Hakahaa (you try saying it!)

We enjoyed several days roaming around the town of Taiohae getting fresh baked baguettes, exchanging some dollars for CFPs and getting a few bits at the hardware store. It was calm enough when we put out the stern anchor, to get the wind generator repaired (it needed to have more foam to keep it from wobbling – thanks Eady-san). We heard some local music Saturday night from the boat – and it lasted well past midnight – but was pleasant.

We did have a few good downpours while in Taiohae which created instant waterfalls off the cliffs. We saw five giant waterfalls after one downpour – and after a few hours – they were gone.

On Sunday morning, after a few squalls passed over, we made our way to the next bay. It's called Hakahaa and near the small village of Taipivai. It is a large bay with three finger inlets – each inlet surrounded by cliffs of varying heights. Along the top of one cliff stands a few stone tikis. Other than the warm water, rays and tikis, it sort of reminds us of Barclay Sound in Canada with its fiord-like inlets and rich green hillsides.

Right now, there is only one other boat here and plenty of room. After being in a harbor amongst 30 or so boats – this is very nice. In Taiohae, it is fun to watch boats come and go – there is lots of turnover. Here, it'll probably be much less entertaining but very peaceful. You can hear lots of beautiful birds singing (when the roosters aren't crowing) and we already saw a school of giant manta rays swim by the boat. So this should be a pleasant stop and so far it is quite calm. Today is warm but with lots of squalls passing by every few hours – good for rain water collecting and to cool the boat down. As long as the squalls don't have 40 knots of wind!

If the water stays flat, we may get Michael up the mast here tomorrow for the big repair. There is also supposedly a nice hike to see some of the old tikis not far from the village so we may do that as well.

We are now waiting for a good weather window to head to the next group of islands – about 600 miles away. But things seem flat for the next few days – so its just the weather waiting game. Until then we'll enjoy the island of Nuku Hiva with its many pretty bays and anchorages.