Paradise Found

The island of Fatu Hiva is the epitome of Polynesia with its spectacular scenery and idyllic village where the natives will trade fruit and crafts for perfume, lipstick, shampoo, pens, paper, bonbons, tee shirts, fishing gear, booze, sun glasses, boat fenders, life jackets, etc. We traded a tee shirt for a small tapa yesterday from a lady we met on the street (one of three). Tapa is a type of canvas made out of tree bark that has been wetted and pounded on big flat rocks which is then dried and designs are painted on and sold to tourists, or traded to the cruisers here, like Maggie Drum. There are no other tourists here. The island does not have an airport nor a seaport for the tourists. All goods come by freighter and are unloaded by smaller boats to shore. We watched the freighter Taporo IV unload here after our walk up to the waterfall in the jungle here.

There are cars here, and the roads are paved in concrete in town. The road to the bigger village is about 10 miles long and a total 4WD steep track that we walked part way on (and almost died from heat exhaustion from the steepness and humidity) but is actually only 3 miles by sea. We took the dinghy down to it but the landing was so scary we did not even consider going ashore. The island is right out of Jurassic Park with these knife-edge ridges going up a thousand or more feet, almost straight up. The village is nestled between these ridges and the other volcanic upthrusts. Actually, very pretty.

The anchorage is full of boats with many just over from the Galapagos and the Panama Canal, with most of those European - French, German, British, Italian and Spanish with some Australians thrown in. This may be one of the busiest cruising seasons ever in the islands. Of course, three of the other boats here are friends of ours from Zihua. We had a potluck on Oz last night with Ranger and White Swan where we all told stories about the crossing and other boats. Whistle Wing V has decided to go home for some personal issues that need dealing with back in the states. We will miss sailing more with them.

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