Tahuata

We've been anchored for the past 3 nights at Hana Moe Noa, which Eric Hiscock described as one of the 3 most beautiful anchorages in the South Pacific. There is only one other US boat here, the others are from Austria, England, France, Holland, Italy, and yes, even Luxembourg! There is a nice coral sand beach where cruisers go to watch the sunset (and each sunset has been spectacular so far).

Behind the beach, there is a deserted farm where we can pick coconuts, lemons, and pamplemousse (like a grapefruit, only sweeter).
We snorkel at least twice a day along the convoluted, lava-rock coastline on either side of the bay, accompanied by reef sharks, giant mantas, tunas, dolphins, and myriad small reef fish.

John from s/v Calou and I kayaked a few miles to the Bordelaise Channel, which separates Tahuata and Hiva Oa by only a couple of miles.

Yesterday, a boatload of locals came to hunt wild goats in the hills above the bay, and offered to sell us fresh goat meat when they were finished. We passed.

Today we dinghied a few miles down the coast to Vaitahu, where the first European explorer, the Spaniard Mendana, anchored over 400 years ago (and slaughtered 75 local inhabitants during his brief stay). We visited a beautiful stone and wood church, but the small museum was closed, and we couldn't find the most famous tattoo artist in the Marquesas. We made lunch from fresh baguettes and windfall mangoes, then dinghied back to the boat.