Letter from Atlantia June 2009

The Australians call it the ‘Big Hop’. That is the 3000 odd miles between Galapagos and the French Marquesas Islands. You can imagine a kangaroo hopping over the water! Fortunately we were a little more sedate in Atlantia, but nevertheless it was quite hard work changing the sail plan at least once a day to ensure the most speed, that at the same time forgave us and the boat! The only time we hopped was when Will dropped a spanner on his foot!

Most of the Australians had left Galapagos before us and seemed to have a good trip until the end when some of them ran out of wind. We left on a beautiful sunny day with seventeen knots behind us. When we turned off the engine there was a knocking noise and we assumed we had picked up a net or a rope. We also assumed the rope cutter would do its job and the noise would soon cease. Not so. After 9 days of knocking, which nearly drove us mad, we put a screw driver in the shaft to stop the propeller turning, after all we wouldn’t need the engine for two weeks! We discovered later that the propeller had slipped slightly over the two nuts and pin holding it onto the shaft and was knocking against the inside of the rudder. It hadn’t done any harm to the rudder or propeller, just our nerves! The only explanation we could come up with for the displacement was that the sea lions had moved it!! Will had checked and cleaned the propeller about a week before leaving and there was no sign of movement, nor was there sign that a rope or net had been caught. We had watched the sea lions in Galapagos swim between the hull and the propeller at anchor and we can only assume one of them was too fat for the space! Since the key was still in place it is almost the only explanation! After an hours diving however in the Marquesas, Will managed an effective repair and we will replace the propeller for a feathering prop in New Zealand. (Other answers on a postcard please!).

The trip itself produced winds from 10 knots to 40 knots, all behind us. Most of the time it ranged between 15 and 24 knots but varied from North East to South East in direction. Since we were headed due west this suited us fine. One difference between coastal sailing and deep water sailing is the pattern of waves. Near the coast the waves invariably come from a set direction. In deep water the waves are only an adjunct of the swell and sit on top of an already heaving mass of water. Unfortunately there were occasions in 25 knots of wind from the east when swells came from the south east and north east as well! This made it a little uncomfortable at times and Will was even subject to a quick Mal de Mer on day 10, although we also put this down to a slight exhaustion. Luckily Margaret held the fort and had an extra turn on watch whilst Will recovered. This may also have been due to the knocking, stopped that day and the fact that Will had spent two hours fighting with the Genoa which had broken its foot attachment to the bowsprit and had to be tamed in the middle of the night. All part of the joys of deep water sailing 1000 miles from any other help.

We ate numerous fish for breakfast and tea. Breakfast was fairly simple, since we picked the flying fish off the deck at first light., where they had landed during the night. Also flying squid which were excellent to eat, calamari frite style. The flying fish were boned and scaled and fried with olive oil, salt and lime juice and served on a fried half hamburger roll. They were delicious but Margaret decided she didn’t like to eat the skin as well, which has some remarkably large scales on it.

.

We caught two other fish, both Dorado. One seven pounds and one twelve pounds. This was at the expense of one reel of line which disappeared before we could even reach the reel. Three lures and traces (hook line and sinkers), one broken reel and one broken rod! We might have been cheaper stocking up with dried fish before we left! Of course we wouldn’t have then had the satisfaction of catching and eating our own fish. We have seen other boats fishing gear which seems far superior to ours for the catching job in hand. It composes of a large wooden reel (home made) attached to a strong point near mid ships. 200 metres of 100kg mono filament line. A large weight. A wire trace with a large stainless steel hook on which they put anything handy; squid, flying fish, last nights stew etc. We know it is effective and it seems much more workmanlike than messing about with rods and reels. Again we would miss the sport! We wonder sometimes, when the object is survival! The end product. Delicious.

The voyage was generally very successful, but every bolt on the engine and windlass had to be tightened after the continuous rolling, heaving and pitching that Atlantia was subject to. When the engine was first started there were leaks everywhere, and the windless slipped its clutch. We were very fortunate at the end of our voyage to have assistance from our fellow sailors who really were very helpful. Derek from Kalida helped us with the anchor windlass, engine, reinstating the forestay and generally finding our feet on land. We even found a professional (rather expensive) sail maker who patched up the Genoa. He was also on a boat. Will wire spliced the topping lift back together and we had help from two Dutchmen Florian and Argen (A.J.) in putting it back in the mast. Will spent a successful hour diving on the propeller and general help and bonhomie was given by Gordon and Anne on Equinox who were also in the Fatu Hiva anchorage.

It was good to see them again. Scotland going around the world! The main problem with the short handed long passages is that there is seldom time to mend everything at the same time as sailing the boat. This is especially true when the wind is blowing over 20 knots and the seas are high and rolling. We counted our blessings that there was only one leak, above a bunk, but that all the bedding was dry and we were fairly well rested. We will try and keep our passages a bit shorter in future.

Milestones on our voyage (?) Firstly Will reached the age of 60. He thinks he is younger now than when he retired from business five years ago! He is certainly thinner! Secondly we are now over a third of the way round the world. We suspect the last 2/3rds will be quicker than the first third! Thirdly we reached a 180 miles in one day under sail, before the Genoa fitting parted, and fourthly we thought 22 days for 3060 miles for two of us was quite creditable.

Robert Louis Stephenson loved the Marquesas. He was reminded of the mountains of Scotland by the craggy peaks and steep cliffs and also by the people.

He suggested that the Polynesians and the Scots were alike in that they were both oppressed by conquerors. Polynesia by the French and Scotland by the English. This maybe true but I have not seen too many Scotsmen covered from head to toe in tattoos, and looking like Sumo wrestlers.

Some of the men are enormous and look particularly fierce and warlike. As a restaurateur said to Will, ‘From Cannibalism to Internet in two hundred years!’ The internet here is a little behind the times, and no sooner has one managed to nearly finish writing the e-mail, than they log you off. Very frustrating, although we think we have found a way of circumventing their antiquated system. Regrettably- the text message system for mobile phones is non existent.

All the inhabitants of French Polynesia look fierce, men and women, until they smile. The whole world seems to light up then, and the children are extremely friendly as well, always wanting us to say something in English. It is very refreshing when we think back to the rather pent up introspective society we left in 2004. We try to practice our very imperfect school French which is certainly better than our Spanish, but in the Marquesas the inhabitants would rather speak English, either to practice it or because they don’t like the French. There were very few French people on the islands we visited. Apparently at one time, the population of Polynesian Marquesans was 600,000 in all the islands. That was early in the 19th Century when they were all fighting and eating each other. Then the French missionaries came and the population was decimated by disease until at the end of the nineteenth Century there were only about 6000 left. It is still much the same today. Some of the churches however, although basic are certainly charming, and they have internet!

The Marquesans still celebrate their warlike past with their tattoos, their artwork and the beautiful carving on the warlike clubs, spears and paddles. Their religion also included the tikis, smallish stone statues carved all over the islands.

Thor Hyadal lived here for a while and tried to make various assumptions concerning the migration of Polynesians especially to Easter Island.. This was prior to his voyages. Although we have seen similar but smaller statues to those on Easter Island in Chile, we have never seen such dramatic ones as the natural (and probably man assisted) ones at the Bay of Virgins on Fatu Hiva. This bay is guarded by what were once called Phalluses )you only need an extra ‘I’ in phallus to make a virgin, in French. If you look at them in a certain light it is our belief that you will see very large Tiki. Larger even than Easter Island’s. Is this where it all began? We may be sailors and Anthropologists but certainly not linguists, although we get by.

Atuona in Hiva Oa is the town of Administration of the Southern Marquesas. The Gendarme was particularly pleasant to us when we booked in. Presumably because, being members of the EEC we didn’t have to give him a 2000 euro bond which is required for Americans, Australians, and Canadians. This has always caused friction and it is certainly a relief not to have to cough up that amount of money, even if it is a temporary loan to the government. Or perhaps particularly because it is a loan to the government! We are starting to find a better class of immigration/customs official on our travels west. We will try to come to a conclusion as to why, if we see a pattern emerging.

Gauguin, the enfant terrible of the French art establishment at the end of the nineteenth Century, is buried here in Hiva Oa. There is an excellent museum dedicated to his work on the site of his house, and there are replicas of his pictures and even a replica of him!

He was a small feisty looking man who took on the art establishment of Paris and won. At least he liberated art in France from the formal stuffy stance it had taken, which allowed the flourishing of the impressionists and artists following in the 20th Century. He did like to paint semi naked Polynesian women however, in his ‘playhouse’!

We visited his grave up a very steep hill.

The bikes which we carry with us on the boat were good on the way back

and we had an excellent, if expensive, Chinese lunch en route.

There was a large problem with swell at the anchorage close to Atuona. Although the proas (Polynesian outrigger canoes)

were practicing on the water every day, we decided to move when we noticed a surfer riding the waves into the shore behind us. We moved to the beautiful island of Tahuata with our newly mended starter motor, which had been kindly fixed by some young Americans who had been lifeguards at Long Beach California. Their boat is called Banyan, although it doesn’t look like a tree!

Tahuata is steep and rugged but has two very good anchorages We stayed at both of them and also at a rather difficult anchorage at Baie Vaitahu where we stopped to look at the church and to go shopping.

The first bay had a lovely beach and wild forest behind.

We were fortunate enough to pick wild bananas, lemons and papaya from the trees along the waterside and many of our friends were also given mangoes, limes and pamplemousse, a very large sweet grapefruit.

Our last anchorage in the Marquesas was on the same island but at Baie Hanatefau near the village of Hapatoni.. We were delighted by a fantastic display of dolphins swimming around the boat,

and some very good snorkeling, with very colourful fishes and even the odd large reef shark, who are much more afraid of us than we are of them!

We visited Hapatoni where the warlike islanders built a sacred road about three hundred years ago. It is well put together. We could imagine the warriors taking their hapless victims up the road to the sacred area where they were decapitated and then eaten. The sacred place is now marked with a cross and the road at the top has now crumbled away.

We were shown beautiful local wood and bone ( not human) carvings, mostly on replicas of war spears, clubs and paddles, and also some spears made from the horns of sail fish. Amongst the war replicas were a walking stick and a sensitively carved manta ray as table decoration. We bought them as souvenirs.

We set sail reluctantly from Tahuata to make the five day voyage south to the Tuamotus, the legendary south sea islands and Atolls in the Pacific, with their palm trees and pearl farms. We had a fairly peaceful voyage and nothing went wrong at all! We think we had probably had our fill of difficulties by then, and we were also a lot more gentle on the boat.

More about the Tuamotus in our next letter

Love ATLANTIA