Hiva Oa, Marquesas

May 10

Hiva Oa, Marquesas

We slept like a log, both of us at the same time after 5 weeks of never sleeping at the same time.  Of course I am up earlier than Alan.  I make myself a cup of cappuccino with one of our last remaining matches and try to clean up some of the mess.  There is the trash, of course.  Not as much as might be expected after 5 weeks.  All plastic, bagged and squished, it fills an old pillowcase. Laundry fills another pillowcase.  The torn jib sail still fills half of the cabin.  Hopefully we can find someone with a sewing machine here today and get it fixed. 

There is a knock on the hull and a voice saying “Ahoy Rhapsody”  One of the other sailors has brought fresh baguette!  Perfect timing.   It is just 8:30 local time.  I make a fresh pot of coffee just as Alan wakes up.One of the things that we really missed in Mexico was good bread.   Somehow they just could not get it right.  So it is a real treat to have good, fresh bread again.

A lazy breakfast    Find clean clothes that fit.  Alan has lost weight again.  He is down to 175 lbs.  Most of his pants just fall off unless cinched in tight with a belt.  Open and launch the dingy.   Round up the paperwork we will need to check in with the French authorities.  Finally we are ready.  We have been told that the bond agent will meet us at the dock and drive us into town to the gendarmerie where we will be officially stamped into the country.  Once we are done, we will hit the ATM and the market and explore the town and find out where we can use the internet.  . Except that, when we reach shore we discover that the “office” is only open 9-11, Mon - Fri.  It is not 11:30 on Sat. There are a bunch of locals sitting on the porch, hanging out, but no one official around.    Eventually we decide that we might as well walk into town and see what is there.  It is a couple of miles along the cliff road and both of us have wiry stiff muscles.  I guess the long night’s sleep gave them the chance to stiffen up.  Luckily, we have not been walking more than a few minutes when a jeep pulls up and offers us a ride to the edge of town. 

As we enter the town, we discover that there is a free community lunch just about to start.  I think this must be the high school gym and the whole town seems to be here.  Many of the women wear beautiful floral crowns.  There is music and a speech in french and marquesian.  Long rows of tables filled with enormous pots of food. Kids race around, as kids always do.  We see people from several of the other boats also.  There is rice, barbecued pork, crabs, raw fish in coconut milk, several varieties of stew and a number of things that I have no idea what they are.   An hour later we are stuffed.  When we realize that most people are packing to-go plates, we do the same.  It is Saturday afternoon and all the stores seem to be closed.  People are friendly and helpful but no one seem particularly interested in who we are or where we are from.  I suppose they must see a lot of cruisers.

We collect our gear and set out to see the town.  5 minutes later Alan realizers that he has forgotten his hat.  He returns to the gym and it is no where to be seen.  No one at the table knows anything and no one seems interested in helping him look.  I check back again later in the day as we are heading back, with the same result.  This is his Tilly hat, the only one that stays on when the wind blows and he needs it to keep the sun off.   Makes us a little bit less enamored of Atuona for this to happen.

We wander around the town for a while.  Actually more of a village than a town and then head back to the boat.  Once again we get a lift.  Back at the boat, we sleep. read, have dinner and sleep some more.  Tomorrow we need to move the boat.  When we looked down from the road on our walk back, we realized that we are anchored right where the supply boat will come in.  We don’t know it’s schedule but need to be out of the way So when we get back to the achorage we haul up both anchors and move to a clear spot.  A number of the boats that were here have left so there is more room now.

May 13, 2014  Wed.Hiva Oa

We finally get checked in with the Gendarmerie. The process is smooth and painless and takes about 1/2 hour.   Latitude 38 has contracted with a bond agent to ease the entry process for cruisers that register through their website. and shed takes us into town and makes sure all of the paperwork is in order.   Otherwise it is necessary to deposit a bond with a local bank equivalent to the price of a ticket home for each crew member.  The French do not want any starving students or castaway sailors being stranded in their paradise.  Can’t say that I blame them.   One we are checked in we spend most of the day just wandering around the town. 

The predominate impression is of quiet prosperity.  Lovely homes on the forested hills.  New cars and trucks whizzing along the coast road.  No litter, no graffiti.  According to the guide books most people either work for the government or in agriculture.  There are a few small stores including 3 grocery stores featuring mostly canned goods.  Prices are high.  Eggs are $4/dozen, a can of tuna $2.  There are large freezers full of frozen meat, much of it from New Zealand.  The strict immigration policy means that everyone here belongs and has a home and a job.  People we see seem happy, relaxed and not the least interested in American cruisers.