Category: Sailing

Travel to Amanu, a small Tuomotu Village

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Sailing, Travel

What is a French Polynesian Tuomotu? Very much like the Hawaiian island chain, the Tuomotus began as Volcanoes. The difference down here is the plate movement and the development of coral. These Motus are all coral.

Amanu Atoll is a seldom visited Atoll in the Tuomotus that has a population of about 220 people.
We spent a week here and checked out the village and surrounding coral reefs.
An Atoll is basically an ancient volcano that is sinking into the ocean with coral now topping the outer ring. The center of the lagoon is mostly over 100’ deep with coral heads called “Bommies” that come all the way from the bottom to within inches of the surface. This makes navigation around the inside of the atoll very challenging. Amanu was seldomly visited by cruiser’s because up in to 2019 the atoll wasn’t even on Navionics charts. We used multiple navigation aids to get around but the most useful was Satellite photos used in a program called OpenCPN. Thank you Bruce on SV Migration! We spent the last week with Bruce and Alene on SV Migration getting a good education on French Polynesia and OpenCPN.
It is windy here!

With no mountains for cover and the island chain being in the trades we saw between 10 and 20 knots ALL the time, with squalls up to 35 knots. We used a mooring to secure Sea Bella upon our village visit and we almost chaffed through both our mooring pendants on the coral. Expensive and valuable lesson!!!!!
The reefs are amazing to snorkel and we were fortunate enough to see many sharks and mantas. We spent as much time in the water as we spent on shore cracking coconuts (a true skill).
Our visit to town was on a day that the village was welcoming some visitors from a National Geographic ship and we got the full tour. See the attached kids dancing

The Mayor of this town is 30 years old and is in his third term. Francois became mayor at 19 years old when the previous mayor (his Father) was lost at sea.
Francois was flown to France and celebrated as Frances youngest ever mayor. The mayor is also a member of the welcoming band and seems to be in well control of the island.
Today we are off to the next Atoll to the west called Makemo. 175 miles so we should see the the completion of this passage by midday tomorrow.

The Mayor

Amanu Village Children, Tuomotus, Pacific

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Sailing, Travel
Cute as Buttons

I was in heaven sitting in the sand playing with the local children for hours. Without knowing their Tahitian language or French, which they now learn in school, socializing takes a different approach. Bringing heart lollipops help in starting up an interest, friendship, and trust. However, there is an art in this ‘giving’. If you simply hand over a lollipop, the child may just run off and eat it. You haven’t gained a thing. She may even bring back a friend to get a lollipop as well. But, if you play a little game like tic tac toe, or do a little whistle for them to copy, hide a coin, or turn take humming a little tune, now that builds a fun connection for both parties. This little 6 year old girl in the red dress stole my heart. She was so playful and engaged me in a drawing game in the sand. She also insisted on giving me a taste of her lollipop. The 3 year old boy in my lap was a bit more shy, but he was happy to give me a snuggle. Fun was had by all.

Simple games, communication, learning, teaching….heaven for sure!
Love at first sight.

FATU HIVA, Pacific Paradise

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Sailing, Travel

Most perfect place, we will be back- Fatu Hiva (Bay or Vírgins aka Bay of Penises)

Photo blast in Fatu Hiva. We must be moving too fast or having too much fun to do much talking about it all, we are just doing it all…LOL
The hikes are so rewarding and there are no poisonous or dangerous plants, reptiles or animals to worry about. The altitude we were climbing in made this hike a very “tropical” misty experience.

We spent many days with a new friend Christian, he is a local carver and chef. We fell in love with this tiki and bought it, we’ll not with money but as a trade for an underwater flashlight. He said he needs it to find the lobsters. The next day Kathy hiked up to the farthest home, where Vanessa painted a Tapa, the local artisan makes the tapas all year long, then brings them to Tahiti and other events to sell at the fairs.

The bakery was closed, so Agnes swooped in and took us home. She gave us her baguettes, cold drink, fruit and special cancer cure jam, made from who knows what! She told us her life story (all in French) and was a great pantomime. She gave us a special tour of her garden, showed the vertical way she plants orchids, and explained her citrus grafting technique (in French). So special!!

Goodbye for now magical Fatu Hiva, see you in 6 or 7 months, as that is our plan for the Summer (US Winter). We have a 3 day sail to a SE Tuomotu Island Amanu. All the islands we will be “INSIDE” inner lagoons. Over the next 2 months we will explore the strange Motus or tuomotu: any island or islet in Polynesia, more specifically meaning atoll surrounded by coral reef. Fun new adventure!

Marquesis with Manta Rays, flowers, villagers and more!

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Sailing, Scuba Diving, Travel

Marvelous Mantas!! A group of local manta rays were feeding just outside of Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesis. What an awesome experience to have these large, graceful, plankton feeders come gliding right by.

Its safe to snorkle right near their feeding path. These 15′ wide giants would feed ladder style, one on top of the other, to catch the most plankton. Then, they would somersault or do an about-face and return on the same path.

Don’t almost seem to smile and laugh? When they got near us they would just glide right under. So spectacular!!

You can sail from Hiva Oa to the southern most Marquesan island, Fatu Hivu (the beatiful Bay of Virgins). It was named something else, you can guess.

Fatu Hiva! Prettiest place on Earth.

The flora here in Fatu Hiva is breathtaking. Take a look! Since the Marquesa Archepelegos are the most distant from any continent on the globe, the endemic fauna are quite limited. Only 41 or so species of birds here, most are tropicbirds, small bluish doves and some kingfisher.

There is a wide variety of insects, large yellow wasps, but we haven’t been bothered by any in the least bit. The greatest number of species are the butterflies and moths, some only found around these Islands. The rest of the land mammels seen were introduced by the Europeans in the 1800’s. We have seen these domestic wild animals: pig, goat, horse, cow and chickens. Strange that there are no snakes at all really no other endemic mammals.

How do you describe a place you never imagine existed?
This anchorage is
Yosemite + Gillian’s Island + The Garden of Eden

The mountains sore 3000 feet surrounding this bay and are covered with coconut trees and tropical plants. Most of these plants you’ve only seen in your moms potted terrarium. When you go to shore you are welcomed by the locals that only want to cook for you and provide you with the most lush fruit you’ve ever seen. The few paved roads are over grown with flowers, breadfruit, limes, oranges and Pamplemouse.
The weather is as perfect as a late summer day, where you need to keep the sun off but the sunset is quite welcomed with a fresh breeze that keeps the boat cool and fresh.
In the bay we work on the boat and wait for the Mantas to swim by or pick at the Ukulele. We are greeted often with visiting boats from France, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland or other areas that challenge our language skills. There are very few Americans here and somehow that just feels perfect.

Chris, the chef here, invited us to a yummy dinner.

I’m not sure what we are going to see next but all I know is that in all the years of travel and sailing I’ve never been to a more beautiful place…..and what’s better is this is the road less traveled. You just can’t get here any other way.
Oh yeah, Kathy and I celebrated our 12 Anniversary the other day in a bay almost as perfect. We were happily all alone on a beach with a hut, coconut trees and a fire with Hot dogs!!! The most perfect Anniversary we could ever hope for.
What’s next? Who cares…….
….we’re stickin’ around here for a few. (But the Tuomotus are calling)

BTW, trading amongst the locals is alive and well. Maybe even a little black market. PM me if you heading this way next year and you want to know what these folks need or want. 😕