Today is a day of anchor movement. In the morning we motor off to the next bay where there is a village with a shop – this alone can be enough to spark off great excitement. It is only about half an hour’s motor away but as we go down past the island, the wind gusts dramatically, one minute at nearly 30 knots and the next back down to thirteen. We pull into the bay but the sea is rough and the wind is howling. As it is low tide when we arrive, the jetty wall where we would have to land the dinghy is about three to four feet above sea level and would make landing difficult although certainly not impossible.
Mike and I weigh it up. We don’t actually really needs any groceries although some fresh stuff would be nice. In the end, we decide to carry on to the next bay which is meant to be lovely.
Another half an hour later we arrive. This bay is very rocky – the land comes down quite sheer to the water and the snorkelling is said to be great. Again though, the sea is too rough for my snorkelling abilities, and while I am putting the anchor down, I notice that there are lots of the strange yellow wasp-like things flying around. We have had these ever since we arrived in the Marquesas. They look really nasty but no one has been stung. I don’t know if that’s luck or whether it’s because they don’t sting, but they are constantly hovering around trying to land on you – and they look purposeful!
I am dubious about staying and voice my concerns to Mike. As the anchorage is no where near as pretty as the one we left, we decide to head back. Up comes the anchor.
On our way, we pull into a tiny little deserted bay. The wind is still howling and there is a huge swell down each side sending waves crashing onto the rocks, but in the middle of the bay the water is quite calm. We put the anchor down and Mike goes for a snorkel.
Photo: Our own private beach
After an hour or so, the anchor comes back up and we trundle around the corner to our original bay, anchor again, then it’s time for a late lunch an an afternoon nap.
It is unbearably hot in the cabin, but there’s not enough shade in the cockpit as the boat keeps swinging around. I manage about an hour’s sleep then have to get up. When Mike appears a bit later on, he declares that he isn’t happy with our anchoring and snorkels over the anchor to check it. It turns out that our anchor has landed in an area of rocks and the chain is wrapped around one, making a graunching noise as we swing. It has to come up. We move to another part of the bay and re-anchor.
Paul comes over to pick up his stuff as he is staying on Thetis for a while to help Klaus, as he has no crew now Patrick has had to be flown to Tahiti. When he has left, we decide to invite all the boats in the anchorage over to Jeannius for a get together. Some people had been discussing going to the beach again tonight but the sea is a bit too rough to land the dinghies safely. We quickly throw ourselves round Jeannius, tidying things away. We’ll probably never find any of it again.
Mike suggests I make a cake (gee, thanks!) as we have nothing in the way of crisps or nuts on board. I specifically don’t buy them as I would just sit and eat the lot. I make some ginger batter and start frying the little pancakes, but have done about 15 when the gas bottle runs out. By the time Mike has fitted the new one, people have started arriving so I have to abandon pancake making, bung the rest of the mix into the breadmaker and hope for the best. The result is another brick but it goes down well. We end up with 20 people on Jeannius, and have another enjoyable evening. It pours with rain at one point so again it was a good job we were not on the beach.
Photos: ‘Beach party’ on Jeannius
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