We have been in the Marquesas Islands for one week and have really enjoyed our time here. The islands are quite beautiful, mountainous with lush green vegetation. We arrived at the island Hiva Oa and caught-up with most of the other Rally boats during several events. Yesterday we sailed to the nearby island of Tahuata. We are currently anchored off an absolutely beautiful beach and may spend another day here.
Paul Gaugain was one of the Marquesas' best known residents, he lived on Hiva Oa and did much of his painting here. We went to the museum covering his life, none of his original paintings are there but many reproductions are on display.
We also took a day-long car tour of the island, it was great driving up in the mountains and rain forests. The roads were very treacherous with one lane, hairpin turns everywhere. We had a seaside luncheon at a very small restaurant. Afterwards the girls went swimming off the beach, unfortunately Kathryn was badly stung by a jellyfish and was screaming for help. Andre and Carlos from BEATOO were with us for the day and helped carry her ashore. She had recovered a couple of hours later but still has red welts from the stings to her torso.
We plan to sail overnight to Fatu Hiva and anchor in the Bay of Virgins. There is a small village which we will check out, also we have read that the third tallest waterfall in the world is in the island so we will try to see that.
We re-provisioned at Hiva Oa and have supplies for about a week. After Fatu Hiva we will head north to the main island of Nuku Hiva to refuel and buy more supplies before heading to the Tuamotu Islands early next week. Our overall schedule is to arrive in Papeete in Tahiti by mid-April for some repairs and to meet up with the rest of the fleet.
BRIZO Crew