Sailing via UA-POU for the island of NUKU - HIVA (Marquesas Islands - French Polynesia)

We departed from the stunningly beautiful island of Tahuata and made way for the island of Ua-Poa en-route to Nuka-Hiva.

Along with us were our good friends Jean-Luc and Eva on board their yacht Reve De Lune.

The weather was splendid and saw Impi skimming along in 15 - 20 knots of wind from the SE ...

And of course with our trusted Quantum built asymmetric sail Ana refers to as 'the beast' ... Impi was fetching a suitable speed and the day could not have been more sailing perfect ...

Quantum sails are now called Ullman ... whatever the name they sure produced an exceptional asymmetric for Impi and the added re-inforcement to the sail edges have definitely made for extended life although the added weight in cloth tends to collapse the edges in lighter airs.

Our intention was to sail into the bay of Hakahau which is the 'Capital' of Ua-Pou and spend the night there before heading on to Nuku-Hiva to watch the 'Bastille Day' celebrations at Taiohae. Unfortunately, these celebrations were not to be without a very sad ending, but more about that later.

As we approached the island of Ua-Pou and 'skirted' up toward its eastern most point known as Motu Akua, we yet again marvelled at the mysterious rock formations ...

This island captures the mind and instills a sense of curiosity such as I have not felt before ...

As we entered the bay at Hakahau I must admit I was somewhat disappointed initially ...

The bay is rather small, the water was not as clear as some we had seen before and there was an unsettled swell which caused the yachts to roll about and despite Reve De Lune and ourselves being the only two yachts there, we had to keep an eye out for each other as there was not much 'swinging room' without stern anchors being set ... and we were not planning to set stern anchors with only one night being spent here.

However, we were pleasantly surprised at the number of youngsters swimming about and paddling in canoes and found the locals to be incredibly friendly and happy people ...

One youngster had toppled over in his canoe and was drifting. Jean-Luc called out to him and asked if he was 'in trouble' and the youngster immediately indicated he was ...

I rushed out to him in my dinghy and managed to pull him up out of the water and get his canoe 'right side up'. He was very appreciative and thanked me many times.

Anyway, we had spent a night rolling about in the anchorage which was uncomfortable ... but the surrounding mountains are beautiful and sport incredible 'rock spires' which stand up like tall 'obelix rocks' and this makes for a pleasant view ...

When we arrived most of these beautiful tall rocks were covered by cloud but in the early morning hours the clouds had receded exposing their beauty ...

We vowed to visit this island again on our return journey ... our sail for the Tuamotos and will certainly spend more time on Ua-Pou

BUT ... NUKA HIVA was 'calling our name' and we were curious to be there for the Bastille Day Celebrations for which it is well known, and so we, together with Reve De Lune set sail for the bay of  TAIOHAE.

As we departed from Ua-Pou Impi developed a problem with its main sail cars.

The little cars which slide up and down the mast when hoisting the sails have little friction as they contain hundreds of roller ball bearings. 

Unfortunately and as we raised the sail these bearings dropped out and the cars came adrift from the rail against the mast. It seems the rail which is mounted in sections had lost some bolts and the distortion caused the cars to 'come off their tracks'.

As a result we had to stow the main sail and cross the passage on our genoa sail alone.

Fortunately we had favourable winds and Impi was still able to make way at some 7 - 8 knots which saw us arriving at Nuku-Hiva alongside our friends on Reve De Lune.

I was able to capture some beautiful photographs of Reve De Lune as we entered the bay at Taiohae 

And so here we are ... anchored off the island of Nuku-Hiva ...

In my next letter I will share our experiences and photographs as we celebrated 'Bastille Day' here with the locals ... a very nice day with such friendly and beautiful people ... but also a day which unfortunately ended on a sad note!