LAND AHOY

Land fall.... Bay of Virgins, Penis Bay,

 Babylon, The Garden of Eden.

S/Y FARRFLY, Log extract 15 May 2011.

After only 15 days we sighted land.. the east coast of Fatu Hiva.

Might have arrived a little sooner if they had used the GPS!
 

I have been lucky to have visited some really beautiful tropical locations such as the Tobago Keys, Los Roques, Isle St Barths, almost all of the West Indies and of course Grenada where we live.  Grenada is outstanding with its turquoise waters, high mountain peaks, long sandy unspoiled beaches, tropical rain forest and waterfalls. 

Despite all this I must say that Fatu Hiva is a very special place.

Where, you might well ask, is Fatu Hiva?  It is the most southerly of all the islands of the Marquesas. Fatu Hiva was not our intended  landfall after we crossed the Pacific. Yachts are not allowed  to ‘arrive’ in Fatu Hiva as it has no Gendarmerie and a yacht cannot ‘check in’ there (customs immigration etc.) But to arrive in Hiva Ho where you can ‘check in’ meant back tracking south to get to Fatu Hiva which seemed a bit silly.  I decided to risk it and arrive there.  Every now and again the French navy boys invade the anchorage and fine everyone 200 euro if you have not checked in. A few days after we left the navy raided the anchorage and collected a couple of thousand euro! 

First sighting of Fatu Hiva. Giant Eagles feet?

Some will recall that the only boat we saw on the Panama to Galapagos leg was the 53 foot Chuck Paine design ‘NuMornings’ owned by Ross and Fay. Strange as it may seem, having crossed the Pacific without seeing a single boat, as we came around the head land on the north coast of Fatu Hiva the very first boat we saw was none other than NuMornings...  

Nu Mornings;  Fatu Hiva 15/5/2011

Penis bay with Nu Mornings in the foreground.

Penis bay or the Bay of Virgins is regarded by the French tourist board as the most beautiful bay in the whole of France...

On the night of 15th May our first night,  there was a  stunning full
moon which shed a eerie light over the phallus and faces of Virgin Bay.

Penis bay is not just famous for its phallic peaks, but also the faces etched into the rocks over millions of years. A favourite game on board is to spot a new face in the cliff walls... 

Fatu hiva is enchanting.... From a distance the landscape looks like giant eagles feet.

On the east coast we did not see a single dwelling, although the land looks rich and green, if very mountainous. There are only two villages on the whole island, which has a population of  600 people.

The only anchorage is in Penis bay. If you look at the photographs you will see how aptly named the bay is. How many ‘willies’ can you count? However, when the Christian missionary nuns arrived they were somewhat upset by the name, (not surprising given the Christian faiths obsession with sexual matters) and so the good ladies changed the name to The Bay of Virgins.. In French it involved only the addition of one letter.. Verges to Vierges.. interesting how close the the penis and the virgins are in French !

The Lonely Planet Guide has an interesting opening sentence on Fatu Hiva....

 “As far away from the rest of the world as its possible to get in these modern times. Congratulations you have made it to one of the hardest to reach islands in the world.”

Fatu Hiva has no air strip and there are no ferries.  To get here you have to arrive by yacht or hitch a ‘sea-ride.’ As a result the locals are friendly and curious. At every corner you are met with smiles and waves. One household gave us a huge bag of fresh fruit and would not accept any payment.

The perfect village, a Garden of Eden.

The village is a perfect dream land, a cross between Babylon and the Garden of Eden.

Not a square foot of land is wasted, fruit trees have been planted everywhere. Limes, grapefruit, oranges, avocado, breadfruit, bananas, mango and every other tropical fruit you can imagine over hang the little road.  A stream gurgles its way down the gently sloping valley. Winding its way through the colorful little houses. There is no shortage of water in the Marquesas so he stream runs fast and fresh. The locals who have dotted their houses along the stream have cleverly dug large pools some damed with boulders, in front of their houses, so they have natural swimming pools in their gardens. Simply perfect, and no maintenance bills!

By damming the stream the locals created bathing pools in their gardens!

The villagers dammed the stream at the beach and created this huge
fresh water public swimming pool right between the basketball court and the football pitch.