The Great Navigators

"No alien land in all the world has any deep strong charm for me but one, no other land could so longingly and so beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done. Other things leave me, but it abides; other things change, but it remains the same. For me its balmy airs are always blowing, its summer seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ear; I can see its garland crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud wrack; I can feel the spirit of its woodland solitudes, I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago.”  Mark Twain

The Marquesas are not the typical south sea isles of your dreams. There are no coral reefs here, as the waters are too cold and anyway, the shores of most of these islands are steep cliffs, which continue straight down into the deep blue sea. They are very rugged, much like the Na Pali coast of Kaua'i or the north shore of Molokaʻi.   They are very sparsely populated, with most islands having only one or two thousand people. There are very few roads, as it is so rugged that it would just be impossible to build many roads.  Only a few islands have runways, as there are very few flat spots long enough for even a small prop plane to land on. There are very few nice beaches and many of the nicer beaches are infested with the notorious no nos, insects that, if you are bitten by them, will truly ruin your vacation. Because of all this, the Marquesas will never have mega resorts, or even many hotels and will always be a place for the more adventurous tourist.  In the 9 days we were traveling here, we saw only a couple of tourists, and those were in the bigger towns.  It takes a commitment to come here, but those that do are rewarded by seeing the most beautiful islands in the world. 

Ua Huka is a barren island in the northern group. We were to first come into Vaiapee Bay, a very narrow bay with a small village. This is where we were told to be on deck at 6am to see an "interesting maneuver". Interesting indeed!

I really don't understand why we should be surprised that the Polynesians make great sailors. After all, they were sailing across thousands of miles of empty ocean, finding small islands along the way, when our ancestors were living in mud huts and barely moving 20 miles in their lifetimes.  What the captain of the Aranui did here was to bring his ship up to a certain part of the bay, dropping his anchor along the way, so it was on the sea floor behind us. Then, because the bay was so narrow and he couldn't back out all the way, he did a 180, like on a pivot. Using his one front thruster, the ship just turned, with only a few feet to spare between the bow and the rock wall, and the stern and the rock wall. It all took about 4 minutes and we were soon facing out to sea. But the Aranui crew wasn't done yet. With two whale boats on either side of the stern, 2 crew members in each boat brought the big tie ropes to two huge bollards, large metal posts sunk in the rock. With very challenging waves of 4 or 5 feet, one of the crew carefully jumped on the rock with the big rope and slung it over the bollard., while the other coaxed his whale boat right up to, but not touching, the rocks. The whole thing looked like a beautiful ballet and it showed how good this crew was. 

Getting on the barges, which hold about 50 passengers, can often be a challenge, too. You first walk down the metal staircase gangway of the Aranui. At sea level, a large, very tattooed Marquesan sailor is waiting for you. When you are on the bottom platform, he lifts you up to another tattooed sailor in the whale boat, who lifts you up from the first sailor and deposits you on the floor of the barge. I have seen this work perfectly over 100 times until once, under very heavy seas, a young French  woman somehow missed one of the hands of first sailor and fell partway into the sea between the platform and the barge. But as fast as you can imagine, the first sailor lifted her out of the sea and onto the barge. This was the only time I have seen the least look of fear in the eyes of these Marquesan sailors. 

It was here in Vaipae`e that Steven, one of our guides and a member of the Aranui band, told me I should buy my Tahitian ukulele. The uke maker here not only made the typical 8 string ukulele, but also a 10 and 12 sting model. When I got to the craft shop, there were 6 ukuleles hanging on the wall. I strummed each one and they all sounded nice (for Tahitian ukes). But my eye and ear caught a 12 string model that had nice carving all over it. After showing it to Steven he agreed that it was a good one. I then went outside, where three musicians were about to play some local songs for the passengers and they invited me to sit with them and play along. Lucky for me, all the songs were in the key of C and had only 4 chords!  But I hung in there and played 4 songs with them. 

From here, we drove over some amazing countryside along the coast of Ua Huka, and down into the village of Hane, where we had another delicious buffet of Marquesan delicacies: roast pork, sashimi, bananas with coconut cream, fried chicken, poisson cru, etc. after lunch we hiked up to a me'ae, an old temple. There wasn't much left except some really great old tikis. 

Here's Dieter with Amy along the Ua Huka coast...

And the me'ae...

That night, it was Polynesian night where we have a big buffet on the back deck of the ship and the staff, and even some passengers, do a talent show. Amy danced Kimo Hula and I accompanied her on the ukulele.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it. There was lots of great food, including two whole roasted pigs! The dessert table had an amazing amount of pastries. 

The legendary Aranui bartender, Yoyo, and Steven. 

Alexandra, Ouiza and Amy

Jacob and Moana