Sail to Ua Huka

We had a lovely farewell dinner with our new friends Zane from Latvia and her husband Chris from England. We spent a lot of time with these fun people including renting the car and driving all over Hiva Oa. The pizza place had these great Tiki statues so we had them take a memento photo for us.

Each Tiki was quite different, not just in the wood they were made in, but their carvings and accouterments as well. This guy has the spear club which is made of a much lighter wood than his body. He has tattoos carved into his body too.

The taller one is made of a much lighter colored wood and has the tattoos painted on the wood. This guy is holding the ceremonial club.

Close up of carving detail on ceremonial club.

The tiki is ripped with 6 pack abs and has several faces painted on him like tattoos. He is also holding shell necklaces which are given to those who leave in hopes that they will someday return.

On November 1^st, 2017 we left in the evening to make the overnight sail to Ua Huka in the Northern Marquesan group. As the sun was rising this lovely rainbow appeared, just like the first time we arrived here! Must be magic!

The far West end of Ua Huka as we approach.

The anchorage we are heading for is called Baie d'Hane, which is located directly behind that sugarloaf rock.

The sun came out to light up the rock and show us exactly where we needed to go.

We can now see buildings and the rock is looking quite impressive. It is called Motu Hane (pronounced mow-too ha-nay)

Baie d'Hane is finally coming into view.

As we pass the rock, it changes shapes and colors.

By the time we are anchored in the bay, it looks like a shark fin!!

Right away from the next bay over comes a 6 man va'a full of women paddlers!

Hane bay and valley.

A German boat named Saga is the only other sailboat anchored here.

We took the dingy out the next morning and cruised around Motu Hane and spotted this arch.

The rock has lots of nooks and cranies which looked like eyes peering down at us.

But really it is a home for many types of sea birds. Here you can see them circling above the rock.

A swell washes over the Southern tip of the rock which is quite jagged.

Looking back as we go around it, we can see why so many birds are nesting here.

As the swell washes out, you can see the salt line on the rocks and the dark area normally covered with water.

When the swell comes in that area is covered again.

Ashore in the village of Hokatu we noticed this poor old derelict double hulled canoe.

It had some pretty neat carvings and was tied together with line. We learned it had been made for the Cultural festival held in Nuku Hiva, the neighboring island, more than a decade ago.

It started raining so we headed back to the boat and got their completely soaked. We got stuck back on the boat in the rain and it was coming down so hard, Motu Hane was trying to disappear.

Ua Huka is known for having many wild horses and this guy showed up on the hill next to us, gleaming in the sunshine the next morning.

Then I noticed two more paroozing the grass in Hane village.