Where is the Aranui?

We spent a few more days in Hanamoenoa diving, snorkeling and playing on the beach before moving on. We decided to visit the small village of Hapatoni farther south down the west coast of Tahuata with our friends on Kini Popo. The villagers of Hapatoni are famous for their wood and bone carvings, and we wanted to check it out.

We anchored about a half mile away from the village at Hapatoni in an anchorage called Hana Tefau. The anchorage at Hana Tefau is beautiful and tucked away with steep cliffs full of palm trees, mango trees and lots of other tropical plants.

On Sunday morning, we dropped the dinghy in the water and headed over to Hapatoni. Lots of villagers were out walking down the main road as church had just let out. Several of the people motioned for us to come over and talk to them. An elderly woman appeared a bit exasperated trying to communicate with us in French and found a woman named Sarah who spoke some English.

Sarah invited us to come down the road with her to an open air market area. There was no market going on, but a few locals were hanging about. We learned that the Aranui 5 supply ship was in Vaitahu, the next village over. The Aranui is an interesting ship, because it is part cargo ship and part passenger cruise ship. It comes around to the various ports in the Marquesas every three weeks. The locals look forward to the Aranui not only for the supplies it brings, but also so that they can sell their goods to the passengers. This afternoon, the craftsmen from Hapatoni were going to Vaitahu to lay out their wood and bone carvings for the Aranui passengers to buy.

Several of the locals hanging around the market area had their goods with them preparing to head over to Vaitahu in a few hours. They unpacked several tables worth of items for us to look at as a couple of the women started playing their ukuleles and singing for us. We learned that they play and sing in church and had just come from there with their instruments.

The carvings they laid out were amazing. There were rosewood bowls, sandalwood carved ceremonial items, carved necklaces made from cow bone and intricately carved swordfish bills. Mike found a carved bone necklace that he really liked that was carved in the shape of the Marquesan symbol for a fish hook with a tiki symbol carved in the side. We don’t buy too many “souvenirs” in our travels, but this was a good purchase. Not cheap, but unique and perfect for Mike.

As we walked back down the main road, we were greeted by another woman named Rose who invited us to come down the road to her home. We had asked about buying some breadfruit, and she had a breadfruit tree at her house. (We had been wanting to try and learn to cook breadfruit after having it at a restaurant in Nuku Hiva.) The Kini Popo crew also wanted some fruit, and Rose was happy to oblige. Soon we were loaded up with breadfruit, starfruit and mangos. We asked how much Rose wanted for the fruit, but she refused to accept any money. With hugs and kisses around, we thanked Rose and headed back to the boats with our haul.

We spent the afternoon snorkeling around the rocks of the anchorage and looking at our plans for the next stop. We wanted to go to what is probably the most famous of the Marquesan islands, Fatu Hiva. From Fatu Hiva, we planned to go to the Tuamotos. So, we needed to figure out two things: (1) What was the best way to do the upwind sail to Fatu Hiva; and (2) Do we need to fill up with gasoline (for the generator, dinghy and dive compressor) before heading out. After a bit of evaluation, we determined we needed to stop at Atuona on Hiva Oa to fill up with gas and get a better angle on the wind to get to Fatu Hiva.

We had heard the anchorage at Atuona was crowded and not that great, so we were trying to avoid it. We had no idea what a hassle it would turn out to be! We arrived in Atuona the next afternoon to find that the Aranui 5 was at the dock. Atuona is a small harboar, and when the Aranui comes into Atuona all of the sailboats have to move to give this big ship enough room to get in and out of the dock. So, many of the sailboats are pushed back toward shore in a very crowded configuration while others anchor just outside the harbor in the wind and swell.

We headed into the harbor and flagged down some cruisers in a dinghy. They told us that the Aranui was scheduled to leave at 4 pm, about two hours from now. We considered anchoring in the outer harbor, but it was crowded and a bit rough. We wanted to make sure we could get to the magazin for some provisions and fill up on gas at the Mobil station before they closed, which we assumed was around 5 pm. We were planning to head out early the next morning.

Kini Popo was about 30 minutes behind us, and we called them on the radio with an update and to make a plan. When they came close to the harbor, they would launch their dinghy, and Dan #2 and Michelle would pick me up. Dan #1 would stay on Kini Popo and Mike would stay on Adagio both doing donuts in the sailboats waiting for the Aranui to leave so that the boats could race in and anchor inside the harbor.

Dan, Michelle & I started up the road into the village of Atuona to get provisions first. It is about a 6k walk, and we were able to hitch a ride about half way up the hill and found a ride back to the dock. The magazin in Atuona was even better than the ones in Taiohae, so I was able to pick up veggies, some nice frozen pork chops and a few bottles of wine.

Back at the Mobil station by the dock, we filled up all of our jerry cans of gasoline and bought some baguettes. By the time we accomplished all of this and loaded all of our goods into the dinghy, the Aranui was finally pulling away from the dock. It was about 5:30 pm and the sun was starting to set.

We left Michelle on the dock, and Dan raced me out to Adagio to help Mike anchor. As the Aranui was headed out of the harbor, a long line of sailboats was headed in and Adagio was first. I had to quickly jump on board or we were going to get run over by the boats behind us. I learned from Mike that for the last three hours he had been jockeying for position with the other boats outside the harbor. Apparently there were some pretty aggressive moves going on. As soon as the boats filtered in the harbor, they all seemed to drop anchor at the same time every which way all over the place. It was what our friend Dan would describe as a “shitshow.”

After an exhausting day, we decided to go into town for pizza that night and to get to sleep early. At first light we had the anchor up and were on our way to Fatu Hiva. We had a nice ride all the way to Fatu Hiva. As we started to get closer to the anchorage, Dan, who was ahead of us, radioed us with a message…”If you lost the Aranui, I found it for you.” The Aranui was now in Fatu Hiva! Aargh!

Our frustration at following this big ship subsided as we got closer to the anchorage at Hanavave, also called the Bay of Virgins, and we got our first glimpse of this iconic place. But, more on that next time…

~Katie

p.s. Trying to get pictures posted with the extremely slow hit or miss internet access in FP is pretty frustrating. Eventually, I will get some pictures up! But, it may not be until we get to Tahiti.