Our 5.5 day sail from the Gambier to the Marquesas was the most challenging thus far – four days in gale force winds with six meter seas. On day 5, the weather calmed, but then the headsail halyard broke and we almost lost the sail to the sea. Quick thinking on the Captain’s part saved the sail, but temporarily jammed it in the furling mechanism half way up the mast. Fatu Hiva was a welcome site, albeit the first of many rolly anchorages in the Marquesas. The landscape was breathtaking (as it was throughout the islands in the Marquesas). Like something out of the Peter Pan story.
Everything in the Marquesas was great once we got the headsail sorted. We welcomed our second set of visitors, long term friends of the Captain’s from Milan. We caught up with old friends and made some new ones while visiting anchorages on Tahuata, Hiva Oa, Ua Pou and Nuku Hiva.
Waterfalls, mountains, big trees, Gauguin – it is all here! You can see some wonderful photos taken by the Captain below
[…] enjoyed a lovely spring in the tropical Marquesas and Tuamotus in French Polynesia and started northward to The Big Island of Hawaii as the […]
hi Lisa, So I started at the beginning of your blog and am working through. Quite a few posts to go! The Marquesas look marvellous. 🙂
You are lovely to travel through my posts. From a landscape perspective, The Marquesas are one of my top three most beautiful islands sailed. Well worth a visit when the doors open again.
What are the other two?
Maupiti, which is also in French Polynesia, and The Sea of Cortez, which we are just starting to explore now.