Nuku Hiva, Marquesas

Taiohae Bay. We’ve read about it in such classics as Melville’s Typee, and Jack London’s Voyage of the Snark. Here we are, anchored in this large, crescent bay surrounded by steep, lush mountains. This, or one of the other Marquesan islands, is welcome landfall for many tired sailors hailing from Panama, like ourselves, or Mexico, or even Hawaii.

Nuku Hiva is the hopping off point for Bri and Rob, who plan to make their way across the Pacific by boat-hopping. We’ll miss their willingness to dive in, work, and get dirty (or just extremely salty!), their readiness to play games and laugh over a joke, and their good cooking! (Connor will also miss Bri’s guitar!) We shared a huge experience together as 7 people in a small, pitching vessel out of sight of land for over a month. We wish them well on their journey, wherever it may take them, and look forward to following their stories at their website onthehorizonline.com

Nuku Hiva is also where our new crew member, Chuck Dayton, joins us. Chuck has done a lot of sailing in different parts of the world. He is also a diver and photographer and will be photo-documenting much of our journey forward and themes of climate change in the South Pacific. He is also preparing blog reports for the Minnesota Chapter of the Sierra Club. Chuck was drawn to Llyr’s mission and will be on expedition with us for about 8 weeks until we reach Tonga. During his time aboard Llyr, he will also train to become a Pacific Reef Check Eco Diver.

We’ll spend some time here in Nuku Hiva, exploring this beautiful island, before heading on to the Tuamotus.