At 1320 ship’s time we dropped our anchor at Atuona, Hiva Oa.
Wow. Oh wow oh wow oh wow. It is gorgeous here.
I was on watch when the sky started to lighten this morning and gradually the grey smudge on the horizon grew bigger and bigger. Land ho!
All of us came up to the cockpit to watch the sun rise and the details of this island paradise come into view. Tall craggy green cliffs and misty valleys. Dramatic clouds. Rain showers in the distance. Even rainbows.
We couldn’t smell the island as it was to leeward of us, until we motored into the anchorage at Atuona. Suddenly a breeze blew down from the towering green hillside and hit us: it was like we had sailed right into a flower shop.
What I will remember most about this day though was the incredible kindness bestowed upon us: from the new cruising friend who came by in his dinghy to kedge our stern anchor out for us to another cruiser friend who kayaked by with a fresh pamplemousse for us to savor as we sat in the cockpit shortly after landing, just taking in the incredible view around us. As we sat outside a grocery store this afternoon munching a fresh baguette the older gentleman who worked in the store brought us a tray of chocolate eclairs and motioned for us each to take one; we soon had chocolate eclaire filling dripping down our chins. This evening we treated our crew Matt to dinner out and as we were leaving the restaurant the owner stopped us and offered to drive the five of us the two dark miles back to the yacht harbor.
This is a beautiful, beautiful place and we are so glad to be here.
Total miles: 2713
