I think the best place to start is to tell you a bit about the bay we are headed for.
A BIT ABOUT ANAHO BAY
Anaho Bay is located on the north coast of Nuku Hiva. It is a popular destination on the island. Here is a quote directly from a tourist pamphlet “Anaho is one of Polynesia’s most beautiful bays. Every traveller will start dreaming of a never ending holiday here, once discovering the white sandy beaches and coconut trees surrounded by imposing mountains.” Sounds nice right? Well Anoho Bay holds extra appeal for cruisers. The cruising guides tell you it is one of the only bays in the Marquesas where you can escape the ever present swell. So for many cruisers it is the one bay they really want to visit.
BUT CAN YOU BELIEVE THE HYPE?
We have learned that the ‘cruising guides’ are not always right. Some anchorages that are supposed to be bad, have turned out to be great…if you find a good sandy spot for your anchor. Anchorages that are supposed to be deserted beaches have now been developed. Things change. So where can you get more information. Well other cruisers that have been there of course.
TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT
When you get advice from cruisers it is always best to remember that it is all based on their perspective. It was not surprising that the humans encountered a ‘mix bag’ of responses when asking about Anaho Bay. Of the four recent visitors to the bay the humans spoke to, 1 said it was great, 2 said it was nice and 1 said it was not worth the effort to get there. One of the visiting vessels that said it was nice ‘accidental’ spent 3 weeks amusing themselves here. Another spent the cyclone season there. But it makes you wonder when one cruising couple say there is nothing special about the place. And to top it off, they all agreed it can be an awful sail up the exposed east coast to get there. Was it worth it?
GETTING THERE
Of course the horror stories of rough trips up to the bay and back, from other cruisers, got my human’s knees all wobbly. But they were determined to see for themselves. The winds and seas batter the east coast of the island, so the humans were looking for a weather window that listed the wave heights to be lower. The first available window was coming tomorrow. If they did not take this window they would have to battle the seas or wait another week for another window.
I heard them toss and turn through the night. Worriers as they are. These guys are supposed to be toughen sailors that have crossed two oceans. Is it not silly how a 17nm, couple of hours, up the east coast of an island can put the fear into them. Silly humans. They had me up with first light strapping everything that could move down, and we were off. We came out of the protection of Controleur Bay in the south and headed round the eastern point to face the wind and swell sweeping across the Pacific.
The imposing east coast of Nuku Hiva
Thankfully the humans timed it right FOR ONCE. The seas were large, but not breaking and we were basically a dry boat for a change. All their silly fears washed away as the morning light illuminated the high dramatic cliffs of this coast line. The seas breaking at their base. A group of spinner dolphins joined us. My barking or their squeaks and chirps of joy drew even more dolphins in. Soon the boat and seas around us were full. Then something much darker and larger joined the foray, coming right up to the side of the boat. A small whale? The humans grabbed the id books and he was identified as a pygmy false killer whale. A rare visitor to vessels as they are usually too shy. We could see his pod holding off, a short distance away, while this adventurous one investigated what all the fuss was about.
A taster of the dolphins. Video to follow later on.
I barked myself horse and the humans took some video for you guys. We will try to get it posted here, with all the photos, when we get some internet again. They followed us in waves all the way up the coast finally putting on a great display from which their name sake comes from. It was incredible how high they could get, in their spinning twists, before crashing back to sea in delight.
The winds were forecast to be from the east, and although we had the seas on the beam (side of the boat), the wind was much more on the forward quarter because of the ‘land effect’ curving it. But it really was not as bad as the humans ‘psyched’ themselves up for and quite pleasant once we turned north and headed round for Anaho Bay.
ARRIVING AT THE ANAHO BAY
Quite the dramatic bay to come into. Big and open with a beach running all the way round the perimeter. The coastline starts out gently sloped, ringed by coconut trees but it is all backed by dramatic undulating mountain peaks. It is obvious this bay is the centre of a volcanic crater. It looks just like the postcards you imagine from the Pacific islands. The humans had planned for us to arrive around noon so we would have the sunlight overhead to pick out the reef that rings the shore line and help them find a sandy spot for the anchor. They were told the best protected anchoring was found behind a small rocky point in the southwestern corner of the bay. As they came around they expected to find a mirade of other vessels already moored there. But no, not a soul. Just a group of manta ray feeding off the surface waters. A good omen.
The humans found a sandy spot right off a cut in the reef to get ashore. 8 49.320S 140 03.873W in 12m. They did try a little shallower and closer to the reef, but the sand was too shallow for their comfort in a lee shore. If you punch this into google earth you might be able to zoom into where we are, and see the bay yourself. There were still quite a few chunks of coral at 13m deep, so the humans hooked fenders along the chain length to keep it from snagging up as the boat turned. They are trying to perfect the technique for the coming anchorages in the Tuamotu Atolls.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Well we just got here and have not seen much. It is picture postcard pretty. A few more homes ashore that we expected. We can see small Marquesan horses tides up grazing in the shade of palm trees amoung flowering and fruiting bushes. Copra drying platforms and outrigger canoes tied up near shore in the deeper reef cuts. It was low tide and very little water over the reef that lines the shore. The silly humans thought they could get ashore in their kayaks with out using the main channels. They quickly got themselves into water too shallow to float. In their fight to find channels through they scared fish trying to hide in the shrinking water and the baby rays and sharks that had come to feed on them. But we finally got ashore to enjoy a lovely white beach. A rarity on these volcanic islands. Most of the beaches are black sand.
As we were leaving they had a look over the side at the reef. It drops off quickly on the open water side forming undulating fringes and canals all lined with the most coral we have seen yet in the Marquesas. I know the humans are looking forward to snorkeling that. There should be lots of fish life too. The reef fish of both Anaho, and it’s neighbour Haitheu Bay, are supposed to be effected by cigratura. A poisoning if eaten can make both dogs and humans very sick. There are clear signs in French and English posted ashore. We met a lovely family in Taiohae that were still recovering after ignoring the warnings and eating a parrot fish they caught spear fishing here. Not good for humans that want to eat the fish here, but great for people that appreciate visiting fish on the reef rather than on the plate.
And yes,the anchorage is well protected from the swell and the boat has finally stopped rolling.
SO WHAT NEXT?
Well, as always, there are a few boat jobs to do. Now we have stopped rolling maybe the humans will finally get that anchor light fixed on the very top of the mast. A few things did not get done before we left Panama, a few things need some TLC and general maintenance and we still have not fixed all the deck leaks we discovered in the Pacific crossing. If this turns out to be a nice anchorage we may take the time to get them sorted. Maybe some boat jobs in the morning and some snorkeling in the afternoon. There is enough reef here to amuse the humans for a while. There is a portable water tap ashore. We were told you could hike to the next bay where a village store stocks most basics. Also that there is a farm the opposite direction where you can buy fruit and veggies.
But before the humans get pinned down with boat jobs they want to do a little ‘sight seeing’. Stay tuned for one of their usual ‘miss’ adventures!
END
