Cruising World - February 2016

public benches.

There is a pride in place and culture that

booms from the Marquesans I spoke with.

The Marquesan people live on land that

provides. More food than anyone can eat

falls from trees, runs wild through the bush

and swims off shore. Fresh water gushes

day and night from overfl owing cisterns.

Perhaps it’s this bounty that somehow en-

courages and allows the Marquesans to

keep their rich culture alive. Ahead of the

annual Polynesian Heiva competitions,

we saw people everywhere rehearsing for

dance and music and outrigger rowing

competitions. Women sat hunched over

their tapas, applying ink to the pound-

ed-out bark paper.

Men carved piec-

es of rosewood

and sandalwood

by hand and with

Dremels.

The Marquesan

people are few in

number and live

on a group of is-

lands that is not

only in the mid-

dle of the Pacif-

ic, but a four-day

sail from the near-

est neighboring

island group, the

Tuamotus. They

speak their own

language (actual-

ly two, North Marquesan and South Mar-

quesan); they have a history distinct from

other Pacifi c Island groups; and for years,

they’ve struggled to break free from the

political chains of French Polynesia. I got

the feeling that there is a conscious eff ort

to prevent their culture from turning in-

to a mélange of the dominant Tahitian and

French infl uences. Say bonjour to a Mar-

quesan, and despite the fact they’re fl uent

in French, you’re very apt to be corrected:

ka oha.

VILLAGE LIFE

We topped off our fuel and water before

setting sail for Tahuata, a sparsely inhab-

ited island across the 3-mile-wide Canal

du Bordelais. On Tahuata, we spent our

fi rst week exploring an isolated anchorage

that Eric Hiscock ranked among the three

most beautiful in all of French Polynesia.

Hanamoenoa Bay is home to a Marquesan

known simply as Steven, who lives a her-

mitlike existence. He fi xes visitors with an

intense stare, but get on his good side and

he’ll likely show you how he cultivates to-

matoes just above the high-tide line and

sets elaborate traps for wild pigs and chick-

ens. Apparently fowl holds more appeal in

this corner of the Marquesas.

We spent time anchored off the villages

of Vaitahu and then Hapatoni, each with a

stunning church and some of the most sin-

cere, open people we’ve met in our travels.

In Vaitahu we spent a couple of days get-

ting to know Jimmy, his wife, Tahia, and

their kids. They welcomed us into their

home and took us on a hike to their proper-

ty in an adjacent valley, where they picked

tons of food and fi lled bags with eggplant,

coconuts, mangoes, grapefruit and oranges

for us to take back to the boat. Our kids

and theirs hit it off , and Tahia’s English

was good. Walking past the local school,

she explained that it only serves children

up to age 10. At 11, Marquesan kids leave

home for boarding school on Nuku Hiva.

Throughout the upper grades, they’re gone

from home for two-month stretches, re-

turning for two-week visits in between.

In Hapatoni, we carried ashore photos

taken by a cruiser friend who visited here

in the early 1970s. The daughter of the late

chief gasped when she saw them, recogniz-

ing family who were no longer living, and

of whom she had no photos. She showed

us carvings her husband made for export to

Tahitian tourist markets, and fi lled bags for

us with fruit from her trees while her kids

and ours played with a litter of puppies. We

said goodbye and took off at sunset for an

overnight sail to Nuku Hiva.

A LAST STOPOVER

Nuku Hiva is the largest island in the Mar-

quesas and boasts the most populous town,

Taiohae, home to about 2,000 people.

Taiohae sits beside a large, picturesque bay

in which 100 boats could anchor. Like most

Marquesan anchorages, it’s subject to a lot

of roll-inducing swell. The bay is said to be

contaminated with agricultural runoff , so

we didn’t swim. After watching fi shermen

dump fi sh remnants into the water near the

dinghy dock one morning, and witnessing

the ensuing thrashing frenzy of habituated

sharks, we decided it was just as well.

When our Taiohae needs were met

(food, fuel, water, butane), we skirted

around to nearby Taioa Bay, better known

as Daniel and Antoinette’s Bay. It was to be

our last anchorage in the Marquesas.

What a fi nale. The bay, nicknamed for

a couple who were renowned friends of

cruising sailors, is one of the most protect-

ed anchorages we visited in the Marquesas.

Peaks and ridgelines wrap around it, stag-

gered in their placement, exaggerating

perspective and luring us ashore to travel a

well-trod path along a freshwater river and

up the Hakaui Valley to the falls. Daniel

and Antoinette are long deceased, but fam-

ily still lives in this primordial setting.

The worst thing about the Marquesas is

how nature and nations conspire to keep

visits brief. We left after

42 days, lamenting the

fact that we didn’t have

more time to spend on

the fi ve islands we visited

and the 10 we skipped.

We wondered about the

numerous anchorages

we never saw and wished

for more time with the

people we met. But the

French enforce a 90-day

visa limit for all of French

Polynesia — fi ve island

groups stretched over

1,200 miles — and they

make getting a visa for a

longer stay diffi cult. The Marquesas are re-

mote, deep in the trade winds that blow in

only one direction. Once a sailor continues

west, a return trip isn’t trivial.

But that’s not to say it wouldn’t be worth

it. We’ll be back.

Michael Robertson is currently exploring Ton-

ga with his family aboard their Fuji 40, Del

Viento.

february 2016

cruisingworld.com

50

As Del Viento reaches into Nuku Hiva’s

Taioa Bay, our daughter, Eleanor, can’t

wait to dip her toes into the water.

If you see tapas, carvings or

other art you like in the Mar-

quesas, buy it. The cost of

these same items is much

higher in other parts of

French Polynesia.

Outside the bigger towns on

Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva, trad-

ing is the preferred method

to acquire everything from

fruit to carvings to tattoos.

Shoes and school supplies

are welcome, but by far the

most in-demand item for

trade is decent braided rope.

Those old halyards in your

lazarette are prized.

Wander off the beaten path.

Get to know the villages on

Tahuata and Fatu Hiva. Ex-

plore the more remote places

on Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva.

You will absolutely fi nd the

adventure you seek.

CAPTAIN’S Log

Tropic of Capricorn

150 ̊ W 140 ̊ W 130 ̊ W

20 ̊ S

10 ̊ S

FRENCH

POLYNESIA

Tuam

otu

Arc

hip

ela

go

MARQUESAS ISLANDS

0 150 300

Nautical Miles

Nuku Hiva Hiva Oa

Tahuata Fatu Hiva

S

O

U

T

H

PA

C

IF

IC

OC

EA

N

French Polynesia