Hiva Oa

Hi everyone,

After our short stay in Fatu Hiva we moved on to Hiva Oa.  It was a day sail of about 50nm.  A pleasant sail until winds lightened as we approached our destination of Atuona harbour.  We motored in.

Zen Again in Hiva Oa

Here are our track details...

Track

Arrival

Atuona is well known as a rolly anchorage.  It's not deep and the holding is good.  So it's a great anchorage if you're off the boat!  Forewarned of this we intended to stay only long enough to clear-in to French Polynesia and fill a set of diesel jerry cans.

Approaching Atuona

We endured a rolly night after arrival.  The next morning we were ashore by 0630 and at the Gendarmarie to clear in just after they opened at 0730.  It was a roughly 40 minute walk.  They were uninterested in our Zarpe from Panama.  They only wanted our passports and a bond or air tickets out of French Poly.  We avoided the latter by showing them our travel insurance which includes repatriation.

View from the head of the bay

From the Gendarmarie we went to the Major's office to pay our harbour and garbage collection dues.  Then finally to the supermarket which was surprisingly good.  Fresh baguettes!

Back onboard we ferried pairs of diesel jerries ashore to the Mobil service station close to the jetty and dinghy dock.  By then it was early afternoon and we decided to stay another night to host an OCC crew we'd 'met' on passage from Panama.

View of Zen Again and the harbour

It was great to get all our tasks done in a single day.  I believe Hiva Oa is a very nice place to tour, but what we wanted was somewhere to chill.  We were now free to escape to a better anchorage where we can relax after our long passage.

Trust all's well where you are.