Onward to Rangiroa

Sun 22 May 2011, 1845 Marquesas Time

Today I sailed to Taipivai, a village at the end of Comptroller’s Bay, a few miles east of Taiohae, to fill drinking water. Somehow, there is nowhere to fill drinking water in Taiohae,  but there is in a couple of the smaller villages like Taipivai. Yesterday I got back my water jugs from the guys I gave water to during the passage. They just arrived the night before. I had a nice sail to Taipivai—sailed off the anchor and onto the anchor in Comptroller’s Bay. I made two trips to shore, collecting 16 gallons each time then sailed back to Taiohae. Based on how much it took to fill the built-in tanks, I apparently used 35 gallons of fresh water from April 18 to May 22.

Friday I spent a good part of the day disassembling the toilet which was suffering from acute indigestion. Not a task for the faint of heart. Aside from that, I’ve been riding my bike around. I actually biked to Taipivai a couple of days before I sailed there. It was a tough uphill followed by an epic downhill (Bill Webb, if you’re reading this, make sure you bring your bike if you visit Nuku Hiva). I’ve also been getting to know some of the other cruisers. There are around 30 cruising boats anchored in Taiohae Bay. It seems the majority are Americans, but there are also several Aussies, Kiwies, some Germans, Italians, French, and apparently I missed a Norwegian boat by about a week. My total lack of French-speaking-ability makes it difficult to talk to the locals as few of them speak English. If only the Spanish had colonized the south pacific. 

I was finally able to upload some pics. Here are three from Nuku Hiva. And a few from the passage from San Diego to here. 

Tomorrow I plan to set sail for Rangiroa in the Tuamotos (still part of French Polynesia) where my friend Bridget is meeting me. She arrives June 1, and Rangiroa is 500-some miles from here. Hopefully I’ll beat her by a couple of days. Based on the weather charts I’ve downloaded, the winds should be favorable.