The Bay of Virgins, The island of Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia – An amazing place to make land fall

A WARM WELCOME BY GENEROUS PEOPLE

What a great place to make land fall after crossing the Pacific. Although the bay here is becoming more and more popular with cruisers, it still has the warm and welcoming feel of a small village. When you come ashore you find rows of well kept homes surrounded by beautiful gardens of fruit trees and flowers. There is a little church, school, post office, community centre and playing field. Surrounded by steep volcanic cliffs the village is set in the fertile valley of the volcanic crater.

There are only a few streets in the town. As you walk along people greet you with friendly smiles and those with extra fruit invite you over and offer you some. They seem to grow very few vegetables, but the trees are dripping in fruit. Oranges, limes, papaya, star fruit, guava, soursop, banana, plantation, bread fruit and lots and lots of sweet grapefruit. Lemon grass and Thai basil grow on the garden boarders. Although they give these gifts freely, it is nice to bring back some gifts from the boat as exchange. The women love any toiletries, make up or hair pieces. The men are after bullets, snorkeling or fishing gear. The children love toys, plastic wrist bands and footballs. Having a few gifts aboard is handy if you arrive here before converting any money to the local currency. *More on that at the end.

THINGS TO SEE AND DO

FOOT BALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. We arrived in French Polynesia just in time to catch the end of the football (soccor) World Championships. England was in the ‘finals’ and we were lucky enough to be invited by the town official, POE, to watch the games at his home. Unfortunately England got knocked out in the semi-finals. Poe’s wife was lovely enough to cooked a big breakfast meal for the early morning final between France and Croatia.

BASTILLE DAY. We arrived at a very exciting time for the village. The build up to Bastille Day celebrations were underway including a big dance competition. We were invited each evening to watch the practice sessions and alternated between the two groups. The culmination was a grand evening of celebration with displays of incredible music and dancing talent. The costumes, made of local vegetation and flowers must have taken days to create.

WATERFALL HIKE. Between boat repairs the humans found the time to do the wonderful waterfall hike here. It takes about an hour to hike through to the back of the valley and up the slope a bit. A challenge for my human’s wobbly legs, after being at sea for 5 weeks, but well worth it. Having a swim in a deep fresh water pool below a tall gentle cascade, after all that salt water, was worth the walk. The papamouse (grapefruit) and bananas they were given along the way keep them fortified.

WHAT NEXT?

The human’s really need to check us into the country. To do so we will have to sail to one of the bigger islands and visit a ‘Port of Entry’ where customs and immigrations officials can be found to complete the paperwork. Although the local villagers have keep the human’s ‘in fruit’, and we caught lots of fish, all the other stores are getting low after so long. Doing a ‘bit of a’ stock up would help with the menu planning.
The closest Port of Entry is the town of Atunona on the island of Hiva Oa. About 45nm sail north. If the human’s anchor up in Takauku Bay (Bay of the Treators) the town is about a half hour walk from there. They have banks, grocery stores and vegetable vendors in town.

The humans were invited to a traditional dinner at Poe’s house. Cevice, chicken and pork were on the menu. It was a great chance to sample the local cuisine in a family atmosphere and get to know some of the other cruisers in the anchorage. They had planned to head out the next day for Hiva Oa, but the silly humans caught a flu bug off a former neightbouring boat a few days earlier, and they were both ‘down for the count’. Back to being ‘human’ again, they will probably head out tomorrow and sail north.

A FEW POINTERS FOR CRUISERS
The anchorage here slopes gradually, but there is plenty of room for vessels, with no obstructions if you have to come in at night. You are expected to check in with the village official, Poe. He has just been given a VHF portable radio and monitors channel 16 when at home. The maximum visit is 5 days for vessels who have not checked into the country yet. There is filtered and treated water available for free at the dock, but vessels must retain their rubbish aboard. There are no banks here, but there is one at the next village, a short distance away at Omoa Bay, to exchange money and visit the museum. You can take your boat the short distance, a water taxi or Poe can take you for a land tour. The villagers are excellent wood and bone carvers, and you may wish to purchase some of there crafts. There is a small store that is stocked by a supply freighter every 3 weeks and the locals are happy to host traditional dinners in their homes. Phone internet credit can be purchased from the local post office, if you have currency. It is very, very slow and a bit expensive. SSB reception is ‘hit or miss’ in the steep valley anchorage. If you require fish, speak to the local fisherman. If you require meat, have a word with the local hunters that head out regularly with their packs of dogs to round up a goat, wild boar or a cow that graze freely on the islands slopes.