Sadly we did not go pig hunting because unlike what was described to us they go pig hunting in the morning not the evening and as we only relaxed on the boat the evening we arrived we were unable to make arrangements in the morning. Ozanne and Mary Jo’s son is one of two people that live full time in the bay. Ozanne’s other son came from Atuona to visit with us and spoke very good English. He explained where we could forage all that we want. Yes all that we wanted! We loaded up on avocado, pamplemousse, mango, watercress, breadfruit, and squash. His kindness was astonishing.
We woke at 4:00 AM HST to make our 56 mile journey to Ua Huka only to be delayed by trying to unwrap an anchor chain kink. We have never had this happen to us before, but Sara held the flash light while Wade used a line to raise the anchor that released the weight off the chain and remove the kink. We sailed the majority of the way; although, the forecast suggested the winds would be light. It is nice to be sailing in trade winds again. We trolled three fishing lines and did not catch a fish. One of the lures must have gotten a hit because it was missing when we pulled the lines aboard.
While making lunch our inverter, an electronic unit that converts our power from 12 volts to 110 volts, quit working. After investigating Wade determined the fault came from a switch that turns the power on and off to the inverter. Once we were anchored he jumped the on / off switch so our power to our plugs has been restored.
We have not heard the best reviews of the Vaipaee Bay anchorage because it is a long and narrow bay with steep cliffs along the side. Most boats use two anchors for fear of swinging their boat onto a cliff. Luckily we are sharing the anchorage with only one other boat and have plenty of room to swing on one anchor. We positioned ourselves 50 feet in front of a mooring ball so if we really need to we could tie our stern to the mooring ball and face bow into the swell. The weather is to be predicted out of the east and north east and wrapping around the point of the bay so we are hanging very well on one anchor. We feel confident we can stay on one anchor and hold our position while we visit and explore the town tomorrow.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
Boat Position At Noon: 09 degrees 8.226 minutes south and 139 degrees 27.191 minutes west
