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Exody - Days 73-75 - Hello Hiva Oa



Late afternoon 24th, our 20th day at sea we crossed the finish line with our waterproofs on under the clouds over the towering green caldera-type shape that forms the backdrop to the bay at Atuona on Hiva Oa - a place strongly associated with painter Gauguin who spent his last few years here before his death in 1903.

Tucked in behind the breakwater of the busy anchorage which we are thankfully allowed to use the whole of because the next supply ship does not come until 5th April - by when we'll have moved on. The swell is substantial - all boats are moored fore and aft to keep bow or stern into the swell and to optimise space within the anchorage. At one side of the bay there are regularly 30m high spumes and spray as the swell hits the rocks and on this 'sheltered' side the two dinghy docks are still a major challenge in the swell, not only to get ourselves and gear safely in and out but also to ensure the parked dinghy does not self destruct against the dock or adjacent rocks - stern anchors therefore essential.

We were garlanded as a Pacific welcome when we landed at six and were then driven to a spectacular hotel venue for happy hour and dinner overlooking the sea - along with the crews of Hugur, Ayama and Exocet Strike. The tropical smells and verdant landscape were all a welcome contrast to the last three weeks - not to mention fresh food and cocktails!

This set us up for a wonderful and mostly uninterrupted night's sleep though the constant movement of the boat and the noise of the water against the adjacent quay had me regularly reckoning in my semi-consciousness that we were still rolling along at a comfortable 6 knots!

Clearance formalities were efficiently completed on Wednesday morning as we were driven into the gendarmerie in the nearby village by the ARC agent Laurent. All very spic and span with the evident French funding and investment resulting in no visible poverty - the economic mainstay of the island apparently being self-administration!

In search of internet we had little luck at a cafe and were soon in a 4WD on the way up multiple hairpin bends to Alex's Place - which most of the fleet have now discovered as a home from home- he collects and returns us, gives open access to his pool, operates a serve yourself honour system for drinks and his wife serves set lunch and dinner dependent on what's available. Mangoes and bananas available on the table for free - but best of all, though the satellite signal is still a bit dodgy, is the free internet! We came back later for dinner and of course internet. A congenial and convivial evening was had in the company of Hugur, Ayama, Aretha and Pentagram who had just arrived that day about 24 hours behind us.

We took the ARC organised shuttle bus into the village on Thursday morning and spent an interesting hour at the Gauguin centre understanding the coincident and interwoven histories of his life and the 'acquisition' of these islands by the French - and also being reminded of how relatively prolific he was in his short 55 year life. Reprovisioning at the well-stocked supermarket was not as eye-wateringly expensive as we had expected - though we did avoid the punishingly priced spirits. After a taxi ride back to the harbour via a vegetable van, we lunched on fresh produce and baguettes, napped, refuelled by jerrycan and then Petter cleaned the other half of the grossly weeded and goose-barnacled waterline, my having done one side the day before.

Karma Wins arrived today Thursday 26th and there are still four boats at sea with the next arrivals due Saturday. We have booked an island tour for tomorrow Friday 27th before moving on to the Bay of Virgins at Fatu Hiva on Saturday 28th.

Peter(Skipper)





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