Lyn's Log, 19th May 2009
Hiva Oa, Marquesa Islands

Tahuata, Marquesas
S9º54', W139º06'
23,920 miles.

We made landfall in the Marquesas at Atuona, the main town on the island of Hiva Oa. The bay was crowded with yachts. Most people that we spoke to had come from the Galapagos Islands taking somewhere between twenty and thirty days. One boat had come directly from San Diego, like us taking 40 days. Everyone wanted to swap books and talk.

There was a concrete landing stage not far from a petrol station, also a shop, at the end of a road. By the landing stage there was a tap and a tiled bench where laundry could be done by hand. Quite the best facilities we found anywhere in the Marquesas! The water was said to be not drinkable but probably all right if filtered, and boiled. We found that it was piped from a long way up the stream. So that was the laundry taken care of and one tank refilled with water.

About 2½ miles along the road, around a headland and behind a beach, was the village where we checked into the French Polynesians at the Gendarmerie, got some local currency from the ATM at the bank, and bought a few basic supplies from the shops. Being French Polynesia, the bread was of course baguettes, which do not keep very well. Packs of frozen burger buns were expensive, as was everything else. The locals probably grow their own fresh produce and fruit trees were everywhere. If a local happened to be selling fresh fruit or vegetables from a truck, we would still be charged about twice the English price. There was no haggling over the price, take it or leave it. The locals didn't seem to care whether they sold anything or not. How different from other countries where people would jump at the chance to make some money out of having so many visitors with varied needs at anchor in the bay.

After several days we sailed about ten miles to Hane Moe Noa Bay on the island of Tahuata, close to Hiva Oa (pic above). This was a beautiful bay headed by a golden beach backed by coconut palms that hid just one building. We were able to swim in the sea though it was only sometimes clear enough to see the anchor on the bottom. When we retrieved our stern anchor in Atuona, it came up with the stock bent at ninety degrees. So at Hane Moe Noa we took it onto the beach where we sort of straightened it by wedging it under some rocks and tugging. It has a bit of an ‘S’ bend in it now. We had a nice experience here when a local boat came by asking if we wanted any fruit. There was no price, but we were to barter. For a T-shirt with a dragon on, bought for $2 in San Francisco's China Town, we received three lovely mangoes and two large oranges.