Hiva Oa

Hiva Oa

The first landfall we made in the Pacific after leaving Panama was at Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. 

We approached the island as it was getting light and made our way to Tahauku Bay anchorage, close to the town of Atuona. Space is tight behind the protection of the breakwater, so boats use a stern anchor as well as the main anchor, to minimise swinging. We have a kedge anchor with 10 metres of chain and 30 metres of rode, and this is the first time we were to use it. To drop the stern anchor, we first had to set the main anchor and then launch the rib, place the stern anchor, chain and rode in it. Steve then drove approximately 15 metres behind the boat and deployed the anchor. We had also attached a trip line to it with a small fender so we could see where it had dropped. Steve brought the end of the rode to me on the boat and I fed it through the fairlead, through a block and onto the genoa winch. I then winched it in until the rode was tight and we were satisfied it had set properly. 

After a short while, we were happy we weren't dragging and we set off to walk into the town of Atuona to clear into the country with the Gendarmerie. The town was about an hour's walk away. The coast around the anchorage is composed of steep cliffs, so it was a hilly walk. After 5 weeks at sea, it felt very strange to use our legs again. Both of us had expected to feel very wobbly but surprisingly, this wasn't the case. 

The clearing in process was very straightforward, and the Customs Agent was very chatty and very pleased to be able to practice his English. On leaving the Gendarmerie, we had to post a copy of our customs documents to Papeete in Tahiti, which is the main administrative site for French Polynesia. After purchasing a few items in the small supermarket, we headed back to the boat. Once back on Azzy, we were both exhausted and our legs and hips ached after being used for the first time in over a month. We had an early night and slept for a solid 12 hours.

The following day we walked up a dirt track to a stunning lookout point over the bay. Here is where the local Yacht Services Agent, Sandra is based. Her office is in a metal container perched near the edge of the cliff, and surrounding it is a covered decked area with tables and chairs. The Agent offers free WIFI for the yachties so it is a popular spot. The password is changed every day at 8.30am so once you are set up, you can access the WIFI for 24 hours. As you can imagine, with so many people all logged on at the same time, the speed is very slow. However, we were able to contact family and friends to let them know we had arrived safely. The quality of the calls weren't too bad.

Our next task was to clean Azzy's hull. All around the waterline, especially at the rear, she was covered in hundreds of goose barnacles. Lynne donned the snorkel mask and set about scraping these off, whilst Steve got in the rib and got all the slime off that had built up above the waterline. This wasn't an easy task as the water clarity was very poor, and there was quite a surge coming into the anchorage. However, we did a decent enough job and will revisit it once we are in an anchorage with clearer water. 

Over the next few days, we ticked a few jobs off our list. We got some laundry done, topped up our empty diesel jerry cans and topped up on propane in the local boatyard. We also did a little sightseeing. Atuona is famous for once having been the home of the French artist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) and Belgian singer Jacques Brel (1929-1978). Both are buried in the local cemetery and there are museums dedicated to each one. 

Paul Gauguin spent the early 1890's in Tahiti where he concentrated on capturing images of daily life. He sailed back to France in 1893, but short of any recognition, he set off again to French Polynesia. This visit was marked by illness and after a suicide attempt, he took refuge in Hiva Oa, where he spent the rest of his life.

It is somewhat ironic that Paul Gauguin lived much of his life in poverty and in 2015, one of his paintings sold for just under 300 million dollars!

In 1973 Jacques Brel, in an attempt to escape media pressure, set off to sail around the world on his yacht Askoy, with his companion, Madly, who was from Guadeloupe. In November 1975, they arrived in Atuona and a year later set up a small home above the town and became involved in village life. Brel bought a Beechcraft airplane he called Jojo, with which he would perform medical evacuations to Tahiti from time to time. He died of cancer in October 1978 at the age of 48.

Just along the road from the museums is the Tohua Pepeu, which was restored in 1991 for the Marquesas Arts Festival. A Tohua is a paved rectangular platform with several tiers of basalt block rows on either side. These were used as meeting places, and also hosted festivals and dance performances. Flat boulders form a sort of stage on which solo dances took place. Young chiefs also used it as a place to showcase their tattoos. The Tahua in Atuona had a small collection of Tiki. These are carved, humanlike statues. Experts believe tiki had a religious and symbolic function, possibly representing deified clan ancestors. The mouth and eyes are the most striking features. Sculpted in the form of statues, tiki were also covered in bas-relief, on weapons, paddles and dugout canoes. Many locals believe some tiki are posessed of Mana (spiritual power) and have the potential for evil that can manifest itself if they are moved or handled.

We would love to have stayed longer on Hiva Oa, especially as we were able to get fresh baked baguettes daily, but it was time to move on to our next destination, Fatu Hiva.