Ua Pou Leaves a Lasting Impression

Our last island destination in the Marquesas was Ua Pou. It was a short four and a half hour sail from Nuku Hiva aided by a good stiff breeze as we traveled at about 7 knots. We sailed across together with Wizard and Breeze and arrived to find Sea Whisper already here. Sea Whisper is a Canadian boat, Wizard is from the USA and Breeze, although registered in Road Harbour, Bahamas is owned by a Swedish couple.

We had sundowners with Lionel and Barbara on Sea Whisper that evening. They have been sailing for about as long as we have but left from Victoria and spent some time in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Mexico. In fact it seems the West Coast cruising community spend at least one season there before doing the puddle jump.

The island's profile is unique with 12 volcanic cones jutting up into the sky. This side of the island can be quite dry desert like while the valleys on the East coast are more lush and green. The next day we headed to shore to take a walk across the island to Hohoi beach together with the crews of Breeze and Wizard. It was a long way and as is common in the islands, we were given lifts over and back.

The beach is famous for its pierre fleuris, or flower pebble which is a garnet phonolite, a rare volcanic rock found only here on Ua Pou and Brazil. We discovered the entire beach is rocks and pebbles so it was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack particularly as we didn't really know what we were looking for. Ella, the daughter of Sabina and Per on Breeze found the nicest one. The rest of us collected shells and other pretty rocks instead and we all enjoyed the lovely stone beach. On the way back through the village of Hohoi we stopped in at a local craftsman who carves the rocks into necklaces, pestles and turtles and there we could each get a nice souvenir to take home.

That night we had a dinner at the pension together with Breeze and sampled the local fare such as breadfruit gratinee and poisson cru. The owner of the pension gives tours of the island and told us a lot about the Marquesan history. Noticing his many tattoos, we discussed the meaning behind the symbols and designs they use. Tattoos are an old tradition of The South Pacific and the Marquesan tattoos are very intricate in design. And as it turns out our host at the pension is also a tattoo artist.

Well, a bottle of wine later, and Jens was making an appointment for a tattoo for the following day. He decided he would like to have a manta ray, symbol of liberty and a whale, symbol of long travels. The tattooists suggested to incorporate the Marquesan cross and the symbol for good weather into the design. He drew it first on a paper and then on Jens' shoulder in pen before making it permanent. It turned out quite beautiful and is a nice way to remember the wonderful experience we have had in these islands.