Once we left Taiohae and arrived in Daniels Bay, it felt like we were officially back into cruising mode. In true cruiser fashion, Eitan put out a call on the radio to invite anyone interested in meeting up for some sundowner drinks to be at the beach at sunset. We were joined by a few different boats who had all recently made the crossing but came from Panama, having transited the canal from the Caribbean to the Pacific. One boat was a couple from the Netherlands who were circumnavigating on a 32-foot monohull (and I thought 36 feet felt small!). Then, there was a French-Canadian family of six with four kids all between the ages of six and ten, including twins. A second boat from Netherlands was captained by a solo woman sailor traveling the world with her dog.
It’s rare enough to meet men sailing around the world by themselves, but it’s even less common to see women taking on this extreme adventure. I would estimate Karen to be in her 50s and surprisingly normal and perfectly content with the companionship of her four-legged first mate. When we met her at the beach, I thought her husband must certainly be onboard but was surprised to find out she had been sailing by herself for the last four years and made the crossing alone, without bringing on additional crew to help with the passage. As we all shared stories of the Pacific crossing and talked of the different watch schedules, she commented that she used the crossing as a time to catch up on sleep. When we said that there was always someone standing watch, she joked “Was there something interesting to see? Did I miss something?” To her, crossing the Pacific seemed like such a non-event despite being a major milestone to me.
The Pacific crossing also didn’t seem like much of an event for the French-Canadian family as well. I tried to ask the wife what it was like doing a crossing with so many young children onboard. She just shrugged and said that the kids are more or less self-sufficient and able to grab food and snacks on their own. The oldest is able to stand watch for an hour at a time, giving the parents a little time to relax together. I struggled to even take care of myself at times, let alone four other tiny humans onboard. I thought maybe she misunderstood my question and tried asking it in a different way but got the same response. Coming from Panama was an even longer trip and I couldn’t imagine the conditions to be much different but it felt like we were talking about two very different experiences here.
The day after the sundowner drinks and bonfire on the beach, we headed further inland to do the local waterfall hike that the anchorage is known for. To get there, we needed to take the dingy to a different bay, around the corner with less protection. There was a swell surging in so Eitan dropped us off in an area where the waves weren’t breaking then headed back out to time the set and bring the dinghy into an area where we could leave it for a few hours. Despite the beach appearing sandy, the visibility was too poor to see that just a little farther out, the bottom was covered in shallow rocks. Unfortunately, Eitan dinged the propellor on one of the rocks as he come in, so we pulled the dinghy out to assess the damage. One of the blades got bent at the tip and now resembled a wilted flower pedal.
We tried to enjoy the hike while talked through ways that we could source a new outboard propellor. It was unlikely that we could find one locally and our only hope would be to import one from Tahiti or, worst case, the US. Although Eitan is the king of redundancy, it’s impossible to carry around spare parts for everything and we would have to make do with the bent propeller in the meantime. We continued on hiking through the lush jungle vegetation and marveled at the stunning views along the way. The waterfall didn’t have any water but visiting the canyon was still worth the walk.
The end of the walk took us though the small town made up of a couple of houses and crop fields. Eitan and I managed to grab a couple of coconuts already on the ground and smuggle them out in our backpacks since it’s a big no-no to take any fruit from the islands without asking. Apparently, we were supposed to pay a $10 per person visitor fee, but since Martin and Simone were a little way behind us, the locals only targeted them to pay it and had missed Eitan and me. However, the visitors fee came with a bunch of free fruit and Martin and Simone returned with their arms loaded with pamelos, starfruit, bananas and mangoes.
When we returned Sierra Wind, we found our friends on SV Bula had anchored right behind us so we made plans to do another beach gathering that evening. Eitan and I went to shore about an hour early to have some time to try hammering out the bent propellor blade. Eitan did an excellent job and you could hardly tell there was ever any damage to begin with. The hammering seemed to attract some local cats who came to investigate what we were doing. Once he was done repairing the propellor, Eitan began opening our coconuts and I could hardly get any meat out before the cats nosed their way into the husk, drinking the leftover coconut water and eating away at the white flesh. I tried pouring some water for them using the coconut half as a bowl but they seemed to be more interested in the meat itself. True island cats, I guess.
Eventually, Brett and Dilana from SV Bula came to shore along with Brett’s dad who had made the crossing with them. We had met them about 7 months prior in Bahia Los Angeles and spent more time with them in San Carlos, keeping in touch for the Pacific crossing. The last time we saw them, I had shared my fears and anxieties about the crossing with Dilana and her advice was not to worry and suggested I could always fly there if needed. So, I thought it was a bit humorous when I found out during the crossing that Dilana had decided not to make the crossing and, in fact, fly there instead. I assumed her own anxieties had gotten to her as well and whenever I was having a rough day during the crossing, I would be envious of Dilana for taking the easier option. Well, I was wrong in assuming that she wasn’t up to the challenge and found out that shortly after the last time we saw them in San Carlos, Brett and Dilana found out they were pregnant and she was now due in just a couple of months. Given the conditions, it would have been unsafe for her to make the trip since she already needed special medical clearance to fly.
It was nice to see some old friends and make some new ones at Daniels Bay, but it was time for us to keep moving on. Based on the weather, the constant 20-knot trade winds, and sea state reports from SV Bula, circling the island didn’t seem like the best decision. Plus, we needed to get back into cellular/internet service to try finding a new propellor for the dinghy. So, we pulled the anchor and made our way back to Taiohae. Departing the bay removed any lasting desire to circumnavigate as we motored upwind at 1-knot against the whitecaps and current, burying the bow into the swell. It seemed the Marquesas Islands were not going to be easy the cruising grounds that we had expected.
