safely above the tide line. This situation makes us very happy that we have such a lightweight skin-on-frame dinghy. It was built to the Annabelle design by Dave Gentry, and it has proven to be a capable and hardworking craft. Our next stop was Pua Mauu, the last tenable anchorage at the east end of Hiva'oa. We were hoping to find shelter there from the trade winds, but the swell was rolling directly into the bay and crashing unimpeded on the beach. We worked ourselves into the far corner behind some rocky reefs that cut down on the swell somewhat. This was a very advanced anchorage, but it rewarded us with stunning scenery. Rock spires and soaring cliffs surrounded us. Unfortunately there was no way to get to shore in the present conditions, but we spent an uneasy night listening to the breakers crashing all around us. At first light we were up and ready to thread our way out past the awash reefs. It was time to set sail to visit the most beautiful island in the world. The place that has been the epicenter of our sailing dreams since I first saw a black and white photo of it in an old book. We were bound to Fatu Hiva, the most remote and spectacular of the inhabited Marquesas Islands.