Les Iles Marquises
May 16th, 2002

Sunset over Isla Clarion, about 300 nm SW of Cabo was our last view of land before the Marquesas. About 4 hours later we spotted and hailed the lights of the Mexican patrol boat, "Isla Clarion", whose captain informed us to be prepared for a boarding and inspection the next morning. They never showed up, and we sailed on our way.	We left La Paz on April 6th, after a preparation and provisioning stay of almost four months. We enjoyed the work we did with the kids in the youth orchestra there so much that we have resolved to try to get involved with communities like that wherever we go, life is so much better for us that way. We arrived in Cabo San Lucas on the evening of the 7th, did a quick check-in/check-out and last minute provisioning and on the morning of April 9th at 0800 we lifted that magnificent new 66# Spade anchor from American soil for the last time and headed out to the Marquesas, 2600 nm away. Our trip could be described as a bit rough at first, with lighter, then heavier winds as we found the NE trades. We rolled a lot for about a week on a starboard, then port side run.
We fell in at the tail end of bunch of about 16 boats doing the "Puddle Jump" out of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We soon passed all of these boats except two, the larger "White Hawk" and "Pura Vida", arriving in the Marquesas days ahead of the rest (brag, brag). We crossed the Intertropical Convergence Zone very quickly in about a half day, picking up the SE trades at 2 degrees N (!) and stayed with that all the way to the Marquesas. We stood 2 hour watches every night and did pretty well over all. We used less water and more paper towels that we expected. We learned to broad reach in the trade winds with the main single-reefed, the staysail up, and used the roller-furling genoa as an "accelerator" to compensate for lighter or heavier winds. Most of our sail trim efforts were dedicated to keeping the boat speed below 6.5 knots! Faster than that, things just got noisier and wetter on the decks. Neil spent a lot of time in the cockpit marveling at the miracle of this excellent sailing machine, rushing through the seas at 6 knots, steered unerringly day after night after day by that unlikely contraption hanging off the transom. We keep making small improvements to our Monitor steering vane, tightenng the response and feedback circuits. It keeps getting better and better. We are now able to execute 5 degree course changes with a 1/2 inch push or pull on the steering vane line. It is a wonderful thing to sail in the tradewinds!
Here's proof of our equator crossing at Lat 00 00.029 S, Lon 130 30.046 W at 0416 UTC, about an hour after dusk on April 24th. Notice our usual boat speed of 6.8 knots! We were 1899 nm from Cabo, steering almost due south and about 60 feet in the air! (?)	We would find these little flying fish on deck every morning. We watched them fly away from Active Light's bow wave in whole schools often.
Sunset very near the equator, April 24th, 2002 at 139 degrees W.	Our equator crossing party was probably like many others, we had a great wine our friends Walt & Dee from "Essence" gave us for that purpose. We poured a healthy "dollop" overboard as a toast to that hairy old @#*%&!, King Neptune. Nancy got a printed certificate signed by the King himself proclaiming her an official "shellback" and Neil played "Popeye the Sailorman" in all 12 keys on trombone, ascending harmonically. We sent out email, had a bite of supper, then got back to the serious business of getting some sleep. Getting enough rest at night was probably our biggest problem in our 2 on 2 off watch system.
Neil plays a musical tribute to King Neptune at the equator.
Landfall at last at Fatu Hiva.	Our Polynesian landfall on the island of Fatu Hiva came at dawn on the 30th of April after a passage of 21 days, almost to the hour. We had slowed our boat speed the previous day and night to avoid arrival before daylight. Our total mileage was 2700 nm. Fatu Hiva is the most remote of the Marquesan islands, so there are no gendarmes to check in. We went ashore and just walked around. We hiked back to a waterfall (about 200' trickle) where we went for a much-needed cool swim. The hike followed a road, then a path over very moist, rough terrain, through coco groves, across streams, flowers, bananas, mango trees, the whole tropical paradise scenario. It was a long hike, we saw one other person during the whole four or five hours.
School yard in Fatu Hiva. Vacation this week! Right photo shows typical craggy view across from the school. We could see this peak from our boat. There appeared to be a couple of goats stuck up there all the while, but the goats did not seem worried.
View of the harbor at Fatu Hiva from the cemetary overlooking the village. "Active Light" is barely discernible in the left center of the bay.
Emmanuel had to chase chickens off the top of his stone, wood-fired oven before he brought the bread out. He would chop the firewood in between bakings. You could tell him how many loaves you wanted and come back later for your bread. It was really good bread.	Waterfall, top to bottom.
"Active Light" at anchor in Baie de Atuona, Hiva Oa.	After three days at Fatu Hiva, we took the one day sail 45 nm NW to Hiva Oa, where we spent about a week. Check in with the gendarmes cost us a lot of waiting and about $1500US for our security bond. The bay here was dirty, the dinghy dock was very rough concrete with lots of surge, but the drinking water was excellent. We had to anchor with bow and stern anchors to fit in with all the boats. We were invited to Sunday dinner at the home of Jean Marie & Simone. This turned out to be a drink fest and ukelele music jam, but the food was excellent. We think the basic ploy was, "Come eat with us, and bring whiskey!" We brought a gift CD and one of Nancy's custom made bracelets. They seemed to like Neil's trombone playing. Neil used a lot of mutes and said he had never played so many songs in the key of D, and all in Marquesan!
View on the walk from the harbor into the village of Atuona.	The little village of Atuona lies basically along one street. There are about three food stores with a lot of empty shelves. Prices were high, but canned New Zealand butter, French baguettes, corned beef, rice, etc. were cheap because they were subsidized by the French government. The Marquesans do not like their French overlords. We were sometimes chided, when we explained that we were trying to learn French, "Forget the French, learn Marquesan!". Yeah, right. We took a tour of the island for $33US each with a local Seventh Day Adventist preacher named Pepe. He was great! The tour was wonderful! Lasted about 8 hours in an air conditioned jeep. Pepe had been to the university in Fiji studying Polynesian culture and was a wonderful source of island history.
The view from atop one of Hiva Oa's mountain on our island tour with Pepe. This view is looking south and you can just barley make out the outline of the uninhabited island of Mohotani in the background. Right photo, this is the biggest "tiki" in all Polynesia. This is one of the few sites where non-Marquesans are allowed. Early missionaries were responsible for breaking off particular body protuberances.
Neil jammim' with the guys at the Sunday dinner. These fellows put away a great quantity of Hinano beer followed by whiskey. Their ukeleles were handcarved and unlike the Hawaiian ukelele. We, harrumph, walked back to the harbor. Right photo, Neil cleaning delicious rock scallops at Tahuatu.
View of the Baie de Tai-o-hae in Nuka Hiva from the second floor of the gendarmes administrative building.	From Hiva Oa, we sailed about two hours SW to the isle of Tahuatu, where we stayed in a beautiful, but crowded bay for three days. Most other cruisers are from European countries, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Finland. Norway, and of course, Ireland. Lots and lots of French boats. The snorkeling was great there, water temp about 83F, visibility around 40', no jellies, manta rays swam near the boat. We took an overnight sail NW 85 nm to Nuka Hiva, where we are now. We have pretty much decided we will push on soon to the Tuamotus, hoping to find fewer boats and more solitude.
The Marquesas Islands are lovely and certainly worth the long sail out here. We were somewhat disappointed to find anchorages so crowded. Harbors which serve larger towns are not as clean as we expected. The pluses are wonderful people, beautiful scenery, clear water and good snorkeling in more out of the way bays, tasty local fruit, and such good sailing in winds that are usually in the 10 to 15 knot range and consistent. After an enjoyable stay, we are off to the Tuamotus and Tahiti by the middle of June.
Nancy and Neil S/V Active Light Marquesas Islands, South Pacific