HANAVAVE
Now back to my crossing. It was 5:30 pm, the wind was picking up and I could point upwind enough to just make the island. I could now see the contours of Fatu Hiva, rising tall straight out of the ocean, but the sun was setting and without a moon I could barely see the island. Finally, at around 9 pm in the evening I got to the outer point of Fatu Hiva. I derigged my sail and paddled the last 2 hours to Hanavave, one of the most spectacular bays you will ever encounter. Tall green rock formations, in which you see many faces and tikis, form a narrow lush green valley where about 150 people live. Fatu Hiva is not as cut off as it was back in 1937, but the only regular way to get here is by boat, which only visits the island every two weeks. The inhabitants fish and grow fruits. The volcanic lands are very fertile and the tall mountains provide plenty of rain. I would only see the beauty of this bay the next morning, when I got there it was pitch dark, I could only see a few lights from the sailing boats who had just arrived from their long crossing across the Pacific Ocean from South America. The crew of one of the sailing boats is still awake because it turned out they had just arrived after 24 days at sea. Intrigued by my journey, they offer me somewhere to sleep on their boat, so I don’t have to find a spot for my tent on land in the middle of the night. Tired after my 17 hour crossing, I happily accept.
The next morning I paddle to shore and ask some of the locals where I can put up my tent.
After they find out I paddled and windsurfed here, the word goes around town and I get many interested visitors. The people here live next to the ocean and most of them fish every day, but at the same time they have a huge respect for the ocean and call me a sea warrior with a courageous heart. They feel sorry for me that I sleep on the beach in a tiny tent and offer me their houses and huts and come every night with food and water.