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American Spirit II - Day 84; Hike to 2,000 Foot Waterfall, Another Green Flash and Dinner at II Audeaucious; Friday, March 28. 2014



Up at 6:00 AM. Breakfast at 7:00 AM. In the dingy at 7:50 AM to start our three three hour round trip hike to the 2,000 foot waterfall on Fatu Hiva. The 'landing spot' for our dingy was around a jetty that had a concrete pier and a ramp for motor boats to be put into and pulled out of the water. We elected to pull up to the concrete ramp, then lift our dingy with its motor out of the water and onto dry land, high enough to be in no danger of a rising tide. A few minutes later the crew of Follie a Deux arrived, and after disembarking 3 of the 4, Brian dropped a stern anchor, tied up at the pier and climbed up onto terra firma.



Before heading to Fatu Hiva I had emailed Martin on Caduceus of Burnham, asking for anchorage information and directions to the waterfall, since I knew he had arrived here ahead of us. He sent the following information and directions:



Brian,



The anchorage at Baie Hanavave is absolutely fabulous and should not be missed. We had no trouble with holding. The bay drops off quite steeply so we ended up dropping the anchor in 12m but ended up in 20m as we dropped back. There were a number of boats in when we arrived and we arrived just as it was going dark so had to take what was easy. We held without any problems with just under x3 rode out. You do require a stern anchor as the wind rotates round the anchorage. Dinghy into behind the breakwater and clamber up the wall. There are no steps. The local population are very friendly and organized a dinner for 30 of us, complete with local dancing and music (1500cpf per head plus tip for the dancing). Not sure if this is an offer regularly or not.



Ashore. The walk to the waterfall took us about 70 minutes, ie 2.5 hours in total. Head straight out of town on the concrete road, after 1 mile or so you cross the river and the concrete road then climbs quite steeply with the river now on your left. The marker for leaving the concrete road is a fallen palm tree with the leafy bit lying towards the 4x4 track on the left. Proceed along that until you get to a Y junction. The track to the left leads down to a ford over the river, depends how much rain as to what it looks like but only 18 inches deep max. Continue along the 4x4 track until the end, with the river now on your right. At track end a path goes off to the left and is marked by small rock cairns. It is muddy and gets progressively steeper so wear something with grip that you can wade in. Well worth the effort.



I hope that this helps. Enjoy!



Martin's email back to me, as you can see, was immensely helpful in our finding the waterfall. Another huge advantage of SSB Radio, the ability to communicate to other boats at sea in our Rally.



We headed out on our hike walking on a concrete road. There appears to be no asphalt roads in the Marquesas, just concrete roads and dirt roads. The concrete, for the most part, was in near perfect condition. Not like our roads back home in constant need of repair. The first part of our walk was thru a small village, where every house seemed to have a dog. The vast majority of these dogs were tied to a rope under a tree. Some greeted us by barking. Most just laid there and kept an eye on us until they were out of their domain. We stopped in one store; the only store we saw, where grocery items were for sale. A very small store, 15 feet by 15 feet with shelving along the walls only.



The hike was thru a valley, with vertical mountains straight up along the road. And these mountains were almost 100% covered with vegetation, trees, bushes or palm trees. Really high palm trees, certainly over 50 feet; maybe up to 80 or 100 feet. We exited the concrete road at the 'fallen palm tree,' then the rest of the hike was on muddy road, followed by a trail thru the forest (jungle?). Our way was now marked by piles of rocks left along the trail. Cairns, I believe they're called. The further we hiked, the steeper it got. Due to the presence of mud, rocks and moss covered rocks, it was slow going. Slipping down the slope into the river was not an option.



We arrived at the base of the waterfall at about 9:30 AM. Everyone took a swim, with the water between 70 and 73 degrees. Not really sure the falls are 2,000 feet high. Joel thought they were; Mike said at least 800 feet. I wasn't sure. We stayed at the pool for a half hour, then started the hike back. Like all hikes or climbs where you go up first, going back and down was more precarious. I was surprised how steep the way back thru the jungle was; and how slippery on the mud and rocks. At one point my camera decided to leave my carrying bad and roll down the slope a little way. Never to fear, Mike was right on top of it and retrieved it quickly. Thank you Mike. (Mike had spent months in the jungle in a different life, so his footing was like a goat's on a cliff face).



On our way back to the boat we passed by the crew of Ghost, another Rally boat. They said that the villagers had invited all of us to a dinner/dance Saturday night. Unfortunately, all of the boats are leaving Saturday morning, so we had to decline the invite. Too bad.



We arrived back at our boat at 11:30 AM. While sitting in the cockpit, the only sound we could hear were the crashing of waves on the rocks surrounding the anchorage, and the wind racing down from the mountains thru the valley and out across the water. There were no 'artificial' sounds, like airplanes flying overhead, cars honking horns, etc. Though there were cars, mostly pick up trucks, on the island.



Trillium, another Rally boat, had patched their dingy so I offered them a ride into the village to hike to the waterfall. After depositing them ashore, I returned to the boat and joined Joel and Mike in taking a siesta for a couple of hours. I was awakened at 4:30 PM by Trillium calling me on the radio for a ride back to their boat, which I did.

Joel then worked on the table light in the cockpit, fixing it. I'm beginning to believe that Joel can fix most anything on a boat.



At 5:50 PM the sun set. Just before it did, I got on the radio and advised the 'fleet' that there would be a Green Flash. Their was. I actually say the Green Flash 5 seconds before Joel and Mike did because I watched the sunset from the cockpit, and they watched it from a higher elevation - on the cabin top forward of the dodger. Joel filmed the Green Flash with his camera, in video mode. Looked at the video Saturday morning and Joel DID capture the Green Flash on his video camera. Not a great video, but it proves that a Green Flash can be captured on film. By us. And Mike and Joel saw the Green Flash a full two seconds after I saw it. The delay being that they were a few feet higher on the boat than I was.



At 6:00 PM we proceeded to II Audeacious, another Rally boat, for a cocktail hour. We brought Rum, ice and cups. Once aboard, Mary Ann fed us crackers, cheese, olives, pickles, nuts and caviar. Yes, I said caviar! That's a first on this trip for us. The cocktail hour turned into a dinner prepared by Fran, consisting of salmon and pasta. Delicious! The meal was capped off with champagne and chocolate. Rick and Fran, guests of Tommy and Mary Ann, saw their first Green Flash tonight. Way to go Rick and Fran.



Joel left the boat at 8:00 PM to go to Trillium to help them fix their water maker. The high pressure pump had stopped working so they couldn't make water any more. An hour later he returned, successful in his repair effort. We left II Audeacious at 9:00 PM.



Once back on board we watched one episode of The Sopranos, then the video that was taken by my dive guide when I did the SCUBA dive in the Galapagos 2 days before leaving those islands.



Joel and Mike hit the sack at 10:45 PM. I followed an hour later after a shower to cool off and read for a while.



Tomorrow we'll sail back to Hiva Oa, pick up Alex with the World ARC, then sail on to Nuku Hiva, arriving Sunday before noon. Nuku Hiva is where we have a rendezvous with the Rally scheduled for Wednesday, April 2nd.



Brian Fox

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