This was our favorite sail combination for the San Diego-to-Marqueses passage (at least for wind speeds from 10 kts to ~20 kts).
Here we are anchored in Atuona, Hiva Oa. This one was taken the day we arrived. The yellow flag we are flying is our quarantine flag which must be flown until we have officially checked in. Also notice the heavy fouling on the aft half of Columbine. After a month of having our topsides submerged (being heeled over) we picked up quite a lot of hitchhikers, mostly gooseneck barnacles. Also notice how tight this anchorage is. We were anchored bow and stern to keep from swinging into another boat. As soon as one left, another pulled in.
Here is a view from one of our hikes on Hiva Oa. The Marqueses Islands are high, mountainous islands that provide some great hiking. This climb started just outside of Atuona and offered great exercise and excellent views of the island and the bay.
Here is Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, as seen from up on one of the surrounding mountains. We spent a couple weeks here and really had a great time. We hiked every other day, and worked on the boat a lot. This bay is pretty protected from the storms that continuously blow through, but there is a steady swell that causes all the boats to roll. There was also a fantastic music festival that we were able to attend. There were six bands, and they played from 5pm till 5am (no joke). It was mostly rock and reggae. Both were really interesting to hear, popular songs sung in either French or Marquesan or some mix thereof.
The Tuomotus are the opposite of the Marqueses. Here is a view of Kauehi Atoll from only a few miles away – you can hardly see the land. The max elevation is something like several feet. No good hiking here, but some really excellent snorkeling in the lagoons.
Our next stop is the Society Islands, which includes Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora. Most of these are mountainous, so we can get our hiking shoes out again.
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