Sailing the Worlds Most Remote Islands __ Marquesas French Polynesia.

Okay let's get this show on the road. We're leaving. We're going to Nuka Hiva for internet and to finish our check-in process. So we got business to take care of and we feel like we should just go get it taken care of because they do give us a limited amount of time to make it happen. Those little tiny lights over there that's our anchorage and just to the left is the moon. It's almost full and it's about to come up. It's gonna light the way all the way to Nuka Hiva. That is so cool. Not a bad start to the night. There's us. There's a whole bunch of chatter going on right there on the radar. You can see our friends SV Holiday right there on the AIS and we've got the port engine on and we are motor sailing. She's so grateful. It's amazing how good it makes you feel to see the light just starting to come up. Always such a happy sight. Okay ready? She's up. Theo are you gonna help me manhunt this morning? Yep. Sunrise watch? Yes ma'am. All right 6 a.m the sun is up. Spinnaker is flying finally. It's all good to turn the engine off. We've gone all night long with almost no wind. So we've been motor sailing. We've only had like six to seven knots of wind and we were predicted to have between 10 and 17. So there you go. That's why it's a prediction and not approved. But now we're sailing and it's just in time for me to have coffee and some breakfast and Jason for you to go to bed. A little brie and cherry jam baguette along with some coffee. Very French this morning in French Polynesia. All right Spinnaker's dropped. We are coming into the bay. We are here. The island is gorgeous. Massive rocks. You can tell it doesn't rain on this side. It's supposed to be the driest out of the island which is good. Means we won't get a free decorants but it is busy. I mean 30 40 boats maybe. Wow. Okay this is the biggest town in the Marquesas I believe. Moving to truth. Step one of part three. I don't really know what this is. We're going to meet the guy who's going to help us fill out the extra paperwork to start the process again on our long stay visa. Oh and there's a market in town I think. It's very exciting. First stop veggies. Veggies. Yeah just in case they get sold out. Yeah that's more important than checking in. Definitely. New stuff. Stuff we've never seen before. This is a type of bean that you saute and eat she says. I'm not going to say the name because I'll just butcher it. And then these are kind of like limes she said but she called it citronelle. They look neat though. All bumpy and they have colorful bananas and breadfruit. That one feels ripe. That's not breadfruit. Sour top. Sour top. Sorry. Oh Jason likes spicy peppers. Mangoes. Tumeric. So five there's six. Six. Is that the I think those are no those are only the five. Man all this change is so confusing. I think that one's 25. That's 20 and that would be five. Oh that one says 50. That was 18.50 for what is a bag full of veggies with the lettuce and the fruit and the tomatoes and the weird wonky beans and everything else. So new foods to try which is exciting and fresh local. Okay now we can check in. To the yacht services. I'd be lying to you if I said we weren't overwhelmed. Nuka Hiva is the largest island in Marquesas which is one of the world's most remote archipelagos. We're so far out here this place has its own time zone. There's no blue lagoons or fringing coral reefs just steep volcanic mountains plunging straight into the Then there's the inhabitants of this wild landscape which first came here around 2,000 years ago by canoe. Intimidated doesn't even begin to describe how we feel about trying to capture such a world. Our little sailboats bob in the bay while tattooed locals trot through town on horseback. We're surrounded by ancient tiki gods, sacred sites, and lore of warriors eating their defeated to absorb their powers. Then there are the tales of great European and American explorers who have made their way into history. Needless to say there's a lot to soak in. All right we checked in to the country in Hivaoa. Now we're in Nuka Hiva. We've just started our long stay visa paperwork. Very simple because we have an agent. It costs a little money but simplicity is good. Oh last step I believe we'll be in Tahiti in about one to two months we should have our official documents. So we have to pick up at the High Commissioner's office. It sounds like super important. High Commissioner. I think it's as high up as you get in the French Polynesian Islands. It is almost like a couple levels down from the big dog in France. Bureaucracy. Don't do it honey. Life is worth living. I'm gonna jump. The dinghy situation here is let's just say less than desirable. You go over there and your dinghy gets bashed up by boats coming in on the surge or you come here and it's just a major hike. It's fun. It's an adventure. Yeah yeah yeah. This is why they say don't love your dinghy too much. It's gonna get bashed up. That sounds like an adult movie. Don't love your dinghy too much. Or a country and western song. There's no graceful way to go about this. Go before the surge pulls us back. I'm a little afraid I'm not gonna lie. Nice underwear shot. It's practically bikini bottoms. Made it. That's all that matters. It was graceful. It was graceful. Are you making us legal? Yeah apparently the French like to have their flag flown above the French Polynesian flag so we bought this flag already and we just picked this up from the yacht services guy. 12 bucks so pretty typical. They're probably gonna be upset that it's smaller than the French Polynesian flag but my hands are tied. It's definitely a shark right next to us. Oh no it's a big ass ray. Going on our first excursion here on Hivaola. Nuka Hiva. Nuka Hiva in the town of Tia something that I man these names. Woo okay well anyway we're going on a hike. Gonna go see something. I don't know what yet. There's a trail. Past the post office somewhere. Hopefully we'll find it. It's all I know. I think we're going up there somewhere for a nice view of the bay. I think. Yeah there's sort of a trail here. No mark or anything. Past the post office. Past the hospital. Oh no. I think we might have arrived. Yeah to the trail. Come on trail. Come on trail. Okay this is a trail or a road. Looks for me. Yay okay. Well honey. It's a little hairy in here. Look at that though. Oh okay well great. Hold on that goes down. That's the way down. That's the way we should have come up if we could have found that trail. Oh yeah. And it looks like it gets a little cleaner. Up here. Yep. Good thing I'm itchy. She's allergic to grass. I'm like allergic to everything. She's a good sport chomping through it though. Hey two miles. This looks like somebody's property maybe. Maybe not but there's clearly a fence and somebody's stuff here. So I don't want to I don't know. I don't want to infringe on anybody's territory. Well bonjour. Bonjour. Bonjour. Hello. Okay we're going to assume that this is his private area and that this is the trail that continues. Maybe. I think it's safe to say we're not on a people trail anymore. Might be goat trail. If it's a trail. Come here goat. Come here. Man there's a couple little goats just running down right here and then they just blend it in. All right I think I admit defeat. This trail is getting awfully goaty. And you're part mountain goat so that's a statement. Yeah I think maybe we'll just have our iced coffee here and watch the clouds roll by. It's a nice enough view. No big deal. Just leave me here a widow. I'll find myself another skipper. Yeah fence goes the whole way so that's just as good down there. It's just so funny. Fun part's gonna be getting down. Well apparently we came down somebody's property road. I don't know how we ended up on that but we decided to take a different path back and that's where it led us. So a little trespassing along the way. Hey good hike. Success. It was fun. It was enjoyable. Cheers guys and thanks for watching. If you're curious you'll find additional thoughts photos and tips on our shiny and newly revamped website. If you've never clicked over there's no time like the present.