Let’s start our exploration of what is arguably the most beautiful island in the South Pacific with the diving. Hey, you know what? Let’s start with just the freaking snorkeling, because it was that good! The water here is crystal clear and no, not what you’re imagining – it’s better. By more than a little. You have not seen water this clear in your lifetime. Ever. Seriously.
One of the advantages to having almost no one on the island a tiny tourist industry is that there is almost no pollution. Not having a coral reef encircling the island means that what little runoff there is gets immediately swept out to sea. Continue reading “Then we swam under the island!”
We’ve all heard of beach bungalows before and until now, we really had no idea what to expect from this iconic South Pacific icon of the good life. We had no preconceived notions here except waterside and a bed. Which leaves a lot of variables shrouded in mystery when you stop to think about it. Is it like a normal hotel room? is there a kitchen? Outhouse or running water bathroom? Does it come with one of those dancing hula-girl statues you see on people’s car dashboards? What’s it really like to live in a classy hotel’s overwater bungalow in French Polynesia? Well, it’s like this: Continue reading “Bungalow living”
Tahuata was going to be a quick, overnight anchorage on the way from Fatu Hiva to Ua Pou (all still in the Marquesa group of French Polynesia). Hardly worth noticing, probably about a sentence or two in the next blog post. We pulled into the first anchorage and set down for the night not expecting the quiet little island a stone’s throw from Hiva Oa to have much for us in the way of lasting memories.
…and then we woke up early the next morning to go swimming with the wild dolphins who had just popped by to say hi and handle some business.
That little comment by Tiffany at the end make you feel a bit voyeuristic? Imagine being 15 feet from them and watching. I was serious about them handling some business.
Now I apologize. Dolphins are faster and more maneuverable than me in the water and I’m still getting used to the whole “filming rapidly moving objects in the water while bobbing like a cork on the surface and unable to see my display screen because it’s in a waterproof bag” thing. I will endeavor to improve. Please bear with me.
So after what was agreed on by all to be a most auspicious start to our day we thought it could not possibly get any better, but you’d think after our first shocker we’d stop underestimating this little island of nirvana-like joy.
We sallied forth onto land and found the picture perfect village of Hapatoni. The whole island’s population is around 650 and this is the tiny village next to the big town, so I do mean small.
You may have noticed during that video that there was a streetlight above the street Tiffany and I were on. This may lead you to the question, “Gosh Greg, how do they have power out there?” Tiffany and I were curious so we took a look around and found the island (or at least the village’s) main and only power plant.
We also saw a really nice little local church. Did I mention that French Polynesia is by overwhelming majority Catholic? They have a couple of assorted Protestant churches and, interestingly enough, one island that is predominantly Mormon. Ha ha! Yes, I learned French, I play the ukulele and I’m Catholic. I’m almost a local!
Tiff thought we would start out by giving you some perspective on what we see all day, every day. (PS- don’t watch this video if you are prone to seasickness.)
[Tiff thinks this one is better 🙂 It’s kinda long though, I was having editing issues.]
My daily schedule basically looks like:
Noon – wake up, shave, brush teeth
12:30PM – eat lunch, do dishes
1:30PM – personal projects (like sewing zippers in my pants pockets, doing laundry, showering.)
3:00PM – Stand 4 hour watch
7:00PM – Get off watch, eat dinner
8:00PM – Do dishes
8:30PM – wrap up personal projects, putz around
9:00PM – Practice ukulele
9:30PM – Practice French (usually involves me making spitting sounds at my computer)
11:00PM – Pre-watch nap
12:45AM – wake up, stand 3 hour watch. Listen to Bible on audio book.
2:30AM – midnight snack time! More Bible on audio
4:00AM – Get off watch, go to bed
Aside from occasional interruptions for critical ships business
… and pods of dolphins using our bow as a jungle gym
Our days are much the same. This would drive some people mad, but I love the relentless progress I make daily toward mastering my ninja-like French-Bible-quoting-while-playing-Beethoven-on-ukulele skillz.
But heck, I sleep until noon every day, so they could all be learning kung-fu and naked tribal dancing in the morning for all I know.
I got a report from Tiffany who is dealing with the many challenges of teaching a sailing class on a luxury sailing yacht in the middle of the French Caribbean.
Sailing teaching supplies are in short supply. Fortunately, Tiffany knows how to improvise.
Also, class disruptions are frequent. Some are welcome, for example, dolphins dancing and leaping around the boat in crystal clear water is always a good time.
Other distractions are well, not so welcome. Remember kids, this is a French colony we’re talking about here. (And it wasn’t the cute ones who were naked! It was the dirty old men! ~ Tiffany)
So naked men are just prancing around my wife while she gets paid to work in a tropical paradise and I’m 500 miles away. Yeah, great. Just great.
Despite the distractions, the upside is that the field trips through tropical rivers seem pretty interesting
…and the immigration procedures are, to say the least, apparently a touch more relaxed than what we Americans are accustomed to from our Customs officials.
That’s probably because the local government is attempting to rebuild after a mild natural disturbance caused a slight population decrease a few years back.
I asked Tiffany the question that was on your mind. Well, on my mind at least. “Honey, after the guy in prison survived a night of being encased in his cell by a tidal wave of molten lava…after he survived who knows how long in his cell without food and water before rescue crews made it to this remote little island, and somehow managed to find him…after all that, did they put him back in prison or was he considered ‘rehabilitated’?”
She said the brochure didn’t say. How do you not include a detail like that?
Anyway, so my wife is surrounded by naked prancing men and the land might just decide to explode and randomly kill everyone without notice. Neat place.
And now let us turn our attention to the world of cruisers. La Cruz is an interesting place. A quiet little town that depended on sailing ships anchoring off the beach and the fishing industry, the town is currently going through a massive shift as condos are going up all over, a new multi-million dollar marina has recently opened its doors with over 100 slips and the quaint little town is becoming a tourist Mecca for people looking for a…quaint little town. Sound like an oxymoron? It is. The amusing part is it seems that the only people who are really miffed about the situation are the cruisers. Local business is booming, jobs abound – however all the sailors who came here are watching their little piece of Mexico become an industrialized tourist machine. So far, La Cruz has maintained some balance between old and new, but I’m not sure that will last, and who’s to say whether that’s bad or good?
La Cruz may be going big time but the spirit of the little town that was can still be found when you look in the right places. For example, the marina security system, while completely effective, also adds a certain local flair to the marina.
Needless to say Tiffany’s revived interest in water sports was hastily reevaluated. You’ll also never know what you’ll see while you’re walking the docks.
Have I mentioned most people go to bed on their boats with the hatch to the main part of the boat wide open? Seemed an appropriate time to let you know.
In addition to the wild safari adventures, La Cruz has an interesting announcement system.
These guys drive around all day broadcasting everything from political announcements to local radio to announcements that the propane truck is on its way. The propane trucks have the best music. Don’t ask me why this is.
I would be remiss to talk about La Cruz and not mention Philo’s. Pizza maker, local philanthropist, musician and former cruiser, Philo is a local deity in the cruising world, a heck of a nice guy, and his bar, named “Philo’s” is one of the main hang outs for cruisers in La Cruz. Cheep beer, friendly staff and good music make it a great time. Here is what a night a Philo’s is like when he brings in his band to play.
Leon’s up first on the washboard (he’s a retired school principal!), we’re not sure who’s playing the other stuff, and Philo’s sitting center stage with the electric guitar.
Not every night is out partying though, sometimes we stay in and cook a meal onboard. Here is Tiffany preparing a lunch and doing her best iron chef impression.
The Banderas bay is also one of the main areas that the sailing community gathers throughout the year so naturally they do races, events and what not. I could give you an introduction to this video on the race Tiffany and I participated in, but really, I think it speaks for itself.
Finally, for those of you who are jonesing for your dolphin fix, or wondering what dolphin poop looks like in the wild, we manage to meet both of your needs in this final video
