Back to a familiar stomping ground 14 Oct 19

8º 54.898s 140º 05.947w

Mon Oct 14 2019

Well our lovely overnight sail was exactly that – an opportunity to let JollyDogs run fast, as Isabel saw up to 10 knots speed over ground as we blasted along with full main sail and screecher. Around about 0530 Isabel tugged on my feet, rousing me from a deep sleep as she noted it might be time to begin preparing for our imminent arrival at Daniel’s Bay. A bit later we were on the hook with about 7 other boats in the bay, admiring just how amazing the enormous craggy cliffs are. So far I’d rate Daniel’s Bay as #2 on on the spectacular scale, with Fatu Hiva’s Bay of Virgins at a smashing #1. Of course Cook’s Bay at Moorea ain’t too shabby, but there’s something really special about the Marquesas, including a lot less tourist traffic, no jet ski silliness, and seldom a superyacht.

There were a pair of giant manta rays tooling around the bay along with numerous turtles, but the water was so nutrient rich that visibility was poor and they had to be right near the surface to observe. Never mind, plenty of goats wandering the cliff sides and surrounding ridgelines provided entertainment. Shawnee and I took the hike to the waterfall, an absolutely lovely walk through tropical forest with a little creek stompin’ thrown in, while Isabel kicked back on JollyDogs and enjoyed a little “hammock time”.

We returned with a husked meat coconut (as opposed to a green coconut more useful for the water) and a “3 days until it’s ready” avocado from the organic farm along the path. Score. Isabel reported on her excellent yoga workout and nap, Shawnee raved about the beautiful hike, and I turned off my brain for a bit. Another great day in paradise, followed by a lovely dinner of pan seared duck breast and grilled brussel sprouts along with our last bottle of chilled white wine.

Now we’re anchored back in Taiohae Bay, perfectly centered amongst several other boats, a few of which are unoccupied and likely being looked after by Kevin at Yacht Services Nuku Hiva. We’ll visit with him this morning to finalize all arrangements including a checklist for what he needs to inspect on JollyDogs, and a ride to the airport on Wednesday morning. That should be quite interesting as we’ve not had an opportunity to visit the interior of the island and the airport is all the way on the other side. Should be a nice trip through the mountains.

We joined David Frost and Kris Adams, an Aussie couple on SV Taipan for sundowners last night, and a very jolly time was had by all! Taipan is a great big monohulls that they’ve been circumnavigating on for the past 15 years, and they had some great stories about their travels. They also had a big world map on the wall that had their route traced upon it – something we need to do as it’s just a great idea and conversation piece. David and Kris are from Western Australia, and are a complete hoot – and they’re friends with our pals Eric and Patti (met them in Panama) on SV Shearwater, a great big Formosa 51, the same model boat used in the movie “Captain Ron”. Darn thing feels like a ship when you’re on it, it’s so large. Eric actually looked at the boat used for the movie when he was shopping for Shearwater, but the owner apparently wanted a premium for the boat since it had been a movie prop, and Eric reported it to be in about as bad a shape as depicted in the movie, so no deal there.

While aboard we enjoyed the evening SSB net, hearing from Graham on SV Leela about how the slog from the Tuamotus towards Nuku Hiva was just so awful that they had hove-to for a few hours to dry themselves out, have a shower, and watch a couple of movies just to improve crew morale. Leela is a 40’ monohull; she points and goes to windward a lot better than JollyDogs but we were remined last night just how miserable going to windward on a high performance monohull can be. We’ve done it, and while standing watch in the cockpit during strong conditions you can count on getting soaking wet and remaining so for several hours at a time. The boat motion is difficult to cope with, and the pounding and creaking noises are there to help you not sleep so well. JollyDogs may not point too high and the boat motion and pounding are different, but by golly we stay dry and feel very protected in our cockpit. I think even Isabel finally believes there’s just no going back to a monohull. Wow.

Today we’ll be scrambling to get refrigeration systems turned off, fridges and freezers mucked out, pickle the water maker, and have another look at the port engine alternator which seems to be giving us no end of grief. We need to know if we’ll be wanting to fetch parts from the US. As well I’ll be hiking to the hardware store to see if they can sell me a couple little bits and pieces to help with JollyDogs being put to bed, and there’s refueling to do while our duty free fuel purchase certificate is still valid.

By tomorrow afternoon JollyDogs will be ready for a nap, we’ll have our traveling clothes out and packed, and someone else will be cooking dinner and washing the dishes. Time to shut her down for a bit, mentally prepare ourselves to re-enter the world of “noise and stuff”, sit on lots of airplanes, and spend time with dear friends in Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, San Francisco, and all over the United Kingdom. We’ll show them pictures and tell them stories but there’s simply no way to adequately communicate what our lives are like.