Nuku Hiva Circumnav Continued - Wahoo, Diving, and Haahopu Anchorage

(Sylvia)

After six nights in Anaho we felt it was time to leave the anchorage and continue our counter-clockwise journey. Our new friends aboard MERIDIAN PASSAGE had left for the Tuamotus with plans to return to New Zealand after 18 years of cruising. SCOOTS had left Anaho the day before, and IMPULSIVE was going to remain and eventually return to Taiohae. 

We left Anaho on a bright morning and as we left the bay we entered the ocean in light winds and fairly big swells. Luckily we were more or less going with the swells, and when the wind picked up to 12-14 knots and we traveled on sail power alone it was quite pleasant.

The rugged northern coast of Nuku Hiva

The coast on our left was beautiful and as we traveled west the terrain became less lush and "tropical" and more scrubby, but still very green. Kind of like a very green Baja. About halfway along the coast we spied SCOOTS anchored in their own tropical paradise and we had a short radio conversation with them as we passed. We carried on as we were headed to the northwestern-most anchorage of Haahopu.

The ocean was alive with dolphins and birds, and we even saw a shark fin swim by, so we put out the hand lines for a bit of fishing. 

Dolphins swimming in our bow wave.

We'd heard the wahoo were running and I put my order in for wahoo fish tacos. Tom kind of snickered at me but we agreed that you won't get fish if the lines aren't in so we might as well try.

About ten minutes later we heard a large slap on the water and saw a big silver something under the water. Tuna??? As we pulled the fish in we were thrilled to see it was a huge wahoo! Tom gaffed it, and he dealt the quick death blow with a knife to the brain. People have advised us to never bring a wahoo on board before it's dead due to its razor sharp teeth, and this monster had plenty of them.

Tom with his prize wahoo (est. 50 lbs), caught with a black/purple squid jet head lure.

Since we were only an hour from the anchorage we secured the fish on the swim step and let the cooling swells keep it fresh. As we approached our anchorage we were happily surprised to see that it appeared blessedly calm inside with just one other boat anchored that looked just like Cinnabar's friend PRAIRIE OYSTER from La Paz. (Turned out to be the same kind of boat.)

We dropped the anchor and Tom exclaimed he could see it on the bottom. I leaned over and couldn't believe it. I could see the bottom 30 feet below! This was a first and I couldn't wait to get into the water. But business first.

It took us a couple of hours to fillet the monster but we were rewarded with enough fish to completely pack the freezer. In fact, I had to take some things out to make room. 

We kept the guts in a bucket to throw overboard later that night. No need to chum while we were about to snorkel. We got in the water and couldn't believe the visibility. There were lovely coral gardens on each side of the bay and lots of small reef fish. There was a lot of fishing going on here by locals so the bigger predatory fish were rarely seen. I was so excited to get in the water that I forgot my weight belt so wasn't able to dive down, but the big manta ray that approached us was very accommodating as it swam up to my eye level for a few minutes before swimming back into the deep. We would see big mantas on nearly every snorkel.

Syl's dive buddy. The mantas seemed very curious about us.

As I showered on the back of the boat I realized that we were facing west and would see our first proper sunset since the last night of our passage back in April! We west-coasters are used to our sunsets and we really hadn't seen one since being in The Marquesas.

That afternoon a very nice French couple from TIDOUDOU, the neighboring boat, rowed over with some yellowfin tuna fillets. We invited them aboard for an impromptu happy hour and I prepared a plate of wahoo and yellowfin sashimi with rice and nori wraps. I served it with chopsticks which Marcos and Serena (2.5 years in French Polynesia, ski instructors in France during the cyclone season) had never used. It was quite amusing to see them trying to use the sticks and we announced that fingers were fine. We sent them off a couple of hours later with a bag of wahoo fillets.

It was a very good day and I knew I would have a terrific night's sleep in this flat, calm anchorage.

Serena and Marcos wave au revoir from their lovely Beneteau.

The next morning TIDOUDOU left and later that afternoon SCOOTS arrived to take their spot. We spent the next few days snorkeling, socializing with Eric and Vandy on SCOOTS, and taking advantage of the extremely calm anchorage to get some boat projects completed. 

Eric and Vandy cooling off with their noodles behind SCOOTS

Water In Boat = That Not Good - As if our current To-Do list wasn't enough, the second morning we were there I discovered a pool of water under one of the cabinets in the forward cabin! Luckily it was fresh water so clearly a fresh-water leak in the plumbing as opposed to salt water getting into the boat. It took us a few days of sponging water and sleuthing to discover the source of the problem, which turned out to be nothing more than a loose hose clamp 9' forward up in the forepeak that was leaking drips down the hose all the way to the cabin! After a good tightening and a couple of days of airing out all was back in order. Would that all boat problems were so easy to fix.

Tom gets a reward after yet another boat repair.

Back in Anaho SCOOTS had invited us over one morning (along with MERIDIAN PASSAGE and IMPULSIVE) for "elevenses". This SCOOTS tradition is an 11:00 a.m. coffee break where Eric roasts green coffee beans in an old popcorn popper and then grinds them by hand. Can you imagine? 

Feeling very civilized with our most excellent espresso.

I gave up coffee years ago but gleefully backslid for this caffeinated treat. They continued the tradition in Haahopu and Tom and I happily snorkeled over for "elevenses" and first rate espresso from our generous hosts.

We could have stayed in Haahopu much longer, and we put off leaving for a few days because it was so pleasant, but we had to return to Taiohae to call New Zealand and order our new sails, so we reluctantly weighed anchor, waved goodbye to SCOOTS, new boat arrival MAJA and the mantas, and left what had become our favorite anchorage.

Sadly leaving Haahopu with SCOOTS and MAJA in the background.

Last sunset in Haahopu was spectacular. To the right of the sun is the 700'  high remote island called Motu Iti, approx. 30 nm distant.

Now we are back in the rather uncomfortable Taiohae anchorage, taking care of final business and waiting for a good weather window before we head south to The Tuamotus. 


Album: TAIOHAE to ANAHO to HAAHOPU and BACK


P.S. We promised SCOOTS (who is still in Haahopu) that we wouldn't tell anyone about our favorite spot, so mum's the word, OK?

P.P.S CINNABAR crewmember and mascot Sharkie is thrilled that The San Jose Sharks have made it into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time ever in 25 years. Go Sharks!!!!

Sharkie wants to know how we plan to get Sharks updates. Don't worry Sharkie, we have our ways.

La Ventana - Kites and Wahoos!!

A number of years ago, in 2000, Tom and I traveled to Israel for the wedding reception of a close family friend. The family invited us to tour through Israel and part of Egypt for some scuba diving and ocean recreation. While at the beach at Eilat we spied some people who were trying a sport we had never seen before. They were on smallish boards, like snowboards, and were being pulled through the water by giant, crescent-shaped kites. They didn't seem to be in great control of their kites; in fact one poor guy was heading straight for Jordan and was soon lost from sight. Hopefully he got rescued or figured out how to tack his kite before hitting land on the other side of the Red Sea! Forget about that sport, it looks ridiculous. 

Skip ahead ten years, the equipment and safety evolves, and there are GoPro videos of sane people enjoying euphoric kiting session in the S. Pacific tradewinds across the warm, idyllic turquoise waters of the Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia). That, combined with running across a few a cruisers who are avid kiters, was enough to overcome the old bias. Since then Tom has been dying to learn this sport. 

Last week, after installing Cinnabar's new batteries, we decided to take a break and visit La Ventana which is renowned for its steady winds, excellent kiteboarding, and bluewater spearfishing tournaments. People go there from all over the world to take kite lessons and to enjoy the warm, flat water and mostly reliable winds.  Palapas Ventana was personally recommended to us by our friend Mike (of Mulege fame). So Tom made the arrangements, we rented a car, and headed down the dusty road to La Ventana, just an hour or so from La Paz.

The welcoming patio at Palapas Ventana

After some initial confusion, trying to check into "the office" when we actually needed to check into the restaurant (silly us), we got ourselves sorted out and were told that Tom's instructor was ready for him. His instructor, "Chente" (Mexican nickname for Vincent) was a strapping young Belgian man with a huge smile and a big bag of ice on his leg. Uh oh, kiteboard injury? No, just too much dancing the night before!

Chente, instructor extraordinaire

We dropped our bags off at our casita and Tom headed down to his lesson while I grabbed a cold drink and settled myself on the patio to watch the antics on the beach below. Tom was down there several hours while Chente gave him very concentrated lessons. I could see that Chente was focused at all times and not at all distracted by everything else going on around him. Tom was very impressed! 

See Tom and kite down on the beach?

The next day I got up early, sat on the porch of our casita, and was amazed at all the wildlife in the area. Out on the water was a huge school of dolphin following a bait ball of fish and accompanied by sea birds squawking overhead. There were so many birds around me, flitting among the cactus and scrub, that it was hard to keep track of them; vivid golden hooded orioles, yellow-breasted chats and dainty goldfinches, frenetic gila woodpeckers punching holes in the cactus, perky red-crowned cardinals, energetic hummingbirds, and morning doves who claimed our foot wash basin for their bird bath. 

Tom's lesson began at 10:00 and would last the entire day. Chente started by taking Tom up the beach and giving him instruction on how to control the kite in the air (NOT easy) while at the same time getting your board set up in the water, getting your feet onto the board, and then preparing to have the powerful kite rip you out of the water. The challenge is to stay balanced on the board while the kite wants to yank you over and slam you face first into the water. Fun stuff. 

Chente makes it look so easy

Tom eventually went into the water and "body-dragged" (key kiting skill) himself from one end of the beach to the other, while Chente rode along on his quad giving instructions to Tom via the radio on his crash helmet. 

Tom's excellent body-dragging technique

The next challenge, like with water skiiing, was to stand up on and ride the board. Chente was very impressed that Tom actually got up a couple of times. This back-and-forth-up-and-down the beach went on all day.

Chente drives Tom back up the beach

Later that afternoon the owner Tim showed up at the beach with his friend Ross (an impressive guy from Boston who skippers expensive oil crew boats down in the Gulf of Mexico) and spearfishing guide Stan with FIVE wahoo, the result of their day of spearfishing off nearby Isla Cerralvo! Tim explained that due to the unseasonably warm water the wahoo were showing up early. 

Tim, Ross and Stan with their wahoo

Tim whipped up two kinds of poke and a plate of sashimi and served them to us up at the restaurant. What a feast!

The weather forecast for the next day was no wind, so instead of kiting we elected to go on our own spearfishing expedition in the hopes of getting some fresh fish for our freezer. We talked Chente into joining us as his last hurrah before heading off to a new 2-month kite instructor job in the Bahamas.

The next morning we headed out early for our expedition. Spearfishing guide Stan, from Bulgaria, was a diving machine. 

Spearfishing guide Stan, the fish should be very worried!

He gave clear instructions on how to lure and shoot the fish (don't look 'em in the eyes!) and with no further ado he got the spearguns ready (7' long bluewater 'rifles') , threw his "flashers" into the water (shiny, sparkly things to attract the wahoo), threw everyone's floats into the water (the floats track the fish once shot), and the divers followed. Ideally the wahoo are attracted to the flashers and can be seen from the surface. Easy, right? Well, not so easy as wahoo are long skinny fish. It's much easier to shoot a fat fish! 

While the divers drifted in the current eagerly scanning the blue abyss for any sign of big gamefish, I happened to land the first fish from the boat, a small bonita caught with rod and reel. Near the divers, elusive wahoo would warily alight into view, in small groups of 2-5 fish, do a quick scan of the scene, and soon continue away on their continual cruise for food. Sometimes the fish were shallow, sometimes deep, and with just moments to prepare, getting a good shot was a challenge. After a couple of near misses and one escape (Stan's "chingon" ("effen great") shot - sure!), we eventually got a wahoo and a pargo before Tom and Chente needed a landlubber break on Isla Cerralvo. While they got their equilibrium in order Stan continued to free dive and when Capitan Yonni and I got back from a few spins trolling for yellowtail Stan had shot a large cabrilla.

It was getting late in the afternoon and we had just enough time for a couple more drifts to look for wahoo. Hopefully we would get at least one more. Just as Capitan Yonni said "El mar está vacía" (the sea is empty), Tom spied a wahoo and missed it, he alerted Chente, who also missed, but luckily Stan was prepared and shot it as it swam by him. After a good fight, and a second spear to prevent escape, Tom was able to land the wahoo... 

Tom terminates the second wahoo, avoiding sharp teeth

...and the day's take was 2 wahoo, 1 cabrilla, 1 pargo, and 1 bonita. 

Chente, Stan and Tom with the day's catch

Stan and Yonni filleted the fish and shared it all around, so we went home with a freezer-load of fresh catch. Hooray!!!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of fresh fish with our new friends and I trundled off to bed, admittedly slightly nervous about leaving Tom with Chente in the kiteboard equipment store adjacent to the restaurant.

All in all we had a great time at Palapas Ventana. Owner Tim does a superb job of having all sorts of activities for his guests, or you can just read, relax and walk on the beach. I'm certain we will be back.

A great time at Palapas Ventana!

More pictures of our fun time in La Ventana are HERE.