We arrived at 0900, Sunday May 12th, to the most dramatic island and arguably the prettiest harbor in the world. Fatu Hiva. We have also had to anchor in 100 feet of water using 250 feet of chain and our fingers are crossed that the windlass will bring up all that we have put down, including the anchor. Twenty days at sea and we have earned our admission ticket to the South Pacific Islands.

I think we handled everything that Mother Nature threw at us. 35 knots of wind, 12 foot swells, rain squalls, flying fish on board, no fish that we caught and spectacular sunrises and sunsets just to name a few things. Our skills were tested and we passed with no major failures or setbacks.

The Bay of Virgins, on the lee side of this mountainous island where we are anchored, has wind gusts that swirl down the mountains surrounding the harbor. We have put out adequate anchor chain and spent the day on board tending to the yawing motion of the boat. We are one of about 20 boats here and more are arriving daily. The current crowd should turn over in another week and we expect to see these cruisers along the way in various anchorages.

Fatu Hiva is not a port of entry so we will probably be asked to leave in a week or so and move on to Hiva Oa to check in. This island has about 80 people that reside here but I am not sure what the life support system is. Perhaps the locals depend on the boats that come to visit and trade goodies for fruits and vegetables that are grown on the island. Perfume and makeup are hot items for trading as well as rum and liquor of all kinds. Liquor is very expensive to buy locally so the natives are very happy to trade. We are saving our stash for black pearls in the Tuamotos which are located about 800 miles to the southwest of us and on our way to Tahiti.

The next task is to get the boat back to some sense of order, do laundry (by hand) and try and get all the salt out of the lines. Ron is very happy as I think he has used just about every pieces of line, long and short, that he accumulated along the way. We had a line for every occasion, no joke.....aft guys, forward guys, topping lifts, preventers just to name a few.

We are planning on doing a wonderful hike to a fresh water waterfall that is inland which has been described as a must do while we are here. The scenery changes by the hour depending on the lightening and I don't think we have experienced so many shades of green and yellows. The landscape is lush and rich and very different than we have experienced before. Truly breathtaking.

All of the boats arriving from long distances have grown algae extending maybe 12 to 15 inches up from the waterline. The algae growth is tenacious and will probably require maybe two to three hours to scrub it off. There is unique marine growth just below the waterline that is soft and clear. I've never seen it before. We're told not to clean them off since the fish eat them off.

The water is inviting and very warm like the North Carolina beach in the middle of the summer but visibility is only maybe 15 feet so diving on the anchor requires some extra effort to get down far enough to actually see the ground tackle.

Boats arrive usually in the morning after waiting at sea for daylight to enter the harbor. They receive horns and whistles from the boats already at anchor in celebration of their arrival. The last of our group will arrive tomorrow and then after several days here will likely go their separate ways but meet up in popular anchorages along the way.

We haven't been ashore yet so we know nothing of what it's like other than very remote and Polynesian!

The Crew on Always Saturday