We woke up in the gusty winds around dawn, without any alarm. I made a tropical fruit salad of pamplemousse, bananas, and pineapple before we set about hauling the anchors up.

Weighing anchors went smoothly enough, with a motor assist, despite the gusty winds. As expected the winds were fickle in the lee of Fatu Hiva’s tall mountains. But soon we were broad reaching for Tahuata in 20 knot winds with a loose footed Genoa alone.

The crossing was a little rolly, but passed quickly with bright sun and puffy clouds. But the rain spilling over the mountains of Tahuata spelled a warning. I was hoping the squall would dissipate on the islands western, lee side. I knew the winds would be fickle there. But what we got was a full on squall, with 35 knot winds at the boat and stronger gusts blowing sheets of spray on the ocean at the sharp rocky point.

We rolled up the jib and ran under bare poles for a while. When the wind seemed to calm down we rolled the jib back out. But the wind continued to vary between five and twenty five knots, and clocked around the boat. Finally we fired up the engine and motored the last three miles to Baie Vaitahu and village. Our anchor set hard in the sand bottom, and a rainbow formed over the village waterfront. The landing here is reputed to be difficult, so no need to go ashore before the morning.

I have just uploaded a bunch of pictures of Hiva Oa’s north coast and Fatu Hiva to the gallery tab of this blog - so take a look if you want to see some of the picture that go with the stories!