Day 227, Year 1: From Daniel’s Bay to Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva
Date: Thursday, June 1, 2006
Weather: Blue Skies and Sunshine—VERY Warm
Latitude: 08 degrees 55 minutes S
Longitude: 140 degrees 06 minutes W
Location: Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva Island, Marquesas

We moved from Daniel’s Bay to Taiohae Bay this morning. It is only three miles, but between getting ready to move, moving, and settling in, it seems that it took most of the day. Sherry and Randy of Procyon left before we did and headed to the northern coast of this island. Checkmate, Necessity, and Stormvalen from Norway had come in yesterday while were at the waterfall, but they all left this morning for Ua Pou. We finally got to meet Jan and Eva on Necessity, and their daughter Helena who is visiting until they reach Tahiti. Then Stillpoint left for Taiohae, and that left only us. This is the first time since we have been on our voyage that we were the only boat in an anchorage. It was wonderful and tempted us to stay, but at this point we need to keep moving. We have to leave the Marquesas early next week for the Tuamotus, so we savored the moment and then moved on.

Taiohae Bay is supposed to be the safest and most welcoming bay in the Marquesas. It is a big bay and the town is the administrative center for the Marquesas, so this is quite a change for us. We are really in a town. The stores are not really as nice as the ones on Ua Pou, but there is an internet café here and other amenities that go along with “town” life. We will fill up with fuel here, go to the 4:30 AM Saturday market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and then head to the north side of the island to Anaho. That will probably be our last stop before leaving for the Tuamotus.

We had dinner on Windcastle tonight with Doug and Sylvia. It is always great to meet up with friends. Tomorrow we will explore the town, reprovision, and ready our selves to move on to our last anchorage in the Marquesas. The islands here are beautiful, but there is much more of the South Pacific calling us.

060601 Day 227 Marquesas, Nuka Hiva–Daniel's Bay to Taiohae