Sailing in the Pacific – Sailing with Saphir

Fiji days with Erika and her family

Five days to recover more in my back/leg, before Erika with family arrives. We also need to rearrange the boat so they can sleep in the beds. Luckily the cleaning we got help with. Thanks to a neighbour boat I got in contact with a new physiotherapist that help me much better. Got new exercises/stretches and she also gave me massage and this electrical muscle stimulator that felt really good. Hopefully this will help but it will take a while and need to do my stretches 3times a day. Puh!!!

Erika, Oskar, Max and Mia have arrived ! They are a bit tiered . It was a long journey 36 hours with not much sleep. We are so happy to have them here.

After a day resting and grocery shopping we head out off the Marin to go to some off the island near Musket cove. As often the wind is not right so we use the iron genua instead. Nice to have help with all lines and fenders.

We passes some reefs and need to be looking out for corals heads since not all are marked on the sea chart. There are some very nice resorts that we pass and we anchor outside one. So nice to have a swim in the sea. I have been swimming in the sea since we was in Tonga and that is three weeks ago. With the sup board in the water it is easier to get M&M in the water. They think it is a bit to high to jump from the platform in the back off the boat.

We had anchored outside an adults resort ops!! so we couldn’t go in to the beach with the kids and didn’t find any other nice place to go ashore. Edgar took an extra drive around with the kids in the dinghy before we left to a new place.

We ended up on Cast away island. A bit rolly here also but much better then the last place. I thought when we where inside the reef it should not be rolly , of course not totally calm but less then we had. Now everyone is ready to go ashore so we took the dinghy in to Cast away resort. It was on its way to get low tie so we was lucky to get in to land. Now we had to wait for the high tie to come , which takes 3-4 hours. Good that they had a restaurant so we could get some lunch and a swimming pool that we could use. M&M enjoy swimming and playing in the pool and I enjoyed sitting down and relaxing and not needing to walk.

The next day we went to Musket cove to spend some time with the World Arc fleet before they continue in a few days to Vanatue, Australia and onwards. Since we are not joining we thought it would be nice to be their start boat and wave them off. Musket cove turned out to be a perfect place to stay with kids with the beach and a pool to swim in when the tie is low.

It was very nice to spend time with the fleet. We enjoy every minute. We will miss them all a lot. When we started our sailing a year ago I thought/ hoped that we would meet some nice sailors. Never in my mind I thought we was going to be part of such a super great group and find truly new friends.

The starting day for WARC is here. We welcome Tim onboard. Erika will be in charge off the starting flags using our boathook as help. It was a bit scary start when Salt and Sara of Sweden past us and headed straight towards the reefs. You can see on the picture where we had anchored next to the reef. They turned in time and we wave to our friends. Some off them came very close up to us before the went away. We wish them all a great sailing to Vanuatu and onwards.

The bar was located just next to our boat where we could have some food as well. Good for me I didn’t have to walk very far. In daytime when it was high tie we cold have a swim next to the bar but at low tie you could walk all the way in to the beach without getting wet.

Slowly getting better in my hip and leg due to my stretches 3 times a day. The massage I took also help a lot I straighten out so to say. I continue to bike everywhere since walking to far hearts and standing still is not working more than a minute or two. Will come back to this lovely place and get more massage fore sure.

We spend another day here by the pool and in the evening there was a dance performance that we all enjoy. Two fascinated kids sitting like a light as we say in Sweden. Meaning they are sitting totally still and not moving around. Mia wanted to join the dancing so Erika and her went up.

The next morning we headed out and went a bit north and ended up at the island Waya outside the village Nalauwaki. After the anchor was drop Edgar and Mia went in to meet the chef and give cava. We was all invited to the savusavu ceremony later in the afternoon followed with song and dance by the locals. To be allowed to snorkel, swim in the water,walk on the beach etc you have to meet the chef of the village and bring cava and drink it with him. This is not the cava with bubbles this is made out of cava roots and mixed with water. Not very nice taste according to me.

We went in to the village for the savusavu and dance. The tradition is to drink up everything in the bowl so we hade to take a few drinks. It was a very nice song and dance performance. Mia and Edgar join the dance but Max didn’t want to dance.

Nice sunrise and then we are off to Vuda Marina. A bumpy motor going so the kids ended up sleeping.

The next day was a fun day in the water park. Even me went on the slide once with Mia. It was really fun.

Vuda Marina has a built part of the playground like a boat and the kids loved it. Sometimes it is nice to watch a move and just relax in the sofa.

Two weeks goes fast when you have fun. Time for the family to go home. Will miss them a lot. Love you Max and Mia

Hugs Eva

Fiji with Elise

Suva yatch club anchor place didn’t make a good impression on us rather the opposite. Lots of ship wrecks and ships that almost are a wreck.

We decided to leave and found a bay just around the corner. This feels much better. Although it is a bit rolly when the tie comes and goes. We stay here over night and I did some very stupid thing so my hip and leg got really bad. Hope it will get better soon. Elise is a bit yet lagged and I try out my new baking machine. This will take a few times I guess to get a great result. First I guess was to much flour.

We leave the bay next morning and head up to Nadi. Outside Denarau Marina we drop the anchor since the marina was full. We take the dinghy in to the marina to do some shopping and fill up petrol to the dinghy. When we came in and starts walking I realise that my leg /hip is worse then I thought. Can only walk 10- 20m before it is to painful to walk. After done the shopping I am totally exhausted and can’t walk…. Grateful that Erik is in Denarau and gives me a pain relief shot and some strong pills. Feels already much better on the way back to Saphir.

Laying in anchor outside Denarau was not the best place and we realise that many of the fleet is in Vuda Marina so we decided to go there. It is a very nice relaxed marine. Not as commercial marina as Denarau.

As Elise have been on big cargo ships she have learned a few tricks how clean a boat. I am very happy that she us to clean part of the boat. She also went up the mast to free the flag that had got stuck in the mast.

We went in to the Boat Sheed(the restaurant in the marina) for dinner in the evening together with Chris and Karen. We had a great evening that ended up with Chris singing karaoke and Karen joining him.

Often it is something that needs to be fixed, repaired or replaced on the boat when we come to a marina. This time the boat was okay but me and Edgar where broken. I can hardly walk and Edgar have problem with his back. Poor Elise was looking forward to sail around the island in Fiji but ended up in Vuda Marina and a few day at a resort. The days in the resort help Edgar a lot and I was feeling a bit better but still not good enough to walk . We did enjoy our days at the pool and lovely dinners. So nice to sleep in a full size bed, a bed you don’t need to crawl in and is totally still.

Elise went on a day trip on a catamaran. She snorkelled and saw lovely corals and fishes. This is what I hope to do and see soon.

Back in the marina after days at the resort Edgar and Elise goes to do some grocery shopping while I rest… So glad that we have our folding bikes onboard. This is my life saver. I am not stuck on the boat although we can take the dinghy in to the marina where there is a restaurant, chandelier and a food/ cafe/gift shop. To walk from the boat to the marina takes about 5-10 min and for me probably 20 -30 min, since I have to stop every 20meter due to pain. Biking is without any pain and the roads are okay to bike on. I can easily move around. We saw that is was going to be a market on First Landing resort so me and Elise took the bikes over to check it out. Found some nice things. Most of them handmade by the locals. I even bought a small bag that I had to wait for to be done

Vuda Marina next to the resort. Short distance but long to walk to.

In the evenings we went there with our friends and had dinner. They had performance and invited us up to dance with them. It was only Elise and Karen who went up. New drinks has to tries and Elises was very blue and good she said.

Our last evening with Elise. She leaves early morning to fly home to Sweden and start work. Safe flight back Elise and next time we hope that you can sail a bit more …

Hugs Eva

Getting to Fiji

Together with Amanzi and Matilda we hoist the anchor in the sunrise and set course to the Lau groups in the west side of the Fiji Island.

I have prepared our sleeping spot in the salon on the floor since it is going to be a very wobbly crossing. To make it softer I even put a madras’s against the cupboard and pillows on the other side to make it softer. This is definitely the best spot. Don’t understand why I haven’t done this every time. Slept so much better here. It is a two night sailing and approximate 300NM. At 2,30 in the morning we have 190 NMs left. We will be in Lau group early morning next day.

First some lovely sunset pictures.

At 8.20 Tonga time we reach the opening of the reef. This is the first time since our start of sailing that we turn back the clock 1hour and not forward. That means we are on the other side of the world from home. It took us a year to get here and if you fly it takes 30-36 hours depending on hours in airports. A bit different. We arrive in Lomaloma on the Vanuatu Balavu island and drop our anchor at 10.30. Now we wait for the rest of the fleet and specially Rob from World Arc. We didn’t have to wait long. An hour later we have been checked in to Fiji. The 4 authorities plus the agency came out to the boat. Very efficient and we are ready to leave and take us slowly around to the other side of the island.

After some very tricky narrow passages with lots off coral reefs and the scary coral heads that can be just under the surface we dropped the anchor at a lovely spot. Later we heard that five boats hits this coral heads and some needed some repairs later. What a lovely place. Would really love to come back and explore more.

Next morning we found this jello thing under our roof in the cockpit. How did it get in?? And what is it? No time to wonder just clean up and we are of to the main island and Suva to pick up Elise our youngest daughter that arrived on the 14th. She is staying at a hotel in Suva. Apparently not the safest city so no fun going outside the hotel area.

One night crossing and we will be in Suva. At noon we have 144NM left and at 5 next morning 40NM left. It takes time to sail. We have a lovely sunrise and greets by dolphins when we get closer. They where not the only one checking on us. Suddenly there came a rib boat with the coast guard asking to come onboard to check our papers. They said it was a routine check. No others boat friends after us had them onboard. This is the third time we have been checked by the coast guard. Wonder what so special about our boat?

Finally we see Suva. We talk to Elise and can see hers hotel we think. She sees us sailing outside the reef. Lots of boat wrecks and boats that are almost a wreck here. This place doesn’t look very safe or nice. It doesn’t matter we drop the anchor and Edgar takes the dinghy in to pick her up. Elise have arrived and now we have 9 days together to explore part of Fiji.

Hugs Eva

Days in Niue

When we arrived to Niue the swells was quite big and it made it very tricky to go a shore. We decided to take a slow relaxing day , fixing on the boat and go in the next day. You will understand what I mean by tricky to go a shore when you see the movie.

So after breakfast we head in to land and the pier where the dinghy hoists up on the pier. It is a bit tricky but after a few times you learn.

We headed to the government building to regístrate us in to the country. At the same time we also made the paperwork’s for leaving, very convenient. Three different institutions, custom, immigration and bio security. We filled in the immigration paper , the same one you get on the plane when entering a new country and rest was already done by ARC. Edgar just had to sign some papers and pay tourist tax.

We started to walk to the shop, The Arc had organised a sunset drink in one of the few bars. After that a dinner with performances at a resort on the island. It was a nice evening with great company.

The next day we went for a guided tour to see part of the island. There is a lot of caves and and some freshwater pools to walk/climb in and also to take swim in. The water was a bit cold but it was refreshing and after a while you get use to it. Even Edgar went in snorkelling. Felt little strange that there was almost no salt even if it was connected to the ocean although not a huge opening

In the evening one of our guides open up her house for us to have a barbecue. We all went to buy meat and drinks for the evening . So nice of here and her friend to open up her home for us. We had a great time. Lots of laughs, singing and dancing. It was very long time ago I dance so that was really fun. We adults showed the young adults how to move.

Happy that is not only me and Edgar that have to get the dinghy in to the water in the middle of the night. It all went well.

Relaxing Sunday including a short walk

I went diving on Monday afternoon with Laura,Michel,Cory and Luc. We went in to a cave which was fantastic. Little scary with all these snakes in the water. Even if they didn’t do anything except being very curious and scared me when it came up to check on me. The landscape outside the cave was fantastic and so different from what I have seen before. Hard to not to go lower then 18 m which is what I am certified for when the water is so clear and bright.

After the diving it was time to move on and go to Tonga. We welcome Rob onboard. He is working for the ARC and needed a lift. Toghether with Misty, SolanaV , Pec and Pippin we hoist our sails and headed to Tonga ready for two nights sailing.

Hugs Eva

Papeete Stockholm Papeete

We saw Tahiti for a few hours and enjoyed the view. Around lunchtime we arrived to Papeete and moored at Tahina Marina. On the way in we saw many nice houses

Edgar and Chris went to clean out all the salt that had come in to the engine room and and some other fixing. I took out the sewing machine and fixed the sunscreen for the front off the deck.

It is a nice to be in harbour for once. Just walk of the boat and you have land under your feet without going in to a dinghy which can be very hard and scary sometimes when it is lots of waves. This harbour had a lots of swells due to the current so we have to make sure we are well moored. Don’t want to bump in to any other boats or the pier.

We have the mechanic man on board. Feel sorry for him in this heat to be in the engine room. He takes out the part that is broken and comes back later in the afternoon to put it back and make sure it is fixed.

In the harbour is a nice restaurant that we went for dinner almost every night and to meet other sailers from the World Arc. We had dinner with Chris and Claus the last evening before Chris goes home to England. It was very nice to meet Claus again. He is also going home to Germany and have no plans of coming back to sail with Thetis as Chris have. We will see him again soon together with his wife Anne. Totally forgot to take pictures

The boat is organised and cleaned on the inside. Ready for our guest and to start our next sailing. First we have to go home to Sweden for the funeral of my dear mother-in-law. While we are away we have help to polish all our stainless steel. It do get rusty of all this saltwater. Not a fun job so happy someone else is doing it for us.

Even though the reason to go home was very sad we did have some lovely days with our family in the middle of the sadness.

On the way back to the boat we had 23h in San Fransisco. We took a cab in to have dinner at The Waterfront restaurantm. It was very good food and we had a great time.

At the Marina our friend Eva was waiting for us. She arrived the day before us and spent the night on the boat by her self. It was a bit challenging to find the boat dark and not much light and on top off that the taxi driver left her at the opposite side off the Marina. Then trying to get onboard when the boat is rolling due to extra high swells that came in. Good that she is use to be on a boat. The next day we tried to do some shopping in the big supermarket but it was closed luckily the other small was open so we could get a few things and best off it was that they had eggs.. this egg hunt and I guess it will continue. There is a lot off hens around on the island but they are wild and almost all eggs comes from New Zealand.

After the shopping it was time to explore the island a bit and we saw that it should be a beach not that far away. Our bikes came out and me and Eva went for a bike ride to find the beach. We did find one and had a nice swim although the current was really strong so we didn’t go out far.

Our friends came and collected all the things we brought from Sweden to them. It ended up with five bags in total from Sweden. Eva took one for us. Two Starlinks and that is two bags, one is for us and some other nice things from home. Now we will have easier internet when we are on the boat. Still need to have a sim card to the phone when we go ashore. The last evening we had some drinks with the crew from Misty and Amanzi before we had our dinner.

After breakfast on the 2 of May we got the Marina guys coming over to g help us with all the mooring lines and we are off to the neighbour Island Moorea. It will be a very short trip over. Only 4 hours.

Moorea her we come. We can see the island from the harbour so it is not far but we will anchor on the other side off the island.

Hugs Eva

Makemo island

It was a bit rolling night sail so we all sleepy little less then we hoped for. There was one that slept well on our boat. Luckily the bird found a nice spot that didn’t involved any cleaning up afterwards. Arriving to Makemo early morning and enjoying the sunrise.

Getting in to the opening of the atoll is always interesting with the current. Wait for it look what showed up when I was filming

We drop anchore at 6.30 , had some breakfast and then we all went to have a few hours sleep.

When we woke up VoyagerII was here.We got a ride in with Andrew to see if we could get some eggs and fresh vegetables. Unfortunately the shop was closed until 3 so no luck. Easter and no eggs… not good but what to do. We do have hearing with us and snaps.

We decide to join VogagerII to go towards the north entrens and stay there for the night. It was little longer than we thought and hard to see the coral heads when you have the sun front of you .

In the morning me and Chris went snorkling just in front of the boat. It was very nice with lovely colours of the corals and lots of fishes. By lunchtime we needed to leave to get the best passage out considering current and the tide . We had to stand and watch out for the coral heads again since they are not marked on the charts. Edgar us getting professional taking the boat in and out of the atolls with the current and tide.

Small ref shark visiting us before we leave

The night is very ruff and we tried to avoid the squalls we saw on the radar.

Entering Fakarava the Sea is very ruff and lots of current . It needs full concentration of the captain.

Getting in to the atoll and it is calm again but bit rainy.

Hugs Eva

Tuamotos island Raroia

We arrived just after lunch and was the only boat anchored outside the village . After a while two more boats arrived but none from the ARC. The afternoon we spent cleaning the boat and just relaxing on the boat. This must be the most magical sunset I have seen so far. The water was so calm and shinning as a mirror and the colours changed during the sunset.

The next day we went in to explore the island and also to see if we could get some grocery and find a restaurant. After been guided in different directions a nice teenager took us to the shop. There was not much fresh fruit and vegetables but we got some potatoes for our herring on Easter and some new fishing gears. Let see if we get some fish.

Looking at you shadow you realise how high the sun is since the shadow is very short. Most off the houses take advantage off the sun and have solar panels we also saw it on top of the street lights. Can you see what’s hiding behind the palm. Lots of them running around free on the island

In the evening we had dinner with Alex and Rebecca from CasiqueV and all 4 from Hoka Hey. There was no restaurant on the Island but the grocery store owners wife invited us to her house where she made dinner for all of us. We had a lovely meal and a great evening. No photos taken accept on the two paintings that her daughter had made

The day after we went across the bay to see if we could do some snorkelling and maybe find the place where Thor Heyerdahl stranded with Kontiki. It was a bit tricky to cross over the atoll due to all the pearl farms bouys that we had to watch out for. We found a nice spot and I pumped up my sup board.

I paddled in to land and the guys took the dinghy. We took a walk along the shore and saw lots of eremites crabs and really huge ones and some very tiny . Look closely to the video and you will se the tiny seashells moving..

An other lovely sunset and a moon rise and once I can take a picture of the moon. It is very bright and give us good light in the night. Which is extra nice when we are night sailing and have this extra light.

Next morning an others snorkelling tour at the beach and this time I brought my go pro so I can take photos and film under the water

Next Island is longer than a day sail so we decided to leave in the afternoon to arrive early in the morning..So after our snorkling and a lunch we hoist the anchor. Just before that we get some small lemon sharks visiting us since Edgar gave them som leftovers. On the way out we meet Amanzi.

The opening is tricky but gladly we can follow our old track coming in and we are safe.

On the outside the dolphins are waiting for us and joins for bit. It is the same dolphins that greeted us when we arrived. Or at least one of them since it had a big spot behind the eye

Hope you enjoyed the reading and the pictures. Hugs Eva

Leaving Marquesaöarna and sailing to Tuamotuöarna

After a bit hassle with the Esta application we finally got it to work and could get back to the boat and hoist the anchor at 11 a clock. Some of our Arc boats went out at the same time but just to go to an other bay on the island. We was the only one sailing to Tuamotos.

We had a good sailing. Doing 7 knots with the spinnaker up. I am so glad that we have Chris onboard. Specially now when I still have so much pain in my tailbone. It is hard to find a way to sit with no pressure on it, stand up can also be painful and even turning in bed is. Hope it will be better in a few days.

Just befor dinner time Chris says look there are dolphins here. This time they stayed around the boat for 30 minutes. We do think it was around 50 of them. It was so great to have them around the boat and I did get a good video when one of the jumped. What a great ending of our first sailing day. Next thing will be to catch a fish. The fishing stick and New is fixed after some shopping in Nuku Hiva .

We took three hours shift from 19.00 to 07.00. That means that one have to do 2 shifts one night. I took the first one and hope that we will be there before the forth night. It was a lovely night filled with lots of stars and the moon shining bright. So this time I was awake during sun set and sunrise. I do enjoy them very much

I had Edgar laying up in the cockpit on the first shift since he was not feeling good. First he tought he was getting seasick and then his stomach started to ache. Don’t know if he had gotten some bad food or what. Once again happy that it is not only me and Edgar on the boat.

Day two and we still have the spinnaker up and doing 7 kn. Since it is quit calm I decided to fill the freezer with some cinnamon buns and bread. Maybe not the best idea to bake in this heat but it is worth it afterwards.

The wind changed so Edgar and Chris went up and change the sail and took out the spinnaker boom on the starboard side. According to the weather institute we was not going to have much wind

My night was was between 01.00-04.00. It was a good sailing but we was going a bit to much north. In the morning the guys took of the bom and we could take the right course straight to Raroia. Now we only have 30 hours to be there in time so we could get in to the reef due to sight and current. So far so good. Keeping a speed between 6.5-7,2. The fishing gear is in the water and after an hour we see a lot of birds flying around and some fish jumping and it took 15 min and we hear bang. Our fishing line went of. Good that we bought two new tassels. Chris made a new ending so let’s see if we can catch a fish….

The ocean is big and we don’t see any ships often but suddenly there is one huge container ship coming in to our plotter and it is quite close but has a speed almost triple ours so we could follow our run line and not need to change course.

The weather forecast was right this time the wind dropped around 15.00 so we had to put on the engine to be able to keep our timetable. Now the watch is easier so the guys plays backgammon on the iPad.

The fishing went not well. We did get one on the hook but the line went of. No it is time to get a new roll and line that is much stronger so we can get some fish.

We arrive just after lunch early to Raroia and greets bye dolphins on the way in. It was a bit tricky but the captain did a great job. We anchored just outside the village and it was only us here so far.

Hugs Eva

Marquesses Island Nuku Hiva

In the morning we left Oa Pua to go to Nuku Hiva where we there will be the gathering with dinner and price giving award for leg 4 from Galapagos to Hiva Ou. It is a short sailing and we arrived around lunchtimme and decided to fill up the diesel. We had to wait for a while since there was two boat before us. It was a new way of docking to fill up. We had to drop the anchor revers back and through a line to land. It was a bit tricky but we managed it between the three of us.

We missed the welcoming gathering during the day since it took a while to fill up . In the evening we went up for the dinner, prize giving award and performances organised by the World Arc. First the locals danced for us and after that it was time for the men and then the ladies. We had a nice evening and was the one that had the closest answer on the total width of all boats.

A day to do some maintenance and shopping was on the schedule. I went for the shopping and took the opportunity to look around the village and to use our gift card we recived from the prize award. Lovely view around the village. In the evening we went over to Cepa to say bye to Ebo that is going home to Germany. We where many people from the boats around so when we wanted to go in the dinghy it was little hard to clime over to our dinghy.

In the morning we had a rain shower and after that a lovely rainbow appeared. We had planned to leave the day before in the afternoon to Tuamotos island but we had to stay one more night to make some paperwork in the morning with the gendarmeri since Chris need to be registrated on our boat . Best was that we then also had time to apply for our Esta since we fly via USA when we fly home. It took a while to fix that. When it was done we took up the anchor and started our three nights sailing.

Hugs Eva

Marquesa island Tuahana and OaPua

Time to move on but first settled in our new crew member Chris how will join us all the way to Papeete . He and his lovely wife Anne together with Clause helped us true the Panama Canal. We had a great time on the boat all of us on the trip so looking forward to have Chris whit us to Tahiti

Our first stop was at Tahuata wich was only a few hours sailing from Hiva Oa. We anchored outside the village Vaitahu. Here was only two boats anchored when we arrived and none from ARC. This looked to be a very calm bay no rolling during day and night. Finally we hopefully will sleep a hole night without waking up due to that we roll around in our bed. It is hard to describe but this rolling don’t let your body rest totally. The body is always moving you try to build up pillows next to you or find a position that keeps you as still as possible. On top off that it is very warm so when I wake up I feel like a bulldozer have driven over me. After a swim in the Sea it fels better. I do can see a point of having a hammock to sleep in on a boat. Just berfore sunset came Cacciqui V in and anchored. We had them all over for a sun downer.

The day af we all went in to the water and continued to clean the hull. It took a wile and there was some kind of burning things in the water so I couldn’t stay in. Edgar and Chris finished the cleaning. After that we went in to town to have a look. Due to Edgars knee he didn’t want join on the walk around so he found a place in the shadow while me an Chris took a walk. We had a great walk and tried to find a sim card to Chris but no luck with that. It is fantastic here grows a lot of fruit wild like bananas, mangos, lemons and some that I don’t know what it is. In the Center of the city is the church located. A very beautiful building and so is the inside. Love the woodwork on the side door .

When we came back we found Edgar at one of the restaurant together with CassiqueV and Lonestare. We had a really nice lunch and top off that we got some live music as well. After that we went back to the boat to snorkel a bit. Not that much to see and sadly the water was not that clear as it looked at the dinghy dock. Clumsy me manage to sit done on the handle hit my tailbome very bad when I was going to put on my find to go snorkel. The pain was not that bad so I went snorkelling. Let see how it will go with that. It do hurt to sit if I get pressure on the tailbone.

In the afternoon we went back in to town to learn how to play petanque. Which is variant of boule game. This is a very popular game here.It didn’t go that well but it was fun.

Since we wanted to visit at least one more island we decided to night sail up to Oa Pou. First a quick stop in the next bay to watch the sunset from the beach and have dinner. We ended not going in to the beach since we didn’t trust the anchor.

After dinner we hoist the sails and together with lots of other boats we headed to Oa Poa. The wind was really good in the beginning but around midnight it was more or less gone and we only made 2 knots so the engine was on again for a while until we got some wind again.

The scenery is fantastic when we get closer to Oa Pou. These Volcano Marquesas island are astounding.

Once again we greeted by dolphins just outside the harbour

Here was quite few more boat anchored than last place, but we found a place behind the wave breaker. We have breakfast and then Edgar drives me and Chris to land. Edgar will stay in the boat while me and Chris explore the island together with Alex, Rebecca,Andy,Andy and Mario from CassiqueV. First we got Chris his SIM card and refill for us. We checked out the handicraft market. Many nice things and some quit expensive. They do know how to charge there things which is good .

A car is rented so Alex drives us around the island. First visit is the chocolate man and the next the waterfall. After an hour drive we are in the village where the chocolate man and waterfall is or both are a bit outside the village. Very please that we got a car and did not walk all the way which was a discussion first. We starts to walk but realice it is quite far away still and up the hills in the heat. Alex went back to get the car and the rest of us decides to walk slowly upwards. On the way up I found a mango three that is named Eva. No mangos to taste though. When Alex arrives the car is already quit full with the family from the boat Pachamama. So nice to see them. We all drives up to the chocolate man and looks at his place. Unfortunately he didn’t show us his working place but all of us bought some chocolate from him.

After that me, Chris and Rebecca walked the 2 km to the waterfall. Wow what a place. So fantastic and clear fresh water and very beautiful.

One of the Andy’s wanted to do a hike up the mountain so the rest of us took a drive down to the village and the harbour where Pachamama was anchored. On the way down we picked up The family on BlueSunshine that also was in the same bay as Pachamama. After that we continued to the next village to se if we could get something to eat and drink. After some help we found the store which was in small shelter on the owners ground. She invited us to have our drinks on her veranda. Once again we got music played for us.

On the way back we got some really heavy rain and we got soaking wet. But after rains come sunshine. We past the airport and the landing strip is seated in a valley . Just next to the sea.

Almost back we see that our boats is still laying safe in the bay. In the harbour there is a modern Tika that is a fishing man. Looks like he is very proude fisherman.

Hugs to all that read my blogg. So glad to get some feedback from you😘

Eva