After Hiva Oa, we were ready to get out of a populated working anchorage and into waters where we can play, swim, and catch some “chill” and the island of Tahuata did not disappoint.
The best fun in Hanamoenoa bay on Tahuata was the raft-ups. Everyone grabbed a tasty beverage, jumped in their dinghys, dropped an anchor, tied together and watched the sunset. It was enjoyable to meet and greet neighboring boats.
Once we were comfortable and back into our normal routine after that harrowing journey of crossing the eastern South Pacific, it was time to decide to go further north or south in the Marquesas chain. There is not customs 🛃 check-in on Fatu Hiva, the southern most populated island so we had to miss it on our way up to Hiva Oa. Getting south east is usually a bash against the wind, current and waves so we figured we would just have to skip it on this go-around. Best to save it for the next circumnavigation.
Next go around, we will plan to land in the Marquesas over Easter, because the customs office is closed the Friday before to the Tuesday after Easter. If they aren’t open, you are free to stop at Fatu Hiva before check-in.
So Mark and I were looking at the weather to see when we could move to the northern islands, and we saw a couple days with very little wind, very short waves, and little current so we took that weather window and motor-sailed south to Fatu Hiva.
The name of the island in Marquesan is Fatu Iva (without “h”: [ˈfatu ˈiva]). However, the name was recorded by Europeans as Fatu-Hiva, perhaps under the influence of other Marquesan islands containing the element Hiva (Nuku-Hiva and Hiva-Oa) and also because in French the letter “h” is silent. The spelling Fatu-Hiva has now become official. -wikipedia
We dropped anchor in Hana Vave, which is the name of the northernmost bay on the west coast of Fatu Hiva in French Polynesia. The bay is sometimes called the Bay of Virgins, a translation of the French name Baie des Vierges.
The French name originally given to the bay was Baie des Verges (Bay of Penises), because of the phallus-shaped basalt spires that rise on either side of its entrance.
Hana Vave is also the name of a small village located at the head of the bay, which in 2020 had an estimated population of 346.
And our activity here this anchorage was the well-traveled Waterfall Hike.
Fatu Hiva was so much fun. The anchorage was beautiful, the other yachts were friends, the weather was stellar. I was super bummed that it rained, but the rain created a beautiful waterfall and the water was so plentiful that it washed all the ick water out and we swam in the cool, fresh pond at the base of the waterfall. Not many opportunities to swim in fresh water.
As all good things come to an end, so must our time in this anchorage. Friends were coming into Hiva Oa, completing their Pacific Crossing and we needed to stock up before heading to the Tuomotus, so we caught a breeze and sailed back to Hiva Oa for the night. Ate a fabulous tuna dinner and took off to return to Tahuata.
And what do you think we found there? MORE ALASKANS! They let us know of a local boar roast the next day, so we wrote to some other friends, who wrote to some other friends, and friends of friends, knew friends that were going, so we sailed down a couple bays to the Hapatoni anchorage for a dinner, which was actually a lunch.
We arrived just in time to see them pull the boar meat from the ground.
We were told to bring tupperware, so we thought they were giving it us to take home. Instead, from Marquesan to French to English was “bring your own plates and cutlery”. Fortunately, I carry silverware in my backpack (a COVID carry-through) so we ate out of our storage containers; no worries!
The hosting family entertained us through the rain for over an hour with their impromptu concert. We spent our time listening, talking with fellow cruisers, and learning to pick fresh mangos from their fruit-bearing trees.
We said our farewells to s/v Song of the Seas as they prepare their boat for sale and “until we meet again downwind” to s/v Sauvage. We came back to the boat for one more sleep until the three day sail to the next archipelago, the Tuomotus.
Sailing Bear and Seal 
Leave a comment