We've arrived!!

What a sight! Land after 26 days at sea. Fatu Hiva crept slowly towards us as the sun scampered further away. We studied the charts and guides at the imminent and mildly daunting prospect of our first night entry. We crept into the bay of virgins in the middle of the night. (it used to be called the bay of penises - another story, another blog - blame the French). Our friends on Spruce and Toodles guiding us in waving flashlights and directing us as to where to anchor. 

We dropped the chain in 60ft of water and dropped back into 90ft. Not my best work, so out came the rode and that went out too. We soon discovered that one swings very differently on rode than when on anchor especially when the winds funnelled down the cliffs at gusts of 25+ knots.

Two tired and happy little sailors curled up together for the first time in almost a month and were soon fast asleep. 

Dawn heralded more than just a new day for us. We had accomplished what was for us one of our greatest challenges to date and were in the most beautiful anchorage we had ever seen.

The enormous othello black volcanic cliffs towering above us; stark contrast to the deep blue water and rich tropical greens that adorned the land. Every few hours the heavens would dust the island with watery sprinkles to keep the land a tropical paradise. Goats peered down at us from the vantage points high above the anchorage. The shore looks unpopulated as the village is tucked around the corner from the bay and gives one the feeling of being in a true unspoilt paradise. 

The smell! After smelling only our own bodies and salt infused air for almost a month, our senses were assaulted by the scent of land. I think this must be something that only sailors can fully appreciate (maybe astronauts too). My mother always used to say that you can smell land well before you can see it. Unfortunately we were upwind of Fatu Hiva so did not smell it first. There was the pungent aromas of citrus and flowers and steamy jungle like earth that wafted out to the boat beckoning us ashore.

Once we had settled in and de-rigged we assembled the dinghy and were keen to head ashore to know once again just what terra firma feels like. Ashore we were greeted by very friendly Marquesan's who bid us good day in French. We spoke to a couple who insisted that we go and look at all the carvers on the island (including their work) to decide on what we wanted. It is truly inspiring to come to a place where the capitalism and materialism had not as yet tainted the people (not that I am in the least bit Marxist). 

Tiki

We took our wobbly little leggies up the few streets in the village and admired beautifully manicured gardens, fruit trees dripping with assorted in-season produce. The citrus smells were that of limes, pamplemousse, green oranges(?!) and the occasional lemon tree to add a dash of yellow to an otherwise green ensemble. Pigs snuffled, horses neighed and chickens clucked to add to the whole ambiance. 

That evening, out came the beers and the gin and tonics to celebrate what for us was an amazing accomplishment. Lets remember that we know enough about sailing and boat ownership to fill a postage stamp, yet we had made it 3100 miles fairly trouble free.

The next day at 5am I was up to fish for some live bait. After pulling a few little guys out and into a bucket Gary (Toodles) and I headed out to the coast to try our luck. Plopping the little fellows in the water near some circling frigate birds, we soon had our first strike and Gary landed a good sized (20lbs) yellowfin. 10 minutes later i had a nibble and landed a slightly smaller tunny. Both quite chuffed with our quarry, we dragged a last now "not so live" bait along behind the dinghy and hit upon a 3rd strike for the morning. Landing my second tunny of the day we bade Neptune farewell and headed for the anchorage just as the clock struck 7am. Great days fishing! The whole anchorage received tuna courtesy of Gary and I. 

Local dance for passing cruise ship guests

We did go out fishing a few more times and landed some decent sized Jacks which we threw back for fear of ciguatera. Gary, ever scornful of the humble bonito has converted me too and we used them as live bait to try catch even bigger prey. Something large took our little bonny once but it did not come close enough to be identified, however we believe it to have been about a 1.5m shark. Anything that manages to stretch stainless steel trace wire like it did must have been large. 

Ashore after haggling in broken "Frenglish" we made a few acquisitions of the ever famous local craft. Fatu Hiva is known for it Tapa (cloth made from the bark of the breadfruit tree). It used to be used for clothing back in the day! We also picked up a Tiki (a symbol of Polynesia) and a rosewood box with a Marquesan symbol carved into it. This cost us a few dollars and some of our precious bottles of wine / rum (Oh and Sally gave up a T shirt for the Tapa).

Tapa

Wanting to stretch our sea legs, we scurried off to see the waterfall early one morning. Timing it so that we would get there near noon when we would be hot and sticky and most appreciative of the water and its temperature. Wading through waist high grasses it became apparent that we were "off the beaten track" (pun intended). A local chuckling away at us gave us a few directions which put us back on course and we soon made it up the muddy slippery route (marked by towers of stones) to a very sleepy waterfall. Although it is 200ft high, it was a mere trickle but the pool below was lovely and cool. Crawfish and fairly large eels have made the water their home. Eels being the less attractive creatures on this earth. The trip back down in slops (sandals, jandals, thongs) was more eventful and had us once again regretting our poor choice in footwear for such outings. 

Fatu Hiva is amazing. We loved every minute there. We played football with the locals one afternoon and there was loads of giggles and camaraderie as yachties and locals mixed to form teams. Sport truly has no language.

Playing football with the locals

We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rest of our buddy boat friends (Waka Irie and Dolphin of Leith). Dolphin went straight to Hiva Oa but Waka arrived a few days after us. We had a grand welcoming party to celebrate their arrival and then a farewell session for Toodles who would be heading off at a faster pace than us and as such we are probably not to see them again until we get to New Zealand.

After a great spell in Fatu Hiva it was finally time to bid it farewell. We upped anchor and sailed for Hiva Oa keen to catch up with Dolphin and their kids. 

The south pacific is really fantastic and we are loving it!