MALAYSIA

Pacific and Marquesas

For the photo album of this edition go to: http://www.cometosea.us/albums/Slideshow/PacificToPhilppines.pdf

Nuka Hiva May 30, 2005

This is the fourth Log edition and by the time I reach the goal of my voyage, there could easily be over a hundred of these. I left Santa Barbara on the 23rd of April and reached Hiva Oa in the Marquesas in the night of the 21st of May. It was a fast 28 day trip for the 3000 mile voyage, considering the 30 foot length of "Fleetwood". There was lots of wind, from unexpected directions. The usual North Westerly down the California coast blew mostly from the West and South West. I even had two days of tacking on a Southerly. The Pacific High had moved far south of its normal location. The S.E. trade winds, I expected as from latitude 25/20, only developed for part of the day close to the equator. The doldrums manifested themselves in two consecutive afternoons of slapping around. On the first afternoon, when I ran the engine, I discovered that I had raw water in the engine. Fortunately this seems to have been caused by seawater entering through the exhaust when I was running the engine in idle in rough seas to pump out the engine bilge, and not due to a broken head gasket or head. Yesterday I renewed the oil for the third time. I paid over $ 30 for a gallon of oil. Everything is very expensive in Polynesia. Fortunately the best of it is free. "Fleetwood" was not my first choice for this type of sailing but she has performed outstandingly. In the heavier air on a tight reach with reefed main and small head sail, she just sits on that third chine and moves easily through the seas. The common conception of French Polynesia is that it consists of Tahiti with Papeete as it's main center. But the surface area of French Polynesia covers about the same area as the continental United States, 3.5 million square miles. But the actual land surface is in the size of Rhode Island, 3,500 square miles. It is divided in the Marquesas with about 10 major islands, in the North West. These islands are relatively young volcanic islands, without coral reefs. Next, to the S.W. are the Tuamotous which are imploded volcanic islands of which just the coral reefs remain, surrounding the lagoons in the center. Then to the S.W. of these are the Society or Leeward Islands, of which Tahiti is the main island. These are older creations and are also volcanic with reasonable size mountains and coral reefs. Then far to the South in the 20 to 25 South latitudes are the Gambier and Austral chain.

It came as a surprise to me that Gauguin was buried on Hiva Oa and then I heard from my sister, just before leaving California, that Jacques Brel is also buried in Polynesia. Matter of fact, both Gauguin and Brel's tomb stones are about 30 feet apart in the same cemetery in Atuona on Hiva Oa. My sister also warned me for the Vahine with the red Hibiscus behind the ear. Gauguin died here of Syphilis. I had no clue as to what had happened to Brel after we left Belgium in 1970 and the many similarities of his back ground and mine intrigues me to write a story about this. This is a good place to do it since I am going to have my bandage refreshed daily at the hospital here. Last Saturday I cut the palm of my right hand while bathing in the river at the promontory of the baie du Comptroleur on Nuka Hiva. I lost my balance and gripped an underwater rock that apparently had some very sharp shells on it. I was looking inside a 2 inch long 1/4 inch deep cut. This was in the very small remote village of Taipivai. The locals, where I had trespassed with the dinghy, took me to the dispensary, dripping wet in my swimming trunks. A French medic sewed me up and gave me a good supply of bandages and a tetanus shot. All of this at the expense of the French people. Merci! Vive La France! I do not know what I would have done if there had not been such a good dispensary in this hole in the wall town. The Lord just keeps looking after me. Taipivai is where Herman Melville jumped ship off the whaler "Acushnet" in 1842. He lived here for several years with the local tribes and his books "Typee" and "Omoo" were inspired here. There are some well preserved tikis near the village. I apparently missed the trail and other cruisers told me that they saw me way beyond it. I turned around because my sandals were not up to the rough road and it was getting late. The river valley was lush and domestic pigs and chickens, turned wild, were all over the side of the road. This would be the ideal place to entice America's homeless. It would not take much to feed one self and to make shelter. Just be sure to bring your insect repellent. I had heard about the mean no-noes. I did not get bitten till that walk and on the way back from the dispensary. The hospital in Taiohae gave me a supply of ointment.

I stayed at Hiva Oa till Thursday afternoon and spent a day on the Island of Tahuata and sailed into Comptroller's bay last Saturday morning. This is a close as you can come to Paradise on earth. The magnificent lush green islands and jagged volcanic slopes. The people are very friendly. The first morning when I arrived, in the dark and full moon, I could hear the wild and domestic roosters crow and lots of laughing from the ferry dock where young people where hanging out and fishing. That Sunday I was taking pictures of a luau and the people invited me to share their food. The occasion was the end of the elementary school year. They had "boules" games for the children and the adults. Half racks of veal were roasted on long branches over a big wood fire. And a delicious fish was barbecued. The people are very kind and friendly. They often stop me and ask me where I am from and why I am sailing by myself. "Where is your wife?" Then I tell them, half jokingly, that I have a new love affaire, with the Lord. Then the usual reaction is a confirmation of their simple and sincere faith. This just wipes away any distance and I sense being among family.

The town of Atuona is very sleepy rural and slow pace. Chickens running wild all over. I can add this location to the list of places where I have experienced an almost spiritual atmosphere of contentment, order and harmony. Kuantan on the east coast of the Malaya peninsula, visited in 1962, and a small town just south of Puerto Valarta in 1979 are on this short list. You almost feel like you need to tip-toe out of the place because you might just spoil the perfection. Several years after I revisited the Mexican town, it had drastically changed. I'll skip Kuantan. While having lunch in Atuona a 5 men crew from an Australian boat came in including three Italians, obviously business guests, with their cell phones glued to their faces, allowing them selves barely time to consult the menu. I doubt if they ever got a clue of what they missed. So it, no doubt, has a lot to do with your state of mind how you conceive places like these.

Unfortunately I did not get organized with dinghy and bicycle to reach mass that Sunday. And yesterday I had a a similar disappointment. I had planned to leave Comptroller's Bay on Saturday evening but the accident set me back. I arrived at 8.30 in Taiohae the main town on Nuka Hiva. Mass was at 8 a.m. I did use my bicycle on Hiva Oa and now have it again on shore at Taiohae. But it was very easy to catch a ride from the anchorage for the about 2 1/2 miles to Atuona. There are hardly any sedan cars here. The standard transport is a small diesel pick-up with benches in the cargo hold. And you just hop in the back. There were about twenty boats in the Atuona anchorage. From the U.S., France, England, Norway, Canada. There was also an old brigantine from New Zealand the "Soeren Larsen". I met several of the passengers and the crew. Just before departure I was invited aboard. They were setting the main while singing sea shanties. Very romantic. The second mate was a German-Dutch girl, Astrid Lurweg, she took a tour of Fleetwood and then took me over to the Brigantine. She got her seamanship training in and lives in Enkhuizen. After paying my respects at the cemetery to Gauguin and Brel, I visited the Brel museum. This was very interesting and it had many exhibits of his singing and acting career and his last years on Hiva Oa. In the accompanying photo album is a picture of an etched plaque a fan attached to Brel's tomb stone it reads:

"Soleil eclaire et rechauffe la tombe de celui qui a eclaire et rechauffe tant de coeurs, que le vent a jamais, emporte et seme ses chansons et ses idees a travers le monde.

Tout serait plus beau . M.B. Belgique , 1992

Translation: "Sun, brighten and warm the tomb of the one who has warmed so many hearts. And that the wind may always carry and spread his songs and ideas across the world."

Everything would be more beautiful"

Here again is where I consider my self very fortunate being fluent in French. There were no translations any where of the French texts. And it has been a great help to communicate, especially with the young and old who usually know little English. And I can listen to the local radio shows, which are in Polynesian and French. I have learned a few words Polynesian. Akoha is hello, very similar to Aloha. As a matter of fact the music and language are very similar to Hawaiian. Kotau-nui is thank you! Na-Na is so long. One of the locals who experienced Brel on the island is soeur Genevieve. I looked her up at the college de St.Anne, a school for elementary and high school students. They have 120 boarding students out of the surrounding islands and 180 from Hiva Oa. Soeur Genevieve arrived in Polynesia in 1946 as a young sister of the order of St.Joseph de Cluny (Burgundy). I was curious if Brel had been a practicing Christian. She explained to me that he had done so much good to the population and her school that she considers he lived the Christian life. The school was a haven of tranquility and order in a beautiful tropical campus setting. Besides the details on Brel from her and the museum I received by mail from my sister in Amsterdam a bibliography and a CD. I have many of Brel's songs on LP's in storage. A very nice French couple from Toulouse copied twenty of his songs and a 1971 Knokke interview on a 128 MB USB memory plug. That first Sunday morning Helene and her friend Stephanie, from another French yacht, came around the anchorage selling great crepes. Lots of the cruisers are not aware of poste restante. This is a great way to receive mail here. I decided that once I had the mail to push off from Hiva Oa. I left at 2 p.m. on Thursday and anchored in Vaitahu bay on the adjoining island of Tahuata. This is very quiet spot. I was the only cruising boat there. I managed to pull anchor in Hiva Oa and re-anchor here without the use of the engine. This island has a small population and is even more laid back than Hiva Oa. The church is exquisite as you will see from the accompanying photo album. The stained glass windows took my breath away. Truly awesome. Very different and yet similar to an experience in the Sacre Coeur de Paris. I was tempted into the home of a carver for which this island is known. I bought a small amulet carved, with the Marquesan design for the bible, out of conch shell. They also carve the beak/horn of a fish, like a Marlin. Next door, I bought a pile of fresh vegetables straight out of the garden, eggplant, lettuce, bell peppers and a whole stem of bananas. They slowly ripen, hung from the solar panel, but I am having a hard time staying ahead of the process.

One pleasant surprise was that the government here no longer demands a posting of a bond. I am not fully certain of the threshold. I believe it is when you are staying longer than 90 days in Polynesia. You have to check in and out of your first port and then you need to just advise the gendarmerie of your passing through whenever there is a Gendarmerie on the island and check out of your last Polynesian port.

The next edition will include some more of the Marquesas, after which I plan to visit a couple of the Tuamotous atols and then Tahiti and the islands to the east of it.