Vaitahu, Tahuata--Hokule'a is anchored this morning, Friday, Aug. 6, in Vaitahu, a small bay and village on the leeward side of Tahuata, the smallest populated island in the Marquesas, with 19 sq. miles and 600-700 inhabitants.
We left Hane, Ua Huka, at 6 pm yesterday; the projected 13-hour sail to Tahuata turned into a 20.5-hour sail and tow. During the night, the canoe made a course of Hema (South) and was set 32 miles WNW of Tahuata by the ESE tradewinds and the west-flowing current. We picked up the tow from escort boat Kamahele at 6 am and were towed for 8 1/2 hours, into Vaitahu, anchoring at about 2:30 pm yesterday.
We were greeted by the mayor and a dance and drum group of schoolchildren; had an excellent meal at the mayor's house--raw and cooked fish, raw and cooked a'ama crab, pork, chicken, breadfruit, kalo, etc. Spent the night on the canoe. A strange wind gusted out of the valley all night, apparently coming over the steep mountains in the back. The shade-rain tarps flapped wildly each time a gust blew. The bottom of the bay is steep so anchors do not hold well. The crew had to reset the anchors at 3 am this morning. Today the crew will tour the town and then go in boats to visit Hapatoni valley a few miles down the coast.
The bay of Vaitahu is rich in fauna. Just offshore as we approached, we saw piles of aku birds off the starboard side. Fisherman Terry Hee landed some aholehole and akule from the canoe last night with a light rod and reel. Gary Yuen fried them for breakfast-ono! Some ulua were swimming around the canoe last night, as well as the ubiquitous mano (shark). (Tava says that the Marquesans never swim for recreation as the waters around all the islands are shark-infested, but fishing from canoes and boats and diving are part of the people's livelihood.) A school of porpoises feeds in the bay--they look smaller and darker than the porpoises in Hawai'i. This morning, while we were preparing breakfast, a lone 'iwa bird soared above, fishing the bay...He dropped his fish in mid-air then swooped down to catch it in its sharp beak again...Tava said the 'iwa did this to kill the fish.
Captain Baybayan plans to depart this afternoon before sunset. Makanani Attwood will present the mayor with a stone petroglyph of the canoe when we depart this afternoon. We will arrive tomorrow morning in Fatu Hiva, the southernmost of the Marquesas islands and spend a day there, then depart before sunset for Hiva Oa, our final stop in these emerald mountains rising out of the sea. We should arrive in Hiva Oa on Sunday morning.
NOTES ON UA HUKA: the bay of Hane where we landed on August 4 was where Dr. Sinoto found pottery fragments from an early Polynesian settlement, c. 250-300 AD. It is the earliest archaeological site in the Marquesas. The road along the southern coast runs from Hane to Vaipaee, winding around the steep sea cliffs (with no guard rails!). The landscape is mainly dry grasslands, where wild horses and goats roam, cut through by lush green valleys where rivers run down from the northern mountains. On the way to Vaipaee we stopped at a botanical garden with plants from all over the world. Mayor Lichtle said they were experimenting with the plants (e.g. orange trees) to find those that grow well for commerical purposes on Ua Huka. In Vaipaee, we visited a museum which displayed some original and some reproductions of Marquesan artifacts.