The first island we sat foot on after crossing the Pacific Ocean was Fatu Hiva. The island is quite small – about seven miles in north/south direction – and extremely green. When doing landfall in the Galapagos, we could smell the volcanic rocks far out on sea. Here, the breeze was carrying the scents of flowers and fruits. The way up along the west side of the island was long and tiresome as there was no wind and without engine, we had to relay on the little wind we had. But it even got worse when we had to enter the bay. There was either no wind or strong gusts falling down from the mountains. It took us nearly three hours to get to our final position.
When going towards shore for the first time, we took a bottle of rum and exchanged it for a big bag of fruits. Fantastic grapefruits, oranges, lemons and bananas. Finally – after many days without fresh food.
Next day we made friends with Zac from the SY Panache and took a little stroll through the village and into the forest, in search for a waterfall. Unfortunately we couldn’t find it. But we still had a bath in a small river, we encountered.
One day later the SY Red Sky Night arrived and together we made a second try. This time we found the waterfall and had a nice bath in the pool at the foot of it. This island really is one of the most beautiful ones we’ve ever set foot on. No wonder nearly everyone who does the pacific crossing stops here.
After three nights at anchor in the bay of Hanavave, we lifted up the anchor to sail to Hiva Oa, the main island of the Marqueas. Details on that exciting trip will follow in the next post.