KEEPING THE CREW HAPPY
The humans may like to visit towns, but I much prefer the beach. I understand that towns are a necessity to pick up supplies, complete administrative duties and to get a bit of internet, but they are very boring for me. I much prefer to have a beach to run on and clean water to cool off in. The humans are busy with boat repairs, more on that later, but are trying to take the afternoons off to go snorkeling and exploring. There are several coves on the Northwest coast of Tahuata that offer lovely beaches and great anchorages protected from most of the swell.
CRUISING GUIDES
Cruising guides are there to help you. But that does mean other anchorages, not listed in guides, are unsuitable. There is just not enough room in most guides to do so. If you want a beach to yourself, checking out places not listed in the guides is one way. My humans decided I could use some space and picked a lovely little cove on the Northwest side of the island of Tahuata. We do not know what the bay is called, or if it even has a name, but it is definitely UNINHABITED, so I have free rain to run about. We dropped our anchor at 9 53.959S 139 06.024W
SNORKELING
The volcanic islands in the Marquesas are very tall with steep slopes and rich valleys. Much as I imagined Hawaii to be. The island of Tahuata’s hills are not as tall as it’s imposing neighbours. For this reason it does not catch as much rain from the passing trade wind clouds. With less run off from the land the waters surrounding the island are much clearer. This provides a habitat for a greater diversity of species, including corals, making the island a paradise for snorkelers and divers. It also means the beaches are white, rather than the usual black volcanic beaches that the Marquesas are known for. Sounds good to me!
BOAT JOBS
As usual, with owning a boat, there are jobs to be done. Things are always wearing out, leaking or breaking on the boat. I am afraid the sea, sun and waves are hard on Spirit of Argo. The jobs list never ends, but here are a few of the priority jobs the humans need to get to. (1)Find the leak in the auto-pilot
Looks like a few mounting screws had worked loose over time and use. This allowed play in the hydraulic ram allowing leakage. The humans think they have that problem sorted. (2)Rudder leaking
The humans got the master cabin bed ripped up and tightened the stuffing box for the rudder. A bit of sea water has to escape up the rudder to lubricate it, similar to the drive shaft, but we had a bit too much ‘lubrication’ coming up during the Pacific passage. There was also some blockage in the drainage system, but the humans think they have that sorted. (3)Mast lights
There are some loose connection on the top of the mast. Anchor light and tricolour. The tricolour is sorted, but the humans need to go back up and work on a few more wires for the anchor light. For now they are using solar lights, at deck level, to illuminate the boat at night for fellow cruisers arriving to the anchorage late. (4)Lazy Jacks
These were badly sun damaged and finally broke on the Pacific passage. Both sides. Admittedly the shade cover was rubbing a bit on them back in Panama. The humans need to cannibalise some old furling lines, reuse the hardware and make a new set. Lost of splicing and whipping. These ropes guide the main sail onto the boom when it is dropped. With out them the sail tends to fall anywhere, including onto the helmsman. (5) The head
The toilet is the vain of every boat owner. When you mix wee with salt water the minerals sediment out. Like cholesterol in arteries, these minerals form a plaque that blocks up pipes, valves and moving parts. The toilet ‘played up’ a bit on the Pacific passage and continued to jam ‘a bit’ since. So, with lots of vinegar and mechanical labour, the humans stripped the toilet down and all associated pipe work, and gave it a complete clean out. What a lovely job? (6) Scrub the bottom of the boat
The humans got the green slim that run up the side of the hull off back in the Bay of Virgins. But the copper coat needed a ‘buff’ to get the slim off accumulated on the passage and in the last harbour. Get the copper shiny again and she will not foul up and slow us down. (7)Replace one of the sets of wind genorator blades. Bird?
(8)Fix the outboard engine?
(9)Fix the leaks that have showed up in the navigation and head areas. (10)Fix the forward hatch leak.
(11)Fit the new sprayhood extension into place with new fittings. and, and, and many more jobs
AT LEAST I HAVE A BEACH TO RUN ON WHILE THE HUMANS ARE ‘FOR EVER’ FIXING THIS BOAT!
We will probably head out today and sail up and down the coastline here to test the auto pilot and check out the other bays. We may even find other spot just a lovely.
- We caught a Marlin (swordfish, billfish) on the way over from Hiva Oa. It was too big and beautiful to kill. So we released it.
- Sand, sea and coconuts, that’s the life for me.
- My own personal beach. It is worth it to explore other places not in the guide books.
A FEW POINTERS FOR CRUISERS
Give the two headlands a bit of space, but the rocks and corals here are the best snorkeling. The humans even saw some timid black tipped sharks.
The bay is sand over a rock shelf. There are a few ’rounded’ rocks poking through the sand. These appear not to be large enough to snag up your chain, but could cause some ‘bending’ where it is resting on the bottom when the wind changes direction. Uninhabited, so no docks for your dingy to tie up to. The gentle surf is easy enough to land if you are on a kayak or swimming.
- Spirit of Argo anchored off the Northwest coast of Tahuata. We were only a couple hours sail from the big island of Hiva Oa. The two islands are so close, you can see Hiva Oa in the back ground of this photo.
