We anchored in the northern bay at Fatu Hiva (above) on July 23rd, 2005. The catabatic winds that come down through those canyons can get to over 50 kts. so you need to let out a lot of chain or your boat can be blown out to sea! Fortunately, we were OK. The geologic formations are literally out of this world. Awesome is a word that comes to mind!

We passed several atolls on the way north from the Gambiers to the Marquesas with Tom and Annie.  Our plan was to go ashore and explore. However, Because there was no break in the reef, and because winds and surf were high a landing was out of the question. This shot (right) is of the most sheltered (or leeward) side of Reao. The ocean floor is over a thousand feet deep up until a couple hundred yards of the reef.

Heading further north toward the Marquesas we enjoyed some spectacular sunsets! Sunset and sunrise are always a special time while at sea.

Even though it was Sunday a supply ship was coming in and people were gathered at the wharf. The barge is necessary because the harbor is too small to accommodate the supply ship.

The arrival of the supply ship is quite a community event!

I had my picture taken with one of the local ladies. (right)Actually, she requested the photo. Many people here like to have their photo taken - especially kids.

Tom forgot his hat on the boat and was able to barter for another one from some local guys. This connection lead us to a local woodcarver that had a small tiki we could also barter for fishing lures we had brought to trade.

We attended this local Church and were able to find a home for some of our French Bibles. We were all touched by the experience. Even my friend who hadn't been in a Catholic Church for many years could feel the spirit moving here.

Helen and Gil (left) from a French boat named Leves Rames have been on the same track as we are. When we saw them in the Gambiers where they helped us arrange for our tour with the Legionnaire. They became cruising friends as we met them in several ports. We look forward to meeting them again - and probably will.

This is just an example of a local house made of matting. Notice how neat the grounds are! (right)

As we walked up into the mountains we amazed at the rock formations.

These are just shots along the road on our Sunday walk. It's hard to capture on film the majesty all around us! I don't know if my new camera will help me portray this or not. We'll see...

Bananas and coconuts abound and grow wild throughout the islands.(left)  People also have them in their yards, so they don't have to go far afield for their dinner. This photo was supposed to show you the amazing height of the rock formations as they jutted straight up from beside the road to many hundreds of feet high! Scott says I'm going to need another different kind of camera to get that kind of shot. We keep learning!

The clouds that gather on the top of these mountains drop a good deal of rain, thus creating streams. The southern Marquesas are known to be a bit more rainy than further north. We didn't mind as it kept things cool. Obviously, it also creates a constant water supply for local inhabitants.

In the anchorage the cruisers broke out their mini sailboats and had a friendly  competition. They had to be careful to keep upwind as the prevailing wind is out of the anchorage. That is Leves Rames - the red striped boat.

We often saw outrigger canoes with outboard engines on them! It just shows that people will adapt to new situations as they arise.

Here's Tom and Scott talking with the local Gendarme. The Gendarme is the chief of police. The National Gendarme is the person who controls and inspects visas for visiting yachts. So, there are both local and national Gendarmes.

We went to visit the local wood carver. Here he is with his son. We were able to barter with him for a small tiki. Most of his creations were going to a big exposition in Tahiti and were unavailable for "sale."

This lady was showing us her tapas. Fatu Hiva is one of the few places where tapa is still made. She took us into her home and we were able to see how the people actually live. The home was simple, but clean and adequate. We were very happy to be invited into her home. We didn't really have many opportunities to do that. I wanted to give you a little idea of what the inside of a typical home looked like. There was a style of prefab home that we saw throughout the islands. The building materials are so sparse that prefab homes make sense - except if big storms come. We saw this on the atolls - that storms would come across and wipe out all the prefab homes.

Tom got into a discussion with some of the kids. Our French language skills were not so good, but we knew that they wanted to visit the boat. The way they would grab things out of your hands we knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to have them on our boat!!

Here we are (right) getting ready to leave Fatu Hiva.  I always like to come into a new anchorage and I always like to take off for new places. I'm told that this is the heart of the cruiser.

Scott & Tom are getting the fishing gear out (left) as we depart. For one thing the fish hang out where there's a shallows and that's the situation as we leave the bay.

As we ventured out to sea once more we enjoyed another phenomenal Marquesan scene! (right) For many of these photos you won't see what's happening if you don't enlarge them. That's not to say that for others there's so much to be seen!!!