Sailing to the Far Horizon by Pamela Sisman Bitterman

Author:Pamela Sisman Bitterman [Pamela Sisman Bitterman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

JOURNAL ENTRY

Rangiroa

Tuamotu Archipelago

French Polynesia

We set sail for Nuku Hiva, the third and final island that we hope to visit in this group. As we scud away, I stare back at the Fatu Hiva skyline as it sinks beneath the ocean’s surface. I know in my heart that I will never again encounter so wild, fascinating, and unspoiled a place or a people. The memory of my time here will stand alone, stellar in my life’s experience.

Nuku Hiva is the center of the northern Marquesas group. While here we plan to see to the intermittent mundane personal chores that we usually can do nothing about. We have international phone calls to make, doctors to see, mail to send and collect. The passage is again a short one, and we are soon setting the Sofia’s trusty hook in the bustling Taiohae Bay, which fronts the island’s main village. Our first stop ashore is Maurice’s shop. Evan knows it well. He spent a good bit of time here during his travels aboard the tall ship Regina Maris some years earlier and has stayed in touch with the proprietor ever since. Old Maurice runs a little general store that is equipped with a phone and mail drop. He is the best local service for cheap cold beer, bulk wine, general information, and good cheer. Maurice’s has been here forever, serving as the unofficial yacht club of the Marquesas. He has a guest book older than I am. Within its pages is the history of hundreds of boats recorded in pictures, quotes, quips, and newspaper articles that tell the stories of a thousand lives passing through and passing away. The Sofia is commemorated in it twice, once during her first circumnavigation and since then in a grim litany of her sinking. In our travels we’ve run into sailors who have received and subsequently passed along this dreadful news, and we are quick and furious to dispel the rumor. Maurice’s illustrative and venerable logbook is the unwitting culprit in disseminating much of this misinformation. But it isn’t his fault. He tried to convince passers-by that it isn’t—couldn’t be—true, but he himself had begun to be worn down by the adamant and incessant repetition of the tale.

Needless to say, he is overjoyed to see us. We clear up the misunderstanding right and proper. Evan inserts into the book photographs of the Sofia and personal declarations by several members of the crew. He closes with our own ship’s seal, stamped, dated, and signed. Maurice is proud to act as notary, as he has done in his neck of the Pacific for dozens of years past, and will, God willing, for many more years to come.

Nuku Hiva is far less dramatic than its island neighbors in terms of gorgeous scenery, but it offers other, less ethereal attractions. It has a local hotel run by a Yankee couple, Frank and Rose. They serve up a twiceweekly all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner that is descended upon by the entire flock of yachties in the harbor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.