We left Hanamenu Bay on Hiva Oa at 0630 this morning to make the short hop to the next island, Ua Huka, a mere 54 nautical miles. We left at daybreak so we could make an early arrival. The winds were mostly 12 to 16 knots on the beam, so we were able to maintain more than 7 knots boat speed under sail nearly the entire way. We arrived at Ua Huka at 14:30 and set anchor in the tiny Baie d'Hane. We traveled 54 miles, divided by 8 hours equals 6.7 knots average boat speed. Not bad.

Dropping the anchor in 30 feet of water, we were surrounded by huge breakers on both sides of us and right behind us, towards shore. We let out 180 feet of chain to make sure we had good holding.

After anchoring, John and Francois got out the boogie boards to go surfing with the locals at the big breakers that were just a hundred yards from our stern. Francois spoke French with the locals and found out that today was the first day in months that the waves were big enough to surf from. Lucky us (not!)

About an hour after we arrived, s/v Evergreen arrived and dropped anchor very close to us. There was not much choice since the tiny bay is no more than a few hundred yards (meters) from one side to the other.

The waves crashing onshore are huge, and there is no way any of us would attempt a dinghy landing in these conditions. We are hoping that tomorrow morning we will find calmer waters so that we can visit this interesting island.

After that, we are headed tomorrow to somewhat civilized Nuku Hiva.