Well, all good things come to an end, and besides there was an icky green algae bloom in Anaho Bay, so after breakfast we made ready to sail around the East end of Nuku Hiva with the objective of arriving in Daniel's Bay by early afternoon. Daniel's Bay is a "must go there" destination in the Marquesas, and for us it would be the last totally spectacular bay we would take Pat and Celine to. It's where we met our great friends Andrew and Julia on SV Hullabaloo, and also home to Ahu and Teiki's organic farm and restaurant. There's a nice hike up to a tall (but pretty darn dry) waterfall, and it's the first place Isabel and I got a close up view of giant manta rays as a pair swam right by JollyDogs during our visit last May.
We bashed out of the bay and once clear of the headland and clear enough of the lee shore up came the main and out came the jib. We had a lovely reach down the East side of the island, then turned for the downwind leg on the South side, dropping sails just shy of the bay entrance. I thought it would fine to leave the main up and motor sail into the shelter of the bay before dropping that big sail, but Isabel likes a lot of maneuvering space and she prevailed. Gotta pick your battles. . .
As we turned the corner into the shelter of the bay we were delighted to find only 2 other sailboats. Plenty of room in the bay for a change, and we proceeded on past the other vessels and anchored in about 7 meters of water. No algae here! In short order we had JollyDogs back into "living and hanging out" mode, and it was nap time. Naps after lunch are one of the joys of the unemployed, made really special if it's one's turn for the hammock. Pat and Celine had retired to their forward cabin so Isabel leaped into the hammock and was out like a light.
Awakening a bit later and refreshed, Pat and Celine had a swim an did a bit of waterline cleaning, while I got to work on a new dinghy sling project. Eventually I found a stopping point, so Pat and I dinghied in to meet Ahu and learn what she had for sale. We were especially keen to buy some goat (Isabel makes an incredible goat curry, just ask David on SV Taipan), some pork to make a Quebecois dish (with leftovers in the freezer for Mike when he comes in April) and to learn just what other delights Ahu might have to offer.
We returned to JollyDogs with news of all the goodies so Isabel and Celine could consider all the delightful things they could feed us. Pat and I are both eating machines, and everyone thinks I have a pet tapeworm as I don't seem to gain weight. I'm just lucky my folks passed on the metabolic rate they did, as eating good food is kind of a hobby for me.
We were pleased to discover the ladies had been messing about in the galley and concocted not only a wonderful star fruit and mango blend for our evening sundowner beverage, but also an incredible vegetarian (well, if you don't count duck fat and lardons as meat) pasta sauce. For after dinner entertainment we deployed the underwater light to see what might come for a visit and were soon rewarded with a swarm of pan size fish. If only ciguatera wasn't such a risk here, we could have netted a mess of them. Guess we'll just have to enjoy the view.
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