Hiva Oa...

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We took the day on Sunday to rest and recover from our adventure.  Around noon, the weather cleared enough that we could take a walk and explore a little more of the beautiful Island of Fatu Hiva

.

Early Monday  morning we set sail for Hiva Oa where we officially checked into the country.  We had a leisurely 8 hour sail and arrived around mid afternoon.  The Anchorage was PACKED!  Over 30 boats from nearly as many different countries all packed into the bay where we used our stern anchor for the first time in who knows how long....

On Tuesday morning we were picked up by our agent, Sandra and brought to the Gendarmes (Police) station where we completed the easiest check-in EVER!  They simply asked if we had any drugs or other illegal things, then stamped our documents...  We are officially here for 3 months.

Hiva Oa

After check-in, we got some local currency then found a grocery store and replenished our fresh fruit and veggies.  The one thing they have here every day is beautiful fresh baggets.  Everywhere you go, they are available and cheap...

When we returned to the boat, we spent the rest of the day cleaning up and re-organizing.  We sent 25 kilos of laundry into town to be cleaned!  After a month at sea, there was too much to do on our own.  

Yesterday we returned to town and finished our re-provisioning and climbed the mountain to the local cemetery to visit he grave of Paul Gauguin, the famous turn of the century French impressionist painter... Who apparently had a bit of a nasty habit of trying marry 12 year old's... 

Jacque Brel (Famous French folk singer)

We also spent a few more hours on the boat getting some repairs done.  So far, no luck, but hopefully when we get to Tahiti we can get some things fixed.

Today we decided to treat ourselves to a special day.  We left Christina on the boat and went to a small resort for a quiet day together.  Only $35 per person (which includes lunch) has given us a chance to relax and spend some time together.

Tomorrow we will head to a small island called Tahuata.  It is about 8 miles away.  We will clean the bottom of the boat there and get ready for the 4-5 day passage to the Tuamotos where we plan to get some world class diving in...

More soon...