Monday, April 22, 2019

Fatu Hiva

Tessa and I stepped on land, well prepared with a note for the local police agent to explain that we had a starter/solenoid problem, and would like to request a few days for repair before going to Hiva Oa, an official port. Fatu Hiva, Hanavave Bay is not an official port of entry, and you are not supposed to go there first. But it is considered the most scenic of all, upwind of all other islands in the Marquesas, and Tod felt comfortable he could make it work without any resources or help available.

To my surprise, my legs did not wobble at all! I asked some local people where i could find Poa, but he was gone to Papeete in Tahiti, so no need for any awkward explanation what was going on with Bliss. Tessa and I walked up the road, passed a few houses and a tiny store. The surroundings are stunning, so lush, and pinnacle rocks 125 meters high, It's quite spectacular seeing all this green, in particular when you only have seen blue for 25 days. A very friendly local saw us walking by, and gave us 8 large pompelmouse fruits. We never had one before, and we now consider it one of our most favorite fruit. It's a sweeter, very juicy version of a grapefruit, and as big as Tessa's head!

With the solenoid/starter motor fixed, we all went ashore for a highly recommended hike to the waterfalls the next day. Tod did need a few moments to get his footing back. No signs whatsoever for the hike, we just kept walking along the road, taking in the awesome scenery. I had read that the hike would be relatively flat, but we just kept climbing up....mhm something is not right here. Then I spotted the waterfalls from our higher view. So back down the road we went,and we found the dirt road leading us to the falls. Tessa is in her element climbing up and down on rocks, and reached the falls first. How refreshing it was to take a dip under the tall, weeping rocks. Once we spotted a large black eel, our excitement to be in the water diminished, but the outing was well worth it. We all slept well that night, and woke up after sunrise for a change.

Friday we all dressed up to go ashore for a lunch, cooked by a local family. A French couple had invited us to join them, and I had clarified with the local family we could pay with Euros, as we still have no local currency. It was a feast of raw barracuda marinated with fruits, marinated pig, pork, rice, bread fruit, papaya,and pompelmouse juice. Delicious, and we were happy to support the family. When our friends aboard s/v Big Finn arrived in the anchorage at sunset, we got all excited. We had been emailing about our crossings, but it's much more satisfying to commiserate in person. We delayed our plan to leave on Saturday, and stayed another day to let our kids play, and catch up.

I'm writing this from another island Tahuata, an island and anchorage recommended by our friends, where we arrived yesterday afternoon. It's hot and very humid in the Marquesas, something that is hard to stomach at times (we are talking about how we can fit in a skiing trip in New Zealand...). So when there is a nice anchorage where you can just jump off your boat, and snorkel around looking for manta rays, we go for it. We will be doing this a lot in the Tuamotus, the next island group we will visit after the Marquesas. We will be leaving this afternoon to make an overnight passage to Nuku Hiva, where we will do our official check in, and get some fresh food again. Ice cream is on the list of desires, as well as dropping off our garbage and our laundry, even if the latter will likely cost $60 or more for 2 loads ..we are not in Mexico anymore, amigos!
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At 2019-Apr-22 23:00 UTC the position of Bliss was 09°54.41'S 139°06.29'W, with course of 000T (*T) and speed 0.8 knots. Wind speed 4.6 knots from 089T (*T)

3 comments:

  1. Yeah! You guys made it-all the way to south pacific. Sounds like a paradise over there. Water falls, food, water etc. Cannot wait to see the pics and video for your next update. m

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loving the updates! And also cannot wait to see photos.
    - Gwen

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  3. Leuk om jullie op deze manier te volgen.
    Groetjes van je oud klasgenoot, Barbara (Barry)

    ReplyDelete

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