Hakahau bay is very busy with the Arc, a sailing group from San Diego, arriving in Marquesas. Each day two boats arrive and sometimes a boat will leave, which makes for a tight anchorage. We had heard of a waterfall hike in Hakahetau, the village to the west, so we pulled up anchor to go check it out. On the way, we caught a 40 lbs Wahoo, again with the sweet hand-line Josh gave us. Once we were anchored we stopped to eat a Wahoo lunch at Hakahetau.
The dinghy landing in Hakahetau is protected by a break wall, but a bit sketchy. We didn’t need a stern anchor, but we were concerned about our dinghy smashing against spikes that stick out from the concert and rolling from the incoming swell. As we walked up to the wharf landing there was an information billboard that showed a picture of a very small waterfall and the hike to the waterfall looked much further than the 20 minutes that had been explained to us, so we abandoned the hike and sailed to Hakaotu to meet Josh.
Hakaotu normally is calm but with the southerly swell, the boat is rolling. We went octopus hunting again with Josh as a farewell because he is headed for the Tuamotus and New Zealand. We have one last stop before our two-week journey back to Hawaii. We both feel we’ll see Josh again as he is the first cruiser we have met that we actually cruised with for an extended period of time and we are also the only people he has buddy sailed with to multiple anchorages.
“To be a sailor, is to always say good-bye” ~ Unknown
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
Hakaotu Bay Ua Pou Marquesas Anchor Coordinates: 9° 23.834′ S, 140° 07.758′ W
