Marquesas and no power

Louis and crew arrived in Hiva Oa on 23rd April with not too much of a problem - 21 day trip , so not too bad. However, one engine wasn't working and the generator starter motor was burned up. I met them in Nuku Hiva a couple of days later, 20 minutes away from the airport in a tiny bay. It was a choice of 2000 francs to get there, or a 2 hour trip 4 wheel bumpy drive to Taioha'e on the other side for 4000 francs. Easy choice. We started looking at the problems we had on board, and ended up finding we had 2 broken alternators and no generator. So, no way of generating power to charge the batteries except the solar panels. Got Keith to order spares to get shipped to us (at a cost of $900 shipping fedex!), but as I write this on 9th May, they still have not arrived due to holdup in customs in Tahiti, so we are about to set sail for Rangiroa, which is a 45 mile long atoll, 575 miles from here on the way to Tahiti. Oh, and one engine we took apart since we discovered water in the cylinders, so it looks like a cracked cylinder wall, or cylinder head or bad gasket, although we cannot figure out what exactly is causing the problem so far, even after taking everythign apart.

During the time we have spent here, we have done a fair bit of walking - at Anaho Bay, over the mountain to the village on the other side so we could buy some food bits..not a lot to choose tho, but on the way back we managed to gather a fair amount of mangoes,coconut, bananas, passion fruit and lemons - all wild. I was reliving my youth by climbing high up a tree to shake down the mangoes..:-). Louis and Francis were up early a couple of mornings to go trawl in the dinghy for tuna, with sme success - 2 mornings they went out and brought back a large tuna each time. Have to live off the land a little, since prices are extortionate here - and you can get some thngs only when the supply boat arrives. To give you an idea, 8 apples cost $20, same for oranges. The one thing that is quite cheap is the french bread, at less than a dollar for a loaf, but oyu have to get it early otherwise they all disappear.

Anyway..will write more when we get to Rangiroa or failing that, when we arrive in Tahiti...hopefully we can get stuff fixed there. Zhenya should be arriving there on 19th May with some spares.