The Cosmos Adventure - News
Sepember 8, 2001 CosmosThe following report from George Hotz was received on September 8, 2001.
8/27/01/: We arrived at Hive Oa on the 21st and were very impressed with the harbor, Taahuku Bay, right next to the town of Atuona. We were led to believe that the walk to town was one mile and it turned out to be more like three miles. We sure needed the exercise but weren't really prepared for it. We made several trips into Atuona during the three days that we were anchored in the bay and sometimes we would get picked up by a local resident. They always seem to know exactly where we wanted to go. We were able to buy the groceries that we needed to replenish what we consumed during the long trip, do laundry, get haircuts, eat pizza, eat cheeseburgers, and drink beer (Hinano Beer; 5% alcohol). A gal by the name of Sabrina, took us on a very professional, inclusive, tour of the island in her S.U.V. This tour included a visit to a ceremonial center with large stone Tikis, sacrificial platforms, tool sharpening stones, and tattoo bowls. The most exciting feature of the tour was Sabrina's driving on this white knuckle, gut wrenching, neck snapping, roller coaster road. During this tour we passed a lot of kava trees. Kava is a product of Hiva Oa as well as bananas, coconut, copra. The trunks of all the kava trees were wrapped with what appeared to be 16 gage, one foot wide, aluminum sheetmetal, to protect them from rat damage. This method works; must be Alcoa aluminum (I just can't get away from it). Another big feature of our visit to Hiva Oa was the spiny lobster feast we had for lunch on the third day. I sent a picture of us "pigging out" on lobster to put on the website at home. I sent some pictures of some of the sites we saw during the tour, also. I took these snapshots with my digital camera, downloaded the camera to Captain Joe's laptop, Captain Joe downloaded his laptop to a floppy disc, and then he loaded the floppy disc on to an Internet Cafe's PC to be emailed to our webmaster. (whew)We have several methods of emailing, but, they charge by the minute, and are very time consuming, therefore, expensive. The most practical method of accessing email, and the Internet, is to visit the Internet Cafes, or , Cyber Cafes, in the harbors that we anchor in. For this reason, we are behind on responding to the Message Board on the website. We don't always find Internet Cafes at these islands, and when we do they occasionally have different keyboard designs and are usually set-up with the native language. We hope that some of you will be patient till we catch up.
After three or four days at Hiva Oa, we did a day sail to the island of Tahuata. At the bay we anchored in, a bunch of kids swam out to the boat and sort of 'hung-out" there. We gave them each a bag of M&M's; made ourselves real popular. This island is more peaceful and quiet. We anchored in two different bays on Tahuata the next two days. We then sailed to another Marquises Island; Ua Pau, the 3rd largest. Ua Pau has a striking appearance with its tall, slender peaks jutting up from the foothills. These last two islands were rocky and dryer than Hiva Oa, but I found them all to be very attractive.
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9/2/01: We arrived at Nuka Hiva, the largest island of the Marquises, on the 31st of August; I think. I have to be careful about the dates of where we are. We have been jumping all around these islands; they are within sight of each other and only a day-sail away. I am also not doing them justice; they are all really beautiful. Porpoises visited us on our way here from Ua Pau. This was the first time we've seen porpoises since leaving home. There must have been a couple of dozen of them, and they really put on a show; dodging the bows of the boat, weaving among each other, leaping into the air.
We had dinner on the 31st at the Kiekahanui Inn; a beautiful resort built by an American couple. It was also an opportunity to pick up a package that Captain Joe had mailed there; software that would enable us to watch movies on Captain Joe's laptop. Today we installed the remote, weatherproof, speakers in the cockpit of the boat. I'am tellin' ya'; things are really pickin' up aboard Cosmos. Today is Sunday and everything is closed here so, after lunch, we took a bike ride around town. This meant taking the bikes ashore in the dinghy and back. We got back to the boat in time for Happy Hour and Tunes in the cockpit, then dinner, and a movie, in Taiohae Bay, in Nuka Hiva, in the French Marquises Islands, in French Polynesia of the South Pacific Ocean.
Just so that you don't think we're totally spoiled, there are always things to be repaired or cleaned. Yesterday I did three splices to the dinghy hand grabs, stitched the zipper and a tear on the mainsail cover, addressed a chafe problem on the main halyard, assisted Captain Joe in repairing a leak in the new dinghy and installing the running lights on it, and worked with Don in trying to locate a lighting problem in the galley. We call this "work", but it just doesn't seem like it. A few months ago, I got up in the dark, dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and drove to work with it as the sun rose in my windshield, and felt miserable. Now, I still get up early, slip on a pair of shorts, make the coffee, and drink the first cup as I watch the sun rise here in this paradise, and feel very fortunate.
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9/5/01: Last night we went back to the Keikahanui Inn, after dinner, to watch a group of native, traditional, dancers do a special performance for some guests at the Inn. The male and female group danced to their own drummers and was enthusiastic, vocal, ferocious, and erotic. This was a good way to spend our last night in the Marquises. We went into town early this morning to pick up a few more souvenirs and then got the boat ready for sea. We decided to leave today and head for the Tuamotu Archipelago, a group of coral atolls 483 miles southwest of us. They will be a lot different from the Marquises and we are looking forward to them.
George
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