Pacific Odyssey - Leg 2

The boat is very quiet. We are tied to the dock on the island of Nuka Hiva. We left late last night and motored through the night. In the morning we raised the 2 course squaresails as well as the main. We sailed along gracefully and quietly at 7.5 knts, wonderful. Everyone is quite tired from all the excitement of the past 2 days, so it felt very good to sleep, chat, or read a book on deck in these conditions; we were all feeling pretty mellow. Nearly everyone went ashore and most are still not home. We can see a string of lights close to the edge of the bay which is the village; it´s a small
place, similar to Hiva Oa. The day was very hot but the evening is very soft with a cool, refreshing breeze. We enjoyed supper with only 10 of us today; a nice change, on deck, talking and eating with just a few of us. Yesterday we left Tahuata early and moved up the island to another anchorage so everyone could spend the morning snorkelling and scuba diving. It was the first time for most of the trainees and a good chance to try out new gear. The highlights were 2 very large manta rays that swam within 2-4 ft of some of the trainees and crew. Jordan, Tavish, Jose, Antony and Skipper put on scuba gear and tried out the video camera in its´ underwater housing. The results were good and you should see some of the footage on the SALTS website next leg. We returned to Hiva Oa in time for a short rest, a visit to the gendarmes to pick up the passports and some showers under the hose,
before the family picked us up at 1730 in their vehicles. We brought along our marquesian drum, the djembe, 2 guitars, a violin and 2 mandolins. We also had gifts for the dancers, the drummers, and the family members that allowed the evening to happen. The fun started immediately with the ´chef,´ Patrice introducing himself and making warrior noises from deep back in his throat. He was the main warrior in the dances 3 years ago. He saw our drum and tried it out, doing a duet with Jordan and listening to little Noah drum on his own, standing on someone´s guitar case so he could reach. We piled into the cars and were taken 10 minutes to the outskirts of the village.  Before we even got there we could hear drumming, loud drumming. It was mesmerizing. We entered into the cleared area, with drummers ahead of us, drumming intently, warriors covered in grass leggings, arm bands of grass, grass skirts, and crowns on their heads also made of grass and basil. They were tatooed and wore collars of carved bone. They looked wonderful, warlike and powerful, they stood along
the side where we passed by. There were fire torches providing the light. The women were handing each of our women a flower, the
tiare, for behind our ear, and each of our men a sprig of basil, for behind their ears. They also hung a garland made of grass and flowers around our neck. It was as if we were hypnotized, walking oh so slowly, taking everything in, being led somehow to where they wanted us. They introduced themselves, welcomed us, and thanked us for coming and proceeded to perform 5 dances. The dances were all stories linked to Marquesian culture and myth. The warriors were amazing, so fierce; their dance was intensely physical and demanding. The women moved exquisitely; simply lovely to watch, so smooth, so lithe, so elegant and feminine. The music and the rhythm came from the drummers on 5 large and 2 small traditional drums, along with the dancers who sang in chanting voices, in marquesian. We were definitely entranced throughout the entire show. Afterwards they took our girls and our guys and led them in a dance, encouraging the guys to grunt and jump, and the women to move their hips and arms. Very fun, but very difficult. They make it look very easy. We were then invited to enter the covered area where the grandmother of the ´chef´´ has her restaurant and where they had prepared an incredible spread of fruit, cake, juice, and sandwiches, all very delicious. We had a chance to mingle and chat with each other. Jose, Tavish, Jeremy and Noah joined the marquesian fellows in jamming on the drums. It was amazing; they really pound their drums, the sound of about 9 or 10 of them playing together was like nothing I´ve heard before. They asked if we would do a show for them so Tav and Jose did a drum solo followed by all of us singing together songs that we know from Mug Up, using every instrument we brought. It sounded super; this group loves to sing, so we´ve had lots of practice and the lower roof made the group sound very powerful. With ´Twist and Shout,´ every trainee ran out and grabbed one of the marquesians, took them to the cleared dance floor and danced with them, all the while singing. They loved it; they loved being sung to and joining in. Elske played a piece from the ´Godfather´ on her violin, with one by one different instruments joining in. They changed the tempo and played the same tune in different styles, blues, jazz folk, etc. Great fun. We brought soccer balls and jerseys for the kids. These were donated by the Prospect Lake Soccer Club. The kids absolutely loved them and there were enough kids to make up a complete blue and yellow team; the parents were very thankful. We were able to express how thrilled we were to be there, how thankful we were that their complete extended family had come together to welcome us to the Marquesas in this way. They live together on the property with the matriarch of the family, their very friendly grandmother. The ´chef,´ Patrice, said over and over to me how happy he was to have the 2 groups of young people together. He is very proud to be Marquesian; it is very
important to him to share his culture and to welcome people to Hiva Oa. He played a wooden nose flute for us and presented it to Skipper. Later in the evening, Skipper approached Patrice and asked for more detailed instructions on how the flute was to be played. He has already been practicing; it has a beautiful, soft sound. Some of the younger people started jamming with the instruments and the female dancers started dancing. They were joined by others trying to learn and soon couples were dancing; the marquesian fellows loved to dance with our girls and I don´t think the girls minded too much either. I can imagine that in such a small place, with the few visitors being mostly older people from abroad, the chance to be amongst 30 extra young people all at once, is quite something. The fun lasted all the way to the dock, with drumming and singing and the guitar being played all the way down the road with the groups mixing in the back of the Land Rover Defenders (open-backed, long wheel-base, jeep-like trucks, with an overhead canopy that can be rolled up for air). At the dock the music and the chatting continued; despite the language barrier, somehow information was exchanged, largely through music and dancing, but in other ways as well, and a general feeling of contentedness and well-being surrounded us. It was good, very
good. There will be more details to hear from your trainees when they
return home, and the photos and video wil round it all out. This is
long once more, and there is so much more to say. Until tomorrow,
good night, Bonice.