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Silkap - engine failure in the Marquesas. Discovering Fatu Hiva and Hiva Oa

August 25, 2024 · 9 min · 2K views · Hiva Oa

What this video covers

After a Pacific crossing from Baja California, Ivo and Dajana anchor Silkap at Baie des Vierges on Fatu Hiva, where a 3.6 km hike leads to a waterfall and lush valleys of grapefruit trees.0:23 The anchorage at Iwaoa sits inside a breakwater that offers little protection from southerly swell.2:27 At Atuona, the capital of Hiva Oa — known for the graves of Jacques Brel and Paul Gauguin — the cargo-cruise vessel Aranui calls every two weeks, carrying 230 passengers and handling freight including frozen goods in refrigerated containers and outbound copra and citrus for Tahiti.3:08 Silkap's engine develops a rattling noise and exhaust air at the air intake; the only boatyard in the Marquesas, MMS at Hiva Oa, tears down the engine to the cylinders and finds a blown head gasket between two cylinders.4:43 A replacement Perkins head gasket is located through a Tahiti listing.5:56 Dajana cleans and paints the dismantled parts during the repair.6:20 The crew then explores the quiet anchorage at Anayapa, the white-sand beach at Antekua, and the tiki site at Kwamao by rental car.7:02 A blown head gasket in a remote archipelago requires locating parts through secondhand listings and relying on the single available yard.

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