So, we had a super nice day again, as usual. We started in the bay in Tahuata. We looked for our usual morning manta rays, and found only one elusive one. He was on the bottom at a "cleaning station." Little fish were coming and going cleaning him. Then we went to the cliff area and snorkeled for a while. It was great, lots of beautiful tropical fish. Very clear water today. The kids kayaked to shore, we went to the boat for a little bit, grabbed snack and a shopping bag, flip flops, and headed in with the other kayak. Courage and I went inland just a very little bit and picked all kinds of limes, grapefruit, and oranges. Even found a coconut.
The kids snacked, Courage kayaked our provisions back to the boat, and I played onshore with the kids for another hour or so, and then swam back. We made lunch and retrieved the kids from shore. We swapped around the anchorage - thumb drives, pictures, movies, Google earth images of the Tuamutos, our pizza pan, gave a key lime pie recipe to a neighbor boat, then loaded up to go. We closed the hatches, took in clothes from the lifelines, etc, since we may have a headwind and current. Turned out not to be so bad. We had a nice motor between the islands, caught a Bonita, but it's the red meat type and we threw it back.
Then as we were coming closer to the anchorage through the bay, we got another fish. The line was reeling. Courage worked it in, not a terrible fight, but a decent one. I had gloves and the 33-gallon drum and went to the bottom stair to bring it in. It was a Wahoo!! The kayak was on half of the swim step; I was on the other half. Then Cassidy came, took the reel and Courage came down. Now we know these things have sharp teeth. Courage was telling me to watch my hands, and I was. This darn thing was 4.5 feet long!! Again, we couldn't grab the tail of it! It was thrashing and fighting just off the back steps. A wave came and we surfed it up onto the back step, it only fit maybe 2/3 onto that step. Courage and I and the kayak were also there. I tried to pull my leg away as it surfed in, but failed to get it clear! Somehow my lower leg encountered the Wahoo’s little razor sharp teeth and it ripped a gash in my leg about 3-4 inches long. We landed the fish finally into the 33-gallon drum (not easy!!) and got it up into the cockpit. Then I looked at my leg. I could see the subcutaneous tissues; it was going to need stitches. So, I sat down and Cassidy got me my stitching supplies. I washed it up and stitched it closed. Nice to have everything I needed. Never had to stitch myself before! It came together OK; the jagged little teeth shredded the lower part a little bit, so it'll take some healing. The Wahoo lost the war, but I have to give at least one of the battles to him!
I finished just as we came into the anchorage. We have to anchor fore and aft; Cassidy and Courage took care of it. The bay is full of silt and there's no swimming here really, so it'll be easier to keep my leg clean and dry for a few days.
Our Swiss friends on Ulani came to greet us and give us the low down about the anchorage, town, and formalities of the check-in process. Sure is nice to have a greeter come over and give you a little local knowledge. We are going to keep that in mind as other boats come in. We offered them fish, but they didn't need any. Then we went to our neighbor boat, gave them some fish, and chatted. They were from CA, spent the last year in Mexico, and then just arrived here in the Marquesas, - - - very lovely couple.
Then we went to a boat named Moana. It's a very nicely home built Wharram catamaran, 63 feet. They are a French hippie couple with 3 kids (naked boat with dreads), an American crew and a Mexican crewmember. We gave them fish, met them (also saw them at the waterfall in Fatu Hiva), toured the boat, and the kids played. Their kids are a little bit older, but they rowed ours to shore and they ran and ran. It was nice!
We went home, made our fish for dinner. It's a very nice white fish without fishy flavor. The kids played with one of Vitality's birthday presents - glow bubbles (thank you Cindy) as soon as it turned dark. They loved that!
I cleaned my wound again, wrapped it in gauze, and get to sit with my leg up writing emails. Almost a luxury!! We have our 40-minute walk to town tomorrow; see how that goes. Courage has been contemplating how to launch the motorcycle.
Our friends on Paje are probably arriving tomorrow. They are the ones with the catamaran and other motorcycle like ours that inspired our purchase. They may be able to help us launch ours and we can help them launch theirs.
As usual, we will continue to play things by ear. One thing I learned on Moana is that there is a bakery with baguettes for $.40 each. A local guy who was visiting them had a huge bag of them. I was surprised by all of them. In asking, apparently none of them like bread, the man buys it because it's so cheap and feeds it to his dog and cattle. They were all noting that the French subsidize the things that are not good for you - white flour, oil, sugar, etc. They also said there's 100% tax on imports, so they help people set up import companies, but there's really no support or incentives to have local goods since there's no tax income from it. So if you are going to try to trade local goods, you have to build the business yourself without loans, etc. And the cost of living was shot up here because all of the government officials from France who came to work here made twice what they did in France to help cover the cost of moving, etc. So it used to be cheap here, but housing costs went up, so the locals needed to now sell their mangos for a significant price just to pay their rent, so the cost of food went up, etc. So with 100% taxes and increased cost of living, everything is apparently expensive or subsidized. I haven't really priced things, but the local man said eggs were about $.60 each. We were paying $.20 up to a high of $.35 in Panama/Galapagos. There are chickens everywhere; I don't think supply is the issue. And I don't think demand is that significant. I think external forces have manipulated the whole supply and demand curves. Again feeling fortunate that I stocked up well and have egg powder for baking so I don't have to buy eggs or much at that price. Hopefully I can trade locals for the fruits they grow rather than paying high prices and taxes for it. But I do like baguettes . . .
Looking forward to checking out Hiva Oa tomorrow!
Shannon
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