Day 217, Year 1: Crowded Anchorage and French Bureaucracy—Right Here in Paradise
Date: Monday, May 22, 2006
Weather: Liquid Sunshine Day—Sunny Day with Intermittent Downpours
Location: Tahauku Bay Anchorage, Hiva Oa Island, Marquesas
We are sitting in this idyllic bay with about 25 other boats. When we arrived there were only about eight boats, but as the evening wore one, more and more boats arrived. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an anchorage this crowded in New England. We have to have a bow and stern anchor out so we don’t swing and hit other boats. Most of the boats that came in last night were either French or South African and many of them obviously know each other as they partied together last night and are doing the same tonight. Antoine, very French, has been calling Michelle on the VHF radio all evening and driving me crazy. I sure hope he gets together with her!
We went into Atuona very early this morning with Doug and Sylvie on Windcastle to make sure we got officially checked into French Polynesia before the crowds arrived. We went to the gendarmerie and all he had to say to us was, “Go to the bank and get your bond.” We got our visa for French Polynesia in Panama and they took copies of our credit cards and indicated that we would not have to post a bond. But not so. Everyone, except those from EU countries, have to post a $1,100 bond per person onboard. You get the money back when you leave Bora Bora, but the French government wants it in the meantime. We went to the bank, but to no avail. We know we have the money in the bank, but there was no way the bank here could access it. Others that we have talked to who were here last week ran into the same problem. So basically, we are all just going to the ATM machines and withdrawing as much money as we can in a 24 hour period and doing this over and over until we have enough cash to post the bonds. Once we have the money, we can officially check in. Most of us are headed to the island of Ua Pou, and will try again to check in there. What a hassle, but we all seem to be in the same situation and that helps a bit. We all started out with a good supply of US dollars, but everything has cost all of us more than we had expected, and that cash supply has dwindled. Eventually, we will get enough money to post the bonds and hope that the officials will bear with us in the meantime. Doug and I also spent some of our time in the Post Office, taking our number, and waiting to be served. We needed phone cards and stamps, and with a great deal of patience, we got both. I needed a phone card to call locally to arrange for a rental car for tomorrow. We want to explore part of the island by land as it is easier than anchoring and landing a dinghy in many of the bays. I was successful in making the arrangements, or least I think I was, so tomorrow morning early we should head off to explore archaeological sights. More on that tomorrow night.
Mark and I spent the rest of the day sightseeing. We walked up the hill in town to visit the cemetery where Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel were both buried. The cemetery overlooks the town of Atuona and the view was spectacular. Both of these Frenchmen came here practice their art, one a painter and one a song writer and singer, but both chose this location. We walked back down to town after visiting the cemetery and went to the Gauguin Museum and Cultural Center. None of Gauguin’s original paintings are here, but the prints are most authentic looking and the museum is nicely done.
After leaving the Cultural Center, we visited the supermarkets in town and checked out the possibilities for purchases. We then started the two-mile hike back to the bay where we are anchored. You hope that a local will pick you up and give you ride in the back of their truck, but getting a ride wasn’t in the immediate picture this afternoon. When we reached the top of the hill and could look down on our anchorage, we stopped and sat on a roadside bench and enjoyed the view of the ocean and a late afternoon rainbow. As we started back down the hill, we finally got a ride and met some interesting folks from a tall ship in the outer anchorage. The boat is Soren Larsen from New Zealand and it is a training vessel. We met crew, Pauline from Ireland, and a young lad from the Shetland Islands. They said that there are about 17 crew aboard and about 15 passengers who are learning to sail. These folks will go with them to Tahiti and then another group will join them.
It is absolutely pouring rain as I write this. We are hoping that a front is moving through and the trade winds will return with this weather change. That will certainly help us on the next leg of our journey to Ua Pou. But before then, we have an early start tomorrow to complete our explorations of this island. It is time to send this log and head to bed. In tomorrow’s log we will report on the ma’res, paepapes, tikis, and tohuas that we should see-and I will explain to you what those things are.
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| 060522 Day 217 Marquesas, Hiva Oa–Arrival, Touring Atuona |
