Hello to all,Trish here again. I guess the available Internet access in the Marquesas is less than desirable. So I have been asked to continue in posting positions and any other little bits of information that I get from a minute long phone call every now and again. My sister, Jen, may also be joining in on the fun.
I never did post the final destination for the Pacific crossing of Cat's Paw IV so here are a few pics. And just a reminder, to see an enlarged view right click the picture. ( the picture to the right is there current position.)
I guess the first spot they anchored at near Isla Hiva Oa, was in a commercial fishing area so there were sharks and some pollution in the water and it was not very inviting. They are now anchored off of Isla Tahuata. Mom says that the water there is beautiful, very clear and I imagine warm, there is also a gorgeous white sand beach with palm trees for shade to enjoy when they get to shore.
Mom's french is coming in handy, she has even been asked to do some translating. They have also managed to get a 3 month extension so I imagine that by the end of their time in French Polynesia Mom will be jabbering away at the locals.
Here is some information that I got from the Google earth sight.
Tahuata is the smallest of the inhabited Marquesas Islands. It is located 4 km (2.5 mi.) to the south of the western end of Hiva Oa, across the Canal du Bordelais, called Ha‘ava in Marquesan.
Tahuata is approx. 61 km² (23.5 sq. mi.) The highest point on the island is Pahio, rising to an elevation of 1,000 m (3,280 ft.).
The 2002 census population was 682.
The island's chief town is the village of Vaitahu, located on the western shore. Because there is insufficient level ground for even a small runway, the island is served by the airport on Hiva Oa. This serves to give the island a feeling of much greater isolation, despite its proximity to Hiva Oa.
History
Archæological evidence indicates that Tahuata was inhabited by Polynesians as early as 200 CE.
In later pre-European times, the tribes of Tahuata were allied with the tribes from the Nuku province of Hiva Oa, and the island was considered a dependency of that province.
The first European explorers disembarked on Tahuata in 1595, beginning with the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira at Vaitahu, followed by Captain James Cook in 1774 and Admiral Dupetit-Thouars in 1842, who signed the treaty annexing the Marquesas Islands to France.
I have included a Blog entry that Ann emailed today so enjoy!
The full passage.
Blog entry. written by Ann.
The Midnight Paper Towel Caper
As some of you may know Barry is addicted to paper towels. He has a least one in his pocket at all times, more often two or three. He uses them for whatever purpose he feels moved to, primarily endlessly blowing his nose with no results, as far as I can tell. Then he’d stuff the said paper towel back in his pocket and proceeds on with his day. He wears underwear to bed for the sole purpose of stuffing a paper towel in them so he can find them at a moments notice!!! When we go for a walk I am forever picking up a possibly dirty paper towel that has escaped from his pocket. YECCH, I hate the things; they appear under his pillows, in the laundry and in all sorts of other unexpected places.
Well the other day a paper towel proved to be Barry’s undoing. He had just finished his shift eight to midnight. He was on the toilet when the unthinkable happened. (Just let me digress for a moment, on Cat’s-Paw IV as on many cruising boats you do not put the toilet paper in the head for fear of clogging the beast.) A paper towel, unbeknownst to him once again made an escape from his pocket and plunged into the head. Barry being a little tired, it was midnight, it was dark, made a horrible mistake and assumed one of his other crew members had committed the unpardonable error of putting toilet paper in the head (as if we would) and he flushed. WRONG!!!
Poor Barry, the head clogged, what was he going to do, what could he do? Bob and I would be up in the morning clamoring to use the head and if we had to use a bucket it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight. He proceeded to take the head and all the attached hoses apart. Once again all you cruisers out there will understand the difficulties involved in this action. Urine when mixed with sea water creates scale. This sludge attaches itself to the hoses and leaves a small space for all the effluent to flow through. Our hoses had not been cleaned since we got the boat in 2005, so there was a lot of sludge. There was Barry on his knees, in a pitching, rolling boat, in the dark, with his headlamp on, scraping away at the smelly hoses in a vain attempt to find the rogue paper towel. After scraping out ten feet of hose he eventually found it in the very last junction before it would have been flushed into the sea. He spent FOUR hours fixing that head. I felt for him, I really did, but somewhere deep in my heart, I figured that it was payback time for the innumerable used paper towels I had picked up in his wake over the last three years.
