Anaho Bay 2 days in

8º 49.378s 140º 03.825w

Sat May 18 2019

JollyDogs arrived in Taiohae Bay to:

· execute customs and immigration procedures

· get Mark’s carte de sejour in process

· dispatch our crewman Thad

· take a short break from cooking onboard

· begin absorbing the local culture

· reprovision with fresh fruit and vegetables

· top up our diesel fuel tanks

· enjoy a bit of internet and cell phone communications

· revert to normal biorhythm sleeping patterns after 3 weeks of 6 on / 3 off watch cycles

· make a couple of new friends

Well, we got ‘er done, and we also got tired of the rolly anchorage that is Taiohae Bay, so on Thursday we were finally ready to bolt for greener pastures. It had been cloudy and rainy for 2 days, and with the poor solar input the batteries were getting a bit low. In good solar input conditions we have enough excess power to make water, but as the fresh water tank was getting low it was time to take action!

So off we motored and motor sailed around the Eastern side of the Island and up to the Northwest side, pushing into some rather icky seas for a bit, enduring fog and rain and some of those almost forgotten “hang on or you’ll get tossed to the deck” conditions we love to avoid. I’m pretty sure the US Postal Service wouldn’t have delivered a letter in those conditions. Anyway, about 22 nm and 4 ½ hours later we arrived in Anaho Bay, 470 liters of fresh water fatter with fully charged batteries and clearing skies. Wow, it’s true. This is one of the most beautiful bays on Earth. According to our Lonely Planet guide book, back in 1888 Robert Louis Stevenson “was inspired to write many pages describing its unsettling beauty.” I bet Bob Stevenson was somebody’s uncle, too!

So here we are. The bay opens to the North. This time of year the wind and swell run from the East or Southeast, so the water is unaffected by the swell. We are in the tradewind belt and because the terrain forms a natural “V” to the East, the wind does funnel through here in a rather brisk fashion. Folks with wind generators are loving it, packing away 4 -5 amps constantly. The wind waves on the water will make for some interesting workouts on our stand up paddleboards (SUPs) but it’s time to pump them up!

Hoping to avoid a stuffy boat in rainy conditions, Isabel purchased a couple of wind scoop things that should allow fresh air in while keeping rain out. We’ve been experimenting with various locations for them before I drill holes for mounting hardware. They do keep all but the most hard-driving rain out, so we had decided one should be mounted on the hatch above our bunk. We might be rethinking that, as the last two nights have been so breezy that it feels like we’re sleeping in a wind tunnel. Not too restful, so the experiment will continue a bit longer before holes are drilled. Kind of difficult to undrill holes in gel coat.

One of the odd things about arriving here is that unlike most anchorages in Mexico, we didn’t know a soul. NO FRIENDS! Whip out the tiny violins. . . anyway the only thing to do is to jump in the dinghy and go visiting, or holler on the VHF radio to either offer or ask for help with something. We did it all, meeting some nice Aussies, Jon and Sal, on a Cappell Mara, a shiny new Beneteau Sense 50. They refer to it as a “monomaran” as it’s got such a wide stern and roomy cockpit. Me likey! Sal helped me with some Google Earth photo overlays for OpenCPN navigation software which will help us get into various narrow channels in the Tuamotus, while Jon and Isabel chatted away about our stories. We said hi to the family on Ubi, an interesting aluminum monohull that we spoke with briefly in La Cruz before we all launched on our passage, and we stopped by a couple of interesting catamarans to inquire about their designs. We met the couple that live on Minstrel Boy while exploring ashore. I helped a delivery crew refuel the monstrous Moorings 5800 they were delivering to Moorings charter operation in the the Society Islands. That puppy goes for something like $35,000 US per week if you’re interested, but that includes crew. What a bargain!

When we arrived in Anaho Bay, Minstrel Boy and Ubi were here. As we picked a spot and set our anchor, a lady on Mr. X stood on deck and watched attentively, deciding whether we were either idiots or too close for comfort. She didn’t glare, so we were golden.

Yesterday was a glorious sunny day, so it was time to do a couple loads of laundry (yes, in a bucket with a magic plunger) and make some repairs on the main sail bag. As we were doing all that, a small Swiss monohull arrived with an impressive Wahoo, nearly 5’ long hanging from the side. It wasn’t too long before a lovely young lass rowed from that boat to several boats around the bay including us, offering up large chunks of fresh fish. She was originally from Taiwan, spoke excellent English, and was happy to visit for a bit and dispense the last of the Wahoo upon us, a real treat indeed!

Along about 1630 I announced that it was time to launch the dinghy and go make some new friends. As it’s bad form to expect to consume the resources of others, Isabel made ”Mexican wine” (tequila, lime, and water) for our sippy cups and we set off. We intended to make a complete pass around the bay saying hello to every boat. Our first stop was Mr. X, and as is not uncommon, they insisted we come aboard for a visit. We spent the next 2 hours with Manuela and Ian, exchanging tales of our boat life, recent passages and plans for the near future, learning about each other’s backgrounds, and getting briefed on the local hikes and gourmet restaurant across the ridge.

They’re both from the UK so Isabel had that in common. Manuela is French by birth but has lived in the UK so long it’s hard to tell. Ian is a broadcast engineer, formerly of the BBC and may know our close friend Richard of the BBC, but we failed to ask. They’ve taken a couple years off from their professional lives to have an adventure. We had a grand old time and now have their contact information. With luck we’ll find ourselves together in another anchorage and can show them some hospitality.

And just like that we’ve made new friends! The cruising community is our tribe, and our circle of friends continues to grow. We don’t describe wealth in money or material terms, it’s all about human relationships and we’re getting richer by the day.