The Marquesas Expedition

Many Years ago, I read an inspiring book called “Fatu Hiva”, written by Thor Heyerdahl, also known for his daring journey on the Kon-Tiki from South America to French Polynesia.

- Bart De Zwart

Now, more than 80 years later, I’m on my way to Fatu Hiva, only this time by windsup, a 14’ stand up paddle board (Starboard Touring 14 x 30) which I can also windsurf. The wind is light and it is a hard upwind reach; if you miss the island, it’s 1000 miles to Easter Island. Although I have water and food for four days, I had better make sure I got to Fatu Hiva. I was hoping to reach it by nightfall but I still couldn’t see the island on the horizon. My compass said I was on course and my GPS was telling me I was half way, which was good but it also told me I would arrive there in the middle of the night. Just when I thought the wind was totally giving up on me, I felt a fresh breeze from a slightly better angle. I had started in the early morning and paddled for six hours just to get around the East Cape of Hiva Oa.

I arrived there the day before via a small propeller plane from Tahiti. Pifa, a super friendly local picked me up and drove me to Puamua on the other side of the island. Here you can find the largest and best preserved tikis in French Polynesia. Tikis, statues carved in wood or stone represent Ti’i, an ancestor half human half god, who according to the legend was The First Man. It seemed only fitting to start my crossing to Fatu Hiva here.

Another big reason why I wanted to do this expedition is because of the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park. Starboard (and mainly Svein Rasmussen, the owner) work very hard to make this world a better place by using eco-friendly materials, not using plastics, recycling materials and by off-setting the carbon footprint production creates. They do this by planting mangroves in Myanmar. These mangroves absorb the CO2 in the air and the huge park where this happens is called The Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park.