We are well and safe with our
‘honey do’ list a mile long...and we are in Marquesas ..where the bad news is
there any parts have to come from a long way away. The good news is there is Kevin and WE ARE IN
THE MARQUESSES ..this anchorage is breathtaking...the cauldron of a Volcano, dramatic
steep jagged sheer mountain sides all round but the entrance way, green and
lush,...an oasis in the middle of the ocean, a respite from the heavy Ocean
swell, (not always) however it is a safe harbor.
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| Taihoe Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marqueses |
A note regarding our SPOT
ADVENTURE GPS ...we did send signals every day...however, based on the number of
messages I personally received via email being 6 out of 25...it does not appear
that it worked all that well and is not something we would recommend to those
following our path.
So...how was Passage Making
you ask?...I reply...typical...about 99 % boredom and 1 % it's SHEER TERROR!
...and if you can live with that...give it a try!
For you who say...stop your
wining...I remind you that I am not
complainin...just
reportin...and realize that no one ever heard Columbus say..."What no
GPS"??.what do you mean the autopilot isn't working!....I don’t care if
the chart-plotter says we are in the Bahamas!...we sailors recognize the awesome
abilities it took for these early explorers to do what they did and survive to
tell their stories...incredible men all of them!
We are thankful to the Master
of the Seas and Maker of the Wind for providing us safe passage. Mr. Murphy for
compassion when we were exhausted and near broken and reminding us that we are
only human. I'm still not certain what
message/lesson I was being taught on day 25...but no worries mate...I have the
rest of my life to ponder that.
Since arriving in Nuku Hiva,
we have enjoyed many healthy hikes around the Taiohae Bay.
The neatly restored Tohua
Koueba, a sacred place venerated by the ancient Marquesans is about 1.5 km of
up the city.
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Tohua Koueba Traditional Cerimonial Site
Then there are the Sentinels ..a well marked trail going from town to the entrance of the
bay. It is an amazing vista of the
entire bay looking down from the rim of this ancient volcano
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Taiohae Bay from the
...a full day motor coach ride
around the island. There is actually a
hummer on this island...go figure and maybe a total of 10 miles of concrete
roads...hahahah ever heard the expression...more money than brains...oh
well...the owner said it was too good a deal to pass up.
Traditional Marquesas Tiki Ceremonial Site
We also enjoyed a wide variety
of festivals and banquets...these folks enjoy their food!. The highlights so far have been mother’s
day, father’s day,
Father’s Day Festival 2013
the June music festival in
which Steve (sv Liward) and myself participated with the locals...jammin and
havin a ball...
Fete de Mus 2013
The month of July is the
Marquesan festival of dance and local music...every weekend is another
spectacular show of the various islands dance troupes.
St. Bastille Day Nuku Hiva
The Beautiful Girls of Nuku Hiva
The Manly Men of Nuku Hiva
This little princess stole the show!
Now almost two months after
arriving, we have just received our transmission parts and discovered that the
key part is missing...so more DHL and more waiting...but all other repairs are
completed so we keep a happy face and hope that when the final part arrives we
will be able to move the boat.
During the last week of July
our good friends Bob and Annette Sv Tempest sailed into Nuku Hiva. It was a happy day for all as we had not seen
each other since our days in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama, months earlier. Tempest had been in the marina for over a
year and B & A worked hard on rig repairs and interior upgrades including
beautiful new bamboo cabin soles.
We decided that an evening of
celebration was in order and so attended the final night of the July
Festivities of music and dance.
Kaija with her head Lay, Bob and Annette Sv Tempest & Stars of the Show
Finally with only days
remaining before our departure for Canada, our transmission parts arrived and
with the help of Kevin (Nuku Hiva Yacht Services) and friend Terry we worked feverishly
to re-assemble our transmission without all them new fangled tools so commonly
found back in the ‘land of stuff’. No
hydraulic press to re-assemble the new bearings…I discovered that as the old
saying goes…necessity is the mother of invention…the Marquesean version of a
hydraulic press is three guys…one holding the transmission shaft with the new
bearing sitting on top, the second holding a large steel pipe in place over the
bearing and the third, a 13 pound sledge hammer…you get the idea…it was a
verrrry scary moment when Terry dropped the hammer….I was busy counting fingers
but after repeated efforts we managed to get all the bearings back on the
input, output, and intermediate shafts.
We finally got it all in the casing and ready to put back in the boat.
We had to wait overnite for
the seals to set. Early Sunday morning I
poured in the transmission fluid and with fingers crossed and held breath,
Kaija started up the engine that had not run for almost two months and
everything seemed perfect…that is except for a slight whining sound…we shut
everything down…inspected everything in site…found nothing out of place so
started up again…and for about 5 minutes everything when all of a sudden we
heard a loud snapping sound…something akin to taking a 4 foot elastic band and
snapping it…we quickly shut down…again inspected everything in sight…nothing
was out of place…I could still turn the shaft by hand…so we started up a third
time and for approx. 5 minutes…it all sounded great…then we heard a loud noise,
something like throwing a bucket of nuts and bolts into the engine…then
everything stopped…and I mean everything…it looked like we had seized up the
transmission and the engine…my heart stopped!...so much time…so much effort…so
much disappointment.
We removed the transmission,
and discovered that the new bearing on the input shaft had exploded…NO
WAY!!!...YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!!!....but yes…it was so. Over the next few days, we managed to find a
replacement bearing in Papeete at about 10 times the cost we had paid…flew it
in, rented a car and picked it up and got it installed (the Marquesan
way). This time we were a little more
carefully with something called the ‘Axial play’. You can only guess how hard it is to make
minute adjustments of .05 mm with a sledge hammer…but…after repeated efforts…we
got er done…re-assembled the transmission, re-installed it in the boat…waited
overnight for the new seals to set…and finally, the next morning started up the
engine again.
This time, everything was
perfect…Hooray and yippieIAA…we were ecstatic…we motored around the bay…and decided that a
trip to Daniels Bay was required to give the tranny and motor a ‘road test’.
Daniel’s Bay is home to the third
highest waterfall on the planet. With
Bob and Annette sailing beside us as we motored along…we made our way into this
beautiful anchorage. During the
following days, we hiked and swam and shared a wonderful meal with host Tiki
and his wife.
Daniels Bay Hike
Vaipo - World's third tallest waterfall (1148 ft) in Hakaui Valley home to elusive Tropical Bird
Traditional Marquesan Lunch with Tike and wife (note the face tattoo's...done the traditinal way....OUCH!
It was finally time to prepare
KS for our departure which seemed a much larger task than we thought. However, finally the Sunday morning of our
flight arrived and knowing that our new friend Kevin would keep a watchful eye
on KS during our absence we said our farewells to our new ‘family’ and boarded
the small plane for Papeete en-route Auckland NZ, losing a day as we crossed the
international date line, overnight then flight to Los Angeles, again crossing
the international dateline, gaining back a day and arriving before we left???
How does that work again???
We are looking forward to a
trip back to Canada to visit family and friends in August where we are planning
on purchasing a small Motor-home RV for our land touring adventure across Canada
and down to Washington to play tourist and visit as many sites as possible,
foremost the Smithsonian Museums including my favorite...the Air and Space Museum. We are
also looking forward to attending the National Quartet convention in Louisville Ky to visit with old friends. It is the
20 yr that the NQC is being held there and also the final year. Next year it will be taking place at Pigeon
Forge, home of Dolly Parton’s Dollywood. We will keep y'all posted on our land touring
as time permits.
