Around 8am we went ashore to explore Hapatoni. This little village is less touched by modern life than the others we’ve seen. There was a communal area with poles carved in a local fashion as were one or two other buildings. They had a church similar in style to the one in Vaitahu only somewhat smaller. Villagers could be seen keeping the area clean from fallen leaves, etc. making the place very tidy and clean. There was one small store where we found some corn starch which we’ve been looking for.
Back on the boat we all had a snorkel off the back of the boat. The jelly fish were not as abundant as the previous afternoon so we were able to get about a bit.
We saw a pod dolphins off in the distance – perhaps the same ones we’d seen the previous day. I’d forgotten to mention this in my previous blog but as we were arriving in the bay we came close to a pod of small dolphins which were larking about – some leaping out of the water doing flips and/or rolls in the air. They certainly know how to enjoy themselves. Or show off perhaps.
Before lunch we were sailing north back toward Hiva Oa. The winds were tricky for a while but soon we had the winds on our beam and we were flying along. Approaching the west end of Hiva Oa we lost the winds in the shadow of the mountains so we motored along for a short while.
When the winds return we were pounded. My makeshift outhaul snapped and one of our sail cars broke before I was able to reef the main. Soon we were up in 30 knots of apparent wind bouncing through the waves. We sailed right into Bahia Hanamenu which was receiving the wind from the north east and could hardly be described as ‘sheltered’ as we were led to expect.
The north side of Hiva Oa, at least this part, is a lot more arid. I looks more like parts of the grand canyon interspersed with palm tree oases.
The surf is a bit high for my crew to want to go ashore here. Helen is keen on getting away from Hiva Oa altogether so it looks like an early start to get to Ua Pou tomorrow where we can spend a bit of time before heading off to Nuku Hiva and hopefully rendezvousing with our water maker part.