Logbook: Fatu Hiva

The image of Fatu Hiva is burned into the collective consciousness of cruisers. It is a dream landfall of many and I’ve seen the image in books and on blogs. I have to say that it is as beautiful in person as it is in images. Certainly it is different. It is smaller than I imagined and although I knew from the guidebooks that there was a small town I hadn’t thought of the town when dreaming. It is even more verdant than the pictures and pictures cannot convey the smell of rain, sea and flowers that permeate the anchorage.

We were there at the change of seasons and rain showers swept over the mountains into the anchorage several times a day rinsing the boat and killing the heat.

We hiked to a waterfall, after finding the trail, past a pack of dogs and through a rainstorm to arrive at the waterfall completely soaked. Awesome. During our hike both of our pairs of flip flops were stolen from our kayak which, considering we escaped Mexico unburgled, only to experience theft in French Polynesia was odd and not awesome. A woman we spoke with said the kids steal and she was surprised our kayak paddle was still there. *sigh*



We spent a few days lounging around in the anchorage absorbing the scenery. The ARC World Rally of boats was in the area and they drifted in and out of the anchorage at their faster pace while we were there.

We went out in the kayak and slowly paddled around during several sunsets.