Fatu Hiva
06.30hrs The Skipper went on deck to survey the morning, It had rained heavily during the night. The other two were still zzzzzzzzzzz, a bit early for them.
08.00hrs Donal went ashore with the passports and met with the local police officer, who was just being very official, as we had already cleared our papers for the Marquises in pto Atuano. Anyway, its better to keep them all happy.
09.30hrs Donal and Stephen went by local express (14' aluminium Dory) to the main Village, approx 2miles away to the south. Walking was out of the question, as it included a trip over some pretty high terrain and would certainly take 2.5 hrs each way. We intended staying about 1 hour, but in the french translations, things got mixed up, and we spent much longer than expected.
Meanwhile, Aileen went ashore with the little gifts for the Natives (the perfume, the lipstick, the nail polish and some rope). This will make you laugh, talk about being choosey, but the girls gave her back the Pink lipstick, they would not wear that colour. So off went Aileen, tail between the legs.
12.00hrs D and S arrived back to the boat (A LADY) and immediately went for a swim, Ohhhhhhh this lovely heat needs cooling every so often.
14.30hrs D went for his siesta and S went snorkeling for the afternoon. A had a rest also.
16.30 skipper (S or Stephen) paid a visit to "Crazy Horse" asking permission to hold onto their anchor until we got to Papeete, where we could buy a replacement for the one we lost in Pto Ayora "Hiva Oa" and also have a look around their boat. It is so different to A Lady in every respect, "Crazy Horse" is a Sundeer 60 and designed to be a fast sailing vessel. She can only sleep 4 on board, without resorting to the saloon, where as " A Lady" can sleep 9 without resorting to the Saloon. The living space on the "Sundeer" is huge in comparison with the gally taking half the space.
17.50hrs Bill and Rosemary from "Crazy Hors" came back to "A Lady" for a look at the boat and have a Gin & Tonic.
While they were there, Bill decided he would at our Generator and see what our problem was! (it just won't work). To make a long story short, by 20.30 hrs, Bill had the generator up and running ,, FANTASTIC! Well done Bill, 3 hours of fiddling with filters, fuel lines, and all sorts, and you got it running and charging,, brilliant. To think the Mechanic, last week, could not sort out the problem. Some feckin mechanic, but just goes to show!
We had another G & T, something light to eat, and an early night.
That's it for today,
Stephen Hyde (Skipper)