Places We’ve Been – Page 11 – Coast Guard Couple

November 8, 2010

Polynesian Mountaineering

(Continued from previous post… Fatu Hiva, French Polynesia)

Secondly, speaking of local kids, getting humiliated by the locals in an afternoon volleyball game. I feel no need to elaborate on this point. They play this every day. Some of the women also do what appears to be Jazzercise, so how’s that for Americanization?

Thirdly, hiking. Fatu Hiva is an amazingly beautiful place, though it is not without it’s dangerous predators

Assuming you have the wit and the skill to overcome these dangerous jungle creatures (oh yeah, and the heat – bring water, a lot of water) then you are in for a visual smorgasbord. With sights that easily rival Ireland in lush greenness, a 2 hour hike through to the waterfall in Fatu Hiva does not disappoint.

Not to mention, you can take your lunch with you and picnic at your own private 100 foot waterfall. This is merely a bonus. (We didn’t go swimming because not only had we heard about the eels and the crawfish living in the water, there was some sort of scummy foam on the top of the pond. Bummer 🙁 ~Tiff)

As Tiffany mentioned at the end of the video and as you might surmise about the topography of an island formed by a volcano, this place is steep. We found out how steep when we decided the next day, without any idea what the heck we were signing up for, to hike to the top of one of the mountains. We also found out why all the travel guide books say that only 4×4 vehicles are allowed in the Marquesas.

There were no flat parts, by the way. After crawling up this mammoth for 3 hours and gaining a new appreciation for the Fatu Hiva roadwork department, we finally got to a pinnacle that provided the views we were looking for:

-Greg

November 4, 2010

Fatu Hiva, a French Polynesian paradise!

After what could easily be qualified as a “bumpy” night transit south, against the wind and the waves we find ourselves on the island of Fatu Hiva in French Polynesia. (For our non-sailing friends, it’s called “bashing” when you drive into the wind & waves. It sucks. A lot. This single fact alone actually explains why the entire international cruising community constantly sails to the west; in order to avoid bashing as much as humanly possible.)

We anchored in the Bay of Penises. Now wait one second. Before you get all uppity on me, look, don’t blame me that the Polynesian people came up with overly descriptive names for things, because that’s the freaking original Polynesian name, alright (well, the English translation at least). It’s due to the rock towers that surround the bay. I’m serious, look it up. (Tiff’s note – the name of the town is Hana Vave in Fatu Hiva) For those of you too lazy to look it up, I explain the whole issue (inserting my own obvious bias and providing nice views of the anchorage, but not of the male reproductive system) here:

Having arrived at what arguably could be the most amazingly named place on the entire planet, we spent our two days here:

Firstly, by exploring the village. Being as the total island inhabitants number at about 650 split between two villages, this took about a grand total of 15 minutes. We did however discover some precious little tidbits. Such as, everyone eats coconuts here and I mean everyone.

Also, speaking of chickens and coconuts, you may want to think twice before you buy that “all natural” tropical coconut meat or coconut oil in the grocery store.

Polynesians do have cats and dogs…lots of cats and dogs, but they also keep other interesting animals on leashes.

We also ran into an interesting event going on as we arrived: all the school aged children were leaving. Because of the minimal population, there are only grade schools on the island. Anyone wanting a high school education has to travel by ferry 10 hours or so to Hiva Oa. The nearest college is in Tahiti (again, about 2000 miles away.) So kids who want an education spend a lot of time away from home from the 8^th grade on.

– Greg

November 1, 2010

Cruiser bikes and exploring Hiva Oa

By the second day of doing the 3 kilometer hike every day, Tiffany and I decided to break out the cruiser bikes. No, not Harleys. Cruising bikes have a slightly different meaning in the sailing world:

They look like clown bikes because they fold (the better to store inside a boat). We managed to find our way down to the beach in Atuona where we encountered some beautiful corpses rotting in the sun…

…ran into the world’s largest rainstick

…observed the elusive Marquesan ninja jumping crab

…stumbled upon a Marquesan dance practice (they didn’t look like they needed practice though)

As a final note of the extreme distance we are from anything even closely resembling civilization, I leave you with Tiffany & Alison’s observation of some powerboats that made the same trip we did. The prices they are discussing in the video reflect the amount of money each boat paid in US dollars to refuel with diesel fuel (which is cheaper than normal gas in case you didn’t know) at Hiva Oa after transiting from Mexico.

We were that far from the last gas station, just so ya know.

– Greg

October 28, 2010

Hiva Oa, French Polynesia

We find ourselves in a very small anchorage within a medium sized island on a ridiculously large ocean. This place is land of extremes. To give you some perspective globally, the island of Hiva Oa (which is in French Polynesia) is around 3000 miles west of Mexico and about 2000 miles east of Tahiti…yes, it’s ok, until now I didn’t exactly realize there was anything out here either. The population of the town of Autona is about 1000 and it’s the largest “city” for about 1000 miles…one of only 3 on this island (total island population is about 1,900…and it’s one of the most populated islands by a long shot) “remote” does not come close to describing this place. This video should give you some reference and a neat view of the mountain / volcano we’re right next to.

I don’t think it’s actually active anymore but I haven’t exactly checked either. After our first day of arrival, we did a little sightseeing. Ok, well, by “sightseeing” I mean “made the 3 kilometer walk to town a few times” but it counts right?

We also saw the famous outrigger canoes both old and new.

Apparently what was once their primary mode of sea transport has now evolved into their national sport.

A few days later we found that Tiffany and Alison have given up all hope on our fishing prowess and snuck off one morning at 6:00am to commit that most grievous of sins…buying fish. In a desperate bid to “make it up to us” they also bought us some local staples…breadfruit and baguettes.

Now you may think they left that early in the morning because Allan and I were asleep at the time. That would be true but also because of the way time works here. You see, in the Marquesas, everyone is awake around 6:00am to about 11:00am, then in what only can be described as a beautiful marriage of French culture (who take long lunches) and Island Time, the whole island effectively shuts down and they all take off work from 11:00am until 2:00pm. Stores open (if they feel like it) again at (around) 2:00pm until about 4:30pm at which point everyone calls it a day. Sun sets at about 5:30pm and everyone is basically asleep no later than 9:00pm. These people lead fairly ideal lives, assuming you aren’t living at the anchorage. As the ship is anchored 3 kilometers from town, this mid-day sabbatical means that we walk to town in the morning and back again in the afternoon in order to spend a whole day there.

Speaking of the anchorage, nestled there right next to us is irrefutable validation that people who play RPGs can actually be successful in life

…and yes, I paddled over, knocked on their boat and asked them. They named their boat after the Chocobo, the giant flightless bird you ride around on in the Final Fantasy games, which is awesome! I should also note they are a married couple (there are other women out there who play games Anna, I got her business card) and have two (two!) PS2 systems onboard and they report that, for anyone who is considering bringing their gaming consoles with them on their boat, the PS2 stands up to the rigors of seagoing life much better than the PS3 and the power drain is less than the power needed to run a TV onboard. Needless to say I made it a point to become friends with these people.

-Greg

October 25, 2010

Land Ho!

This video succinctly captures the mood of the moment.

Though we have spent weeks at sea and accomplished something that many dream of, I have to say on some levels I am sad to see this transit end. Over the past 22 days I really have enjoyed my rituals of personal development (the ukulele, French and Bible) and I know that now we have hit land those rituals will be impossible to maintain in the face of beautiful beaches, amazing island hikes, delightful food and tropical paradise. Don’t worry, I’ll cope 😉

While everyone else was working at dropping the anchor and launched the dingy, I was tasked to establish friendly relations with the natives who, in classic Polynesian fashion, came out to greet us.

After which we all hopped in the dingy and got our butts to land.

Our first stop? We’re sailors, where do you think? Two words: Money & Beer.

Which is a good thing we got money, cuz everything here is nutzo expensive! To give you an idea, we got in during the morning and went into a burger joint for our first landside meal. Tiff got a burger, I got a local “cheap” fish snack (poisson cru for you Frenchie speakers) and we each got 1 beer. $30.00 US later we decided we’d finish celebrating on the boat. The local beers were eight bucks each in a little snack shack! Big upside to sailboats: you bring your own hotel with you.

…and yes Daniel, I survived, so no, you don’t get my hot tub or my Xbox 360.

– Greg

September 23, 2010

To Cross the Pacific

Ah the happy crew of the good ship FLY AWEIGH, decked out in their 2010 puddle jump regalia. We figured we should get the pictures handled before the scurvy set in.

For those of you who don’t know, the term “puddle jump” is the name people use to describe the trip we are undertaking by sailing from Mexico to Tahiti in French Polynesia.

Our first 30 minutes underway we received an interesting omen of things to come.

At least we got our man overboard drill out of the way first thing…is it a bad sign if the mop sank to the bottom before we recovered it?

Having made our sacrifice to King Neptune’s housekeeping staff, we rapidly shifted gears into that most critical of all getting underway rituals: Calling everyone you know for the obligatory rushed goodbye call

It’s great to finally be underway and heading somewhere new. Now, don’t get me wrong, Mexico has been a blast and La Cruz has earned a special place in my heart. I mean between bar cats taking my sodas, swarms of butterflies covering mountaintops, all the great people we met, and lets not forget Mexican car horns or my breakout role in the made for Sci-fi movie SHARKTOPUS (this October kids, mark your calendars!) Mexico has most assuredly been a good time. (PS, for if you missed any of the above, check the previous posts.) However, I would hate to come back to the states and have the following conversation:

Friend: “Where you been?”

Me: “Oh, I’ve been traveling around the world.”

Friend: “Wow cool! Where did you go?”

Me: “Mexico.”

A drastically unfair prejudice formerly held by myself is that Mexico is “right next door.” SOME of Mexico (read Tijuana and some desert) is in fact next door and a lot of Mexico is freaking far, far away. Tiff and I sailed for weeks straight and I would say we got about half way down one coast. A lot of cruisers sail Mexican waters for years and never get bored or move on…and I can see why.

I feel that Tiff and I are becoming well known here in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. We have friends, the owner of the local British pub doesn’t even need to ask me what I’ll be having when I come in, a Guinness and fish & chips just show up (which is awesome, by the way). I think Tiff and I stopped being tourists here a few weeks ago and actually started living here. This is great feeling and we either need to buy a house or move on. Since there is a lot more world out there and the idea was to go around it, its time to move on. I am nervous though that Allan’s prediction may be closer to the mark than any of us are willing to admit.

Besides the idea of crossing the largest expanse of nothing on the planet in what my friend Michael describes as, “a glorified bathtub with a big bedsheet on front” intrigues me. Though I would also like to point out this “glorified bathtub” comes decked out with basically every electromechanical toy you could possible want, not to mention private guest quarters with attached bathrooms and showers! If you don’t know boats too well, allow me to assure you, this is the lap of luxury when it comes to crewing.

Whelp, here we go…

(Imagine that video was your last sight of solid ground for a month straight…)

– Greg

September 13, 2010

Walking on the Wild Side

Wandering around town, sailing on the ocean, heck, even sitting in the bar or the coffee shop – all of these are great opportunities for communing with the local wildlife (and the not-so-wild also). We’ll start this off with the town segment.

When strolling through town, which of these animals do you expect to see? A – Cats, B – Dogs, C – Iguanas? Well, if you guessed Iguana, you’re right!

(Why? Because the cats are in the bars hustling drinks, of course! –Greg)

Also expected viewing while in a Mexican town of any size are chickens, pigs, horses and…children?

(Oh and now I finally understand why they started enacting those spitting in public laws back in the US. –Greg)

There was a cool restaurant/coffee shop in La Cruz that had free internet (yay!) at a decent speed (double yay!) and as a side entertainment factor they had a fountain with turtles in it – I know, not that interesting. What made it interesting was when the dog would come by and jump in the fountain with the turtles 🙂

~ Tiffany

September 2, 2010

More Life on the Docks

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle wasn’t all dodging sniper fire while weaving boats through water spouts and random floating construction equipment though. I, as always, managed to find a few quiet moments to relax an enjoy myself. The particular method of relaxation will have my old high school friends cringing and begging that I not name them here as the people I originally learned this game from.

All I have to say is, it was like riding a bike man. You never really forget.

Also, hanging out with cruisers means cruiser parties! This is when sailors get together to hang out eat, exchange information, tell sea stories and basically have fun. Sometimes events are held to prove ones prowess over one’s fellow sailors. Here is what a typical event looks like

It bears mentioning that both of these ladies were stone cold sober and not under any form of duress when they signed up for this contest. I believe the prize under contention was a free t-shirt. There is an important marketing lesson in here somewhere I’m sure…

I also found a new contender for “best language ever” in Mexico. No, not Spanish…Gaelic!

Finally, and probably most importantly, I found a Mexican car horn! As you long term followers of the blog know, Tiffany and I have been searching for a musical car horn since we entered Mexico months ago. I had come to suspect that the lyrical car horn had, much like the Mexican chicken bus, faded from existence and only lived on in popular myth. Not so! Though obviously endangered, specimens of the Mexican car horn still roam the land and can be observed by those determined enough to remain persistent in the quest.

– Greg

August 30, 2010

Life on the Docks

As I said, Tiffany and I spent a lot of time working on the docks in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Paradise Village in Puerto Vallarta getting involved in the local cruising community and looking for ships looking for crew. The La Cruz marina was an interesting place to be. First off, the marina was still undergoing construction so that meant we had some unusual ships to maneuver around while sailing.

They also had a major boat show while we were there that the president of Mexico attended. I didn’t get any footage of the “El Presidente” mostly because I also didn’t get any pictures of the military snipers hanging out on the rooftops of all the buildings or the multiple hummers that drove around pointing their .50 cal machine guns at my head for no apparent reason. Let’s simply leave it at I didn’t want to give them any additional motivation to point their high powered weapons at me for longer than they already were. I did get some footage of how the Mexican government throws a party:

The weather over the months we were there was unusual, to put it mildly. Hurricane force winds, “weather bombs” (what the heck is that supposed to even mean!?) hot rain, freezing sunny days, tornados ripping through the bay…it keeps you on your toes.

Aside from when the weather was trying to kill by ripping your ship apart it was actually quite pleasant.

– Greg

August 26, 2010

A Few Months in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

So like I said, La Cruz was the first place where Tiffany and I got to really spend some time, meet some people and just live a little bit outside the US, which was a major goal of this trip in the first place. My previous assessment of La Cruz as a town in transition from small village to tourist mecca was pretty accurate and I’m really glad I got here and got to know people before the transition was complete. La Cruz is still the kind of place where, as long as you engage people, you will find your name remembered, your favorite dinner served to you a few minutes after you sit down and bar tenders who remember your favorite drink. There is a strong, close knit, gringo community that comprises the owners of the bars, some musicians and a bunch of people with interesting stories. Add to this mix the cruisers we came down the coast with and you can easily see why some people end up “swallowing the hook” here and don’t ever sail out of the Banderas Bay.

Living in La Cruz did present one major challenge for me though:

Now walking on dirt roads in 3rd world countries in your sandals may sound like fun, but by avoiding the dangers of the sidewalk, I opened myself up to a different hazard

Needless to say, after two infections, the local doctor and I were on good terms and I was very grateful that Mexico has massively cheap medications.

Children’s fundraisers, British pubs (with awesome fish and chips), salsa lessons, Irish pubs…a good time with some good people is never very hard to find in La Cruz, Here is what our evenings typically looked like:

As for eating, well, with Mexican pricing on all the food and a ton of variety, we basically ate every meal out. The dining scene was almost as interesting and varied as the nightlife

And for those of you following along my church explorations, I found a very neat Catholic church near Puerto Vallarta that had a very different take on crucifix we typically see at the front of most Catholic Churches.

Seemed like the carving was more focused on the risen Jesus than the crucified Jesus. I liked it, defiantly gave a different feel to the church.

– Greg

Category: Places We’ve Been

Polynesian Mountaineering

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Fatu Hiva, a French Polynesian paradise!

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Cruiser bikes and exploring Hiva Oa

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Hiva Oa, French Polynesia

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Land Ho!

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To Cross the Pacific

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Walking on the Wild Side

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More Life on the Docks

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Life on the Docks

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A Few Months in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

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