March – April, 2011
Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas
Fatu Hiva
We began our adventures in Atuona on the island of Hiva Oa. We spent a week here enjoying the terra firma and all the great hikes. We visited an ancient site at Taaoa, the museum and the ancient cemetery.
We also hiked to see some ancient petroglyphs, everything was so green and lush. After Mexico it is a true feast for the senses! We have stopped counting the number of shades of greens.
The people on Atuona were so friendly and welcoming that we found ourselves getting more and more excited about our time in the Marquesas. The 24 day passage is long forgotten as we rush to explore these fantastic islands.
We left Atuona early in the morning and enjoyed a “boisterous sail” as Charlie called it, down to Hanavave on Fatu Hiva. Double reefed main and reefed Genoa we flew along at 6 knots. The Tartan does point well so had no trouble keeping our course, our Tartan does like to sail!
March 18th, 2011 - Hanavave, Fatu Hiva
What a stunning anchorage to enter!! Volcanic spires encircle the small bay. Behind our mist covered green mountains rising up into the clouds. It was difficult to stop taking pictures and prepare to anchor!
We enjoyed a nice hike up to the waterfall. Again we were astonished by the lush greens of the forest. The town itself is so tidy and colourful. Flowers everywhere, both planted and it pots.
The wind howled through the anchorage up to 45 knots but no seas and the anchor was well set. It rained as well with moments of brilliant sunshine between downpours. The decks have never been so clean!
The locals greet the supply/tourist ship Aranui with a colourful native dance and music. It was beautiful to watch and very professional. The villages all dance, even the children. In fact the local schools were having a big competition in the next week to see who would go to Tahiti to compete there! People who put dance and music so high on their list of priorities have a very good attitude towards life I think.
We decided to do the 17 km hike to the next village and hitch a ride back. Charlie set out a second anchor and off we went. It seemed we went up hill for most of the 17 kilometres! The road wound up a ridge and onto a small plateau which wound its way along the coast. Stunning views all around and windy. We now understood why there were such gusts in the anchorage as it funnelled down through the valleys. We arrived Omoa after 4 hours. We met a local Marquesean we had previously met in Atuona. We enjoyed lunch at his place and later purchased some carvings and tapas.
When it was time to catch our ride back our guy was not there so we caught a ride with some other fishermen. They pointed out some cliff graves and sacred caves as we motored back to our boat. It is a fascinating culture, filled with myths and legends which have been passed down through generations. They have struck us as a very proud people, dedicated to their culture and way of life. Looking at their history it hasn’t always been this way but they have worked hard to recover their Marquesan identity and still live as a French territory.
March 22, 2011 - Vaitahu, Tahuata
We were surprised leaving the island of Fatu hiva to find ourselves facing a headwind. The wind must wrap around the island. We motorsailed to Tahuata and unfortunately a gust caught the Genoa and blew out the stitching on the the webbing at the top. Luckily it was only the stitching that let go! We quickly hoisted the smaller sail on the solent stay ( it was nice to have such a quick and easy option). We anchored off the little town of Vaitahu and found to our surprise … A BAKERY!! Oh yummy French bread. The owners had brought the oven over from France (it was Italian made – how international)
We also discovered they have a super little museum, you ask at the Mairie next door and they open it up. We hiked up into the valley to see the ancient village site – they are really all over the islands, you just walk into the forest and there is a stone house platform!
It was time to take a break from the roly anchorages and check out the so called “calm” anchorage of Hana moe noa on the island of Tahuata.
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