Marquesas

  Sharry and I are humbled by being awarded the CCA Far Horizons Award for 2021/22 To celebrate this we’ve republished one of our favorite adventures and the changes it brought to the islands. We hope to visit this paradise again now COVID  finally appears to be coming to an end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starr arrived in the Marquesas at the end of March 2001. In early April we pulled into Ua Pou and dropped the hook in Hakahau. When we anchored,...

24 February, 2022 /

MV STARR in HakahauMay 5 - We leave Tahiti at 0930 with Mike and Colleen as our crew. This is their first ocean passage.May 6 - We stop at Rangiroa. Mike and Colleen dive with my French dive instructor, Sebastian. We leave the next morning for Ua Pou.May 10 - We arrived in Hakahau on Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands and just miss the big Hoe (canoe race). The Party is over and the...

06 June, 2002 /

MV ASTERIA in RangiroaDelivery of the OC6 to Hakahau, Ua Pou in The Marquesas Islands The following is an excerpt from an email that we sent to our many friends who have been following the progress of our attempts to secure a new OC 6 for the Canoe Club in Hakahau, Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands:Ratero's Dream: Canoes for Ua Pou in the Marquesas IslandsSince I last wrote to you, we have made significant...

08 February, 2002 /

Starr in the crowded harbor oft AtuonaWe leave Tuhuata at 1030 and arrive in the tiny, crowded harbor of Atuona on Hiva Oa at 1400. Most boats traveling from Mexico, Panama or the Galapagos Islands make their initial landing in Atuona. There are thirty other boats in the tiny harbor behind the breakwater and we are really happy that we made our intial landfall in Taiohae on Nuka Hiva. We can barely squeeze a space...

05 June, 2001 /

Vollyball in Vaitahu, TahuataIt pours overnight but is beautiful again in the morning. This is how the weather arranges itself in Paradise. We finish our business in Hakahau in the morning: I print photos and Chuck and Carol pick up some carvings from Alfred Hatuuki. Tui delivers our warclub at 1000. We learn that he got up at 0200 in order to finish it for us. We deliver chocolate chip cookies to the boys at...

31 May, 2001 /

Starr at Hakahau(Back to our favorite place in the Marquesas and the story continues and gets better: two more Kaikais and another man with a dream. Also Don becomes "an angel" according to Pere Joseph.)When we arrived at Hakahau, we are given a hard time by another boat in the small anchorage behind the breakwater. A guy on an sailboat from England must have been having a "bad hair day" because he tells us that...

28 May, 2001 /

There are many more boats at Taiohae on our returnWe flew back to Nuku Hiva, leaving Seattle on Wednesday morning, 23 May. Our good friends Chuck and Carol Worst returned with us. We also bring back with us a new exhaust pipe for Michael and Joanne Grey on destiny. It's a long trip back: five and a half hours from Seattle to Hawaii; a five and a half hour layover in Honolulu; a five and...

26 May, 2001 /

View of TaiohaeIn the two hour taxi ride to the airport (18km), Don and I visited with Chris Caldicott, a photo journalist from London. He writes about luxury hotels and other travel experiences, but his favorite work is to travel the world and write about food. He and his wife own a restaurant in London, the World Food Cafe, which is a reflection of this love for food and travel. He was flying home to...

03 May, 2001 /

View of TaiohaeWe head back to Taiohae, arriving before noon. When Don goes ashore to sign in with the Gendarmerie, he meets Seattle Yacht Club members, Michael and Joanne Grey on Destiny and invites them to dinner. We enjoy getting to know them.The next Morning we go, first to the Catholic Church at 0800, and then to the Protestant Church at 0930. The Protestant church has a very small congregation and they are very happy...

30 April, 2001 /

Starr at HakahauWe leave Ua Huka at 0730 and arrive back in our favorite harbor, on our favorite island in the Marquesas by 1400. We had planned to be back by Friday, anyway, in order to go to the Kaikai for Olivier and Jezebel, so we are just a couple of days earlier than we planned. (Flexibility is the key to enjoying long-distance cruising). When we arrive the 300' Aranui (supply freighter, copra boat and...

28 April, 2001 /