May 18, 2010

We are still in the Marquesas on the Island of Nuku Hiva. It is one of the largest of the Islands with more people, grocery stores,
bakery (translation, baguettes), a laundry service. I have been doing our laundry by hand in a bucket with a plunger since Galapagos
so this is wonderful! The charge is reasonable for the Islands, $7US per washed load, I hang up on boat to dry. Not so easy as
anchorage is rolly so I make sure ladder is down just in case I go swimming. Ha! Have had some close calls.
We rented a car with Emily Grace and toured the Island. Stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking a valley; gorgeous. Cold up in the
mountains but was a nice change. Stopped and picked some bananas and mangoes growing wild alongside the road. Emily Grace (46' Nordhaven)
left yesterday afternoon for the Toamotus. We will meet up with them again in Tahiti.
When we arrived into the Marquesas we were told to check-in with the gendarmie (police) in Hiva Oa and we did. On the form you have to
declare how much wine, cigarettes, beer, guns and cartridges on board. Stu really did not know so put 2 dz btls. of wine and 24 btls. of
beer as we had already been told that the gendarmie did not come out to the anchorage and do a physical check. Wellllll, a week later
we were at Fatu Hiva, another Island, sitting one morning having our coffee when we noticed a large military looking boat steaming very
fast towards the anchorage. As he got closer we saw the red slash down the side and in VERY LARGE LETTERING, Douanes Frances which means
I'm sure you guessed it, French Customs. They came in and anchored, put their large orange dingy in the water and 3 of them started checking
boats. There were 28 boats in the anchorage and only 3 of us had checked in and we 3 were feeling rather smug thinking the other 25 were in
deep doo doo because they had not. WRONG!!!! The customs officials could care less if you checked in or not; they were more interested
in what we had on board as far as contraband so we 3 were in deeper doo than the new arrivals as we had already declared. So on Imagine we
were a little nervous as we had a bit more than Stu had nonchalantly declared to the gendarmie. The orange dingy comes to the side of our
boat and asks permission to board, of course, we grant it. 2 of the officials come on board wearing their black uniforms and leather gloves.
One goes downstairs with Stuart and the other stays in the cockpit with me. I hear him asking Stuart to show him the bottles of wine and
beer. Luckily, we had drank most of the beer so the wine figured in the final count. Whew!! Every time I heard a floorboard closed the
customs official said, "Have you shown me everything". Stu remembered, under my bottom drawer there are bottles of spirits he had forgotten
about. He shows them, Customs says something in French to the official upstairs with me and the guy turns to me and says, He didn't declare the
spirits. I said, he must have forgotten them as they have been there since we left Panama. Finally, they are finished with the search.
Tell's us everything is ok and leaves. 2 other boats in anchorage not so lucky. One fined, $200US, for having many more bottles of wine than declared
and the other made to bond all but a few bottles of wine. By bonding they had to drill holes in compartments under their table in cockpit (catamaran)
and customs threaded a yellow piece of line thru it and secured it. Told them it better still be secure when they reach Tahiti which is the
checkout point for the Marquesas. We were amazed that, with all the people we know who have transitted these Islands, no one mentioned that the
Customs officials have their own boat. Ha! Anyway, next morning they weigh anchor and leave as we are pulling up our anchor. As we looked back
to the anchorage we noted that out of the 28 boats there yesterday, only 8 were still at anchor. Boy, can French Customs clean out an anchorage!
Got to go; the crepe lady is on dock and Stu wants crepes! Later, 'goat fest' and Stu's birthday!

Saturday May 8, 2010

We are anchored at our 3rd Island since arriving into the Marquesas. Its' name is Tanatu. It is a deserted Island with many
fruit trees. We went up yesterday with a Dutch couple, Paul and Marietta, and picked limes, grapefruit, and mangoes. The
limes are small like kiwi fruit but very juicy. I squeezed 14 of them so Stuart could make himself a drink similar to using Rose's
Lime juice. The grapefruit are called pompa moose and are so naturally sweet. We said they could put Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit
out of business if they were imported to U.S. The mangoes are small but also sweet.
We have been watching manta ray's playing and feeding near the boat. They came this morning as we drank our coffee and put on
quite a show for the 2 of us. We are a good audience and appreciate them. We saw a small shark off of the beach yesterday as
we got into the dingy to come back to the boat. Don't think he would have given us any problems. There is quite
a surge to the surf and the beach is steep. We use the wheels on our dingy so we can push it up a ways from the water. The
water is cool blue in color and refreshing. We had a fun game of bocchi ball day before yesterday here with a Canadian couple and
Australian couple. I won my game! Is unusual for me to win and was a very close game.
We invited a couple over last night for snapper Stuart had caught yesterday morning right off of the boat. Nice size ones. He
pan fried them and Maria brough tuna shashimi for appetizer. They are a young couple living in Miami and they were part of our
SSB net coming across from the Galapagos. He is from Argentina and she is from Columbia. Esteban is a boat mechanic and Maria
holds a law degree from Columbia and also one from US. They hope to cruise for 2 years then go back to Miami and earn a living and have
children. They are only 34 so have plenty of time. We are ready to move on to another anchorage. Many here to choose from.

Marquesas

We are in the beautiful Marquesas Islands. We arrived from the Galapagos on April 24th to the Island of Hiva Oa where we
checked in as is the port of entry, visited the bank for Polynesian Francs, and bought 4 delicious baguettes from the local and
only bakery on the Island. Gorgeous place with many boats in a small anchorage. We had to put out a bow and stern anchor
which we had never done on this boat, but was accomplished. We stayed for 4 days then with the wind out of the north east took
off for the Island of Fatu Hiva. This is the Island everyone says, "Don't miss". It is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like
a small Hawaiian Island. The people are friendly and are artisans of tapas (printings using berry ink on paper made from
the bark of trees and gorgeous hand carved items such as masks, bowls, and paddles, etc. The anchorage is surrounded by high
pinnacle rock formations and there is a beautiful waterfall within walking distance with a swimming hole. On Friday the only
freighter which stops here once a month and brings supplies and tourists came and the villagers put on a festival for them which we
cruisers were invited to join. They had all their craft and art merchandise items showcased and put on a Polynesian dance.
There were about 8 different bongo drums, some taller than most men, and 12 lovely women dancers and 3 men. The women were
dressed in colorful sarong and wore crowns of flowers in their hair. The men were dressed as warriors with grass skirts and
feather and grass headbands, neck bands, and ankle bands. They performed a dance that told the story of the warriors winning
over the beautiful young maidens with their strength and boldness. The maidens had beautiful voices and the words were sang in
French but we were able to understand the story from the actions. Our friend Tom, on Emily Grace, took a video of the dance
and gave us a copy. Afterwards, we had 2 other boats over to Imagine for drinks and appetizers. Bubbles with Alex, Ross, and
Diego on board, and Emily Grace with Tom, Kim, and the boats namesake Emily Grace their 9 year old daughter. We relived the
wonderful day we had experienced on Fatu Hiva. Today, Sunday, we were invited back to the Island to eat with the villagers
in their homes (charge 1700 P.Francs) about $25US pp. We chose to eat with a couple who prepared their meal on the beach.
We had raw fish in coconut sauce (thought I would hate it and looooooved it), tuna shashimi, rice, breadfruit (more like a
boiled potato), shrimp, and goat in a wonderful white sauce???? so delicious. Afterwards, we watched the performers practicing
their dances, and some of our group joined the locals in a game of volley ball. These people are serious volley ball players. They
have a court down by the water and some age group is always playing. Even the small ladies can spike that ball! These Islands
are so different than anything we have experienced thus far. We had been told by Matt Hunter, former owner of our boat, that the
"Best is yet to come" and we now believe him. Can't wait for more!!!