Our Voyage aboard Favignana

Many boats breeze through the Marquesas, using the mountainous archipelago as a brief layover on their way to islands with clearer waters, better diving and snorkeling, more palm-tree postcard-y scenery. We didn’t want to be those people. But even after spending 3 months in the Marquesas, which seems to be more time than the average cruiser, we still feel like we left a lot of corners unexplored and wish we could have stayed longer. We realize, when you start to travel the distance in your boat, there is no course that does not leave corners unexplored. There is no route that will take you to ALL the islands, all the coves and bays, and even if there was, it wouldn’t leave the proper time to fully experience those places. Cruising for us, and we are just in the beginning of our adventure, means coming to terms with seeing so many new places, but also being ok with passing some places by. And for every place you pass by, you carve more time to spend in the places you do stop. Many different factors come into play when planning a route; there is the ease of getting there, whether the destination lies to windward or is a pleasant hop downwind, whether there exists safe anchorage, welcoming people, whether some other cruiser you just met has talked a place up or down, intriguing photos or travel articles, whether the weather and wind cooperate with the plan, maybe a fun boat you just met is heading that way and you choose your route to keep in good company. For us, all these factors have influenced our decisions so far, and will probably continue to influence them.

Upon arriving in the Marquesas, however, we learned that we were going to have a baby, and that big realization has been the strongest force in our decision making since arriving in French Polynesia. We had thought, before the reality of a future baby set in, that we would explore the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and even maybe make it to the Society islands, before coming back to the Marquesas for cyclone season. We entertained this plan for a long time, even after finding out we were pregnant, as it is possible to give birth in the Marquesas. But if anything went wrong with the birth there, it would have involved a last minute helicopter flight to tahiti- alone (Elliot would not have been allowed to ride with me), and so we decided we would head towards Tahiti for the “summer”/winter in the US/cyclone season/birth. What this meant was that there was a very good chance once we left the Marquesas, we would not be heading back that direction.

While in the Marquesas, we were overwhelmed by the lush greenery, the abundance of fruit, the chorus of roosters in the morning, the tang of windfall mangoes too far gone, katabatic smell of wet earth, fragrant white flowers (Tiare Tahiti/Gardenia taitensis), coconut smoke, sandalwood dust, and the generosity of the people we met there. While not crystal clear, the waters were full of life- manta rays, a rainbow of fish, turtles, spinner dolphins, blacktip reef sharks. Pinnacles of rock towered over many of the anchorages, and although this sometimes shaded our solar panels, we could see fog-enshrouded mountaintops through the hatches while lying in bed. Little squalls could blow through at any time, and we learned the hard way the importance of closing all your hatches before leaving the boat. These rainy episodes kept the weather fresh and our boat clean.

In some of the smaller villages, or anchorages with a couple people living close by, we were generously offered fresh fruit, pamplemousses (big green sweet grapefruits or more accurately pomelos) as big as our head, papaya, starfruit, bananas (giant bunches that we hung from the back of our boat in the water so that we wouldn’t bring ants and other bugs on board), mangoes. I have, for most of my life, been allergic to mangoes- nothing life threatening, but an uncomfortable itchy throat. I had been noticing though, that over time, the reaction had been less intense in the instances where I either ate some on accident, or ate some knowingly in a delicious dish or sauce I couldn’t pass up. So with benadryl in hand, I decided I would take my chances, and have been surprised to discover that only about 1 in 5 mangoes makes me itch, and with those odds, I have been enjoying this once forbidden fruit with gusto! In other fruit news, we decided that superstitions are often silly, and our old rule about not keeping bananas on the boat (supposedly bad luck) was impractical here in this land of abundant bananas. And so Favignana is now a welcoming boat to fruits of all kinds.

Some favorite moments in the Marquesas were gathering for Elliot’s birthday around a bonfire on the beach in Daniel’s Bay (Hakatea Cove), enjoying a boat-made lime cheesecake from Amy on SV Lorien, and the company of other cruisers still fresh from their pacific passages, swapping stories of the past and plans for the future. Night Snorkeling with the manta rays in Hana Moe Noa Bay on Tahuata with SV Genesis, watching the giant creatures swoop gently around us. Visiting Manfred, the german chocolatier/masseuse/helicopter pilot/judo master/womanizer on his fruit/cacao/coffee/cat farm at the top of the mountain in Ua Pou, sampling delicious chocolate, hearing the lewd jokes of an elderly man collected over what sounded like a very interesting lifetime. Snorkeling and dinghy-exploring the little bays of Fatu Hiva. Watching the sunset at Jean-Ives’ humble house near the water in Hanaiapa, eating the most tender fish. Seeing our future baby wiggle around on the ultrasound screen at the midwives office in Nuku Hiva.

Our last month in the Marquesas was less about exploration and more about establishing care for a healthy pregnancy. We had looped our way around most (but not all) of the islands, and made our way back to Taiohae bay in Nuku Hiva, where we first landed after our Pacific passage. We fell into a comfortable routine around midwife appointments and necessary scans and blood draws, planning trips to town around the best times and days to get baguettes, fresh fruit, juicy purple tomatoes, elusive eggs, and the delicious yogurt i developed a strong pregnancy craving for that sold out quickly after the supply ships came in. July was a festive month throughout French Polynesia, a month that includes the Bastille day celebrations, community festivals and friendly competitions (dance, fishing, coconut husking) and is the month where students who have travelled to other islands for their education come back home to their families. Like in many places, Taiohae was bustling, and there were a lot of pop-up eateries, a bouncy house for kids, and dancing and music events. Although we did not take part in all of these things, they livened and brightened the whole energy of the town and our time spent there.

If we are being honest, we have been more than a little distracted during our time in French Polynesia by the evolving reality of the baby growing inside of me and the logistics of making space for another person in this boat and in our lives- not to mention the emotional and physical rollercoaster of the past months. In some ways, it has kept us from doing or seeing things we would have wanted to experience. There were days where we turned around and changed our plans due to the nausea of morning sickness, beautiful bays left unvisited, hikes that felt too strenuous for the low energy of the first trimester, not to mention all the Poisson cru (super delicious local coconut-lime marinated raw fish dish) that we did not get to eat (Well, Elliot got to eat it). In other ways, however, this has been such a special time in our lives, a time brimming with emotion and anticipation and excitement. Those feelings poured over into all of our days spent in the Marquesas, and the memories we have of this place will always be intertwined with this transformational time in our lives.

Marquesas

We made landfall in the Marquesas on May 9th, 2022 and departed on August 10th.

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