We’ve now spent a week in the Marquesas Islands, and have been relaxing (and not posting). We spend a couple days at Taiohae, the main village on Nuku Hiva, cleaned up and provisioned Gray Matter with tropical fruits and French bread.

Taiohae in the morning sun.

The main road

The bank.

Taiohae anchorage. Next to the 146-foot Sarassa, Gray Matter looks small.

Morning market.

When a southeast swell rolled into the anchorage, we decided to explore other anchorages on Nuku Hiva, in hope of smoother water. On Wednesday, we went around to the north side of Nuku Hiva and anchored at Pou and Hatiheu. The landscape at each anchorage is majestic, with sharp rainforest mountains reaching 2000 feet from sea level. The first anchorage had a small plantation and the second anchorage Hatiheu, the writing home of Robert Lewis Stevenson. Unfortunately, neither anchorage was very smooth. On Friday, we set “sail” for the uninhabited out islands – Eaio (yes all vowels) and Hatutu.

Odyssey at Pou.

Spectacular mountain peaks at Hatiheu.

Hatiheu’s iconic church.

The anchorage at Eiao was directly on the leeward side, good chance to be sheltered from wind and well. It was spectacular and 20+ giant Manta rays glided right next to the boat as we pulled into the anchorage. To our surprise, swells still wrapped around and made their way into the anchorage. As this is the only anchorage among these out islands, we stayed – good thing we still have our sea legs.

Sunset at Eiao.

After rock & roll all night, we got underway first thing the next morning, to visit the Indian Rock on the north tip of Hatutu. This route is primo fishing and we weren’t gonna pass on this opportunity. We put three lines in the water plus two decoys. Action started soon enough – we trolled right through a feeding frenzy. Something HUGE hit the decoys (which have no hooks) breaking the 150lb test line. All three rods got hit the same time. The spinning rod was running out so fast – we had no hope to save the line there (it’s only 30lb test). Christine put the boat in slow idle and jumped on the marlin lure, while I were reeling in the feather lure. Giving each of the fish some line to run so they are tired when they get to the boat, the first fish in the boat was a 20lb Rainbow Runner (jack family – very eatable), and the second was a smaller 15lb Yellowfin tuna. Feeling lucky we put the lines back out and hooked another two fish at the same time, one got off, and we got a second 15lb Yellowfin. With three fish to clean we decided we’d take a rest. The freezer is fully packed now.

The Indian Rock. Supposely great diving, but the condition was too rough.

Arriving just at sunset, we finally found a smooth anchorage on the north side of Nuku Hiva – Anaho. This is truly a paradise. 3-4 beach houses tucked in sandy beaches and spectacular mountain ranges. Sunday morning we explored with the paddleboards and then enjoyed a scuba dive off the anchorage. With 86+F water temperatures, it’s a pleasure to dive without any wetsuits.

Approaching Anaho at sunset.

Best anchorage on Nuku Hiva, Anaho.

We plan to get fuel in Taiohae Monday or Tuesday and then continue to explore the other islands.

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