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Blog: CHASE SAILING ADVENTURE #2 (2008)
Post Title: 4/18/2006 -- Tahuata to Oa Pao
Post: Got up this morning at 0400 to get underway for the 65 mile passage from Hana Tefau bay on Tahuata to Hakahau Bay on Ua Pou (pronounced wa poe). Ua Pou is the place most people think about when they think about French Polynesia...it has the notched ridges to the hills and the huge spires jutting into the sky...pretty spectacular scenery.

As we were leaving Tahuata at 0400 a huge squall descended over the 1000 foot face at the rear of the anchorage and chased us out of the bay...the rains behind us were torrential but we just had showers...talk about timing. The bay we were leaving (Hana Tefau) is renowned for the swirling winds and williwaws but we liked it the best of any place we'd been so far...crystal water, good snorkeling and we had it to ourselves for two days...

Tahuata is separated from Hiva Oa by the Bordelais channel and the winds between the islands can be boisterous...we had between 20 and 25 kts on the starboard quarter for the first two hours and were sailing at a constant 8-10 knots until the sun came up and the wind dissipated...we got a number of squalls that brought the wind back up and enabled us to make a 10 hour passage, arriving at 1400 in very confused and boisterous seas...

Our current anchorage, Hakahau Bay is TINY...as in only about 400 yards across and it is open to the swell except behind a 300 foot breakwater...we literally surfed into the bay, made a sharp left and dropped the hook with about .5 meters under the keel...the good news is that the bay is sand with excellent holding, the bad new is that the copra boat shows up tomorrow at one and we'll have to get out of the bay before they arrive to give them room to tie to the microscopic quay wall...the Gendarme is going to come by to see if we're ok but we saw the Aranui3 at Hapotomi before we left Tahuata and it's a very large ship/boat...at least 300 feet, so we're probably going to beat feet to Nuka Hiva and go to Taiohae...

One nice thing about this bay is that it's open to the N and NE which means we can get out on HF email...we've been in S facing bays with huge sheer faces on three sides for the past ten days...making communication impossible unless we can connect to the NZ stations...

We made a quick trip into town today in search of Hinano and phone cards...Found the Hinano ($10 for two Hinano's and a coke) but the place shuts down at 1500 so couldn't get a phone card for Jack...One interesting thing about the bay is that there is a college here...I think it's more like a trade school but they have a great soccer field and a big field house and several dormitories...Lots of college age kids running around, playing sports and working in a big wood shop...interesting place to go to school!

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