Pitcairn Island

uglybettycrew
May 13
3 min read

Updated: May 14

For those who haven't heard of Pitcairn Island, I'll give a little background. Following the famous 1789 mutiny on the HMS Bounty, Fletcher Christian set Captain Bligh adrift in a small boat, with Bligh's loyalists. Christian then spent months searching the South Pacific for a safe haven to escape the British authority. If found, he and his men would be put to death; Mutiny was a hanging offence. They found Pitcairn Island, and after taking everything from the ship that they could, they set the ship alight, to hide from detection. This left Fletcher with his men, and some Tahitian men and women alone on the island. They were left, undiscovered, for 18 years, but by that time Fletcher and most of the men were dead. It's a gruesome yet fascinating story...

Nowadays, there is still no way to get to the island except by boat. A cargo ship delivers supplies 4 times a year, so if anyone wants off (or on) the island, they wait for this... unless you have a yacht! Once a thriving community, the younger generation have left, and now it has an aging and dying population of only 36 permanent residents. They live sort of a communal lifestyle, each with their own house, and each with a job. They get paid the same hourly wage, whether they collect garbage or are the Mayor. The descendants of the mutineers are still there, with many "Christians", and "Adams" still inhabiting the island.

Steve, our Engineer, used to drive the delivery boat to Pitcairn, so was familiar with the locals. He contacted them by email (thanks again to Starlink, a total game changer for the islanders) and gave advance notice of our arrival.

The anchorage, while shallow enough at 20 meters, was extremely exposed and very rolly. We put our flopper stoppers out to keep the roll under control. What a difference they make! (See pics). Keeping our weather window meant we could only spend one day there, but what a magical day it was!

Brenda Christian, the 7 times great grand daughter of Fletcher Christian, met us at the dinghy dock... but to get into the shelter of the dock was a hair raising dash between the swells, and a hard left before hitting the cliff! To keep the dinghy safe, they use a crane to lift it onto land; this made Jon much happier. After clearing customs, Brenda, and one other islander, took us up the "Hill of Difficulty" to the settlement beyond. Not much more than a shop (quite well stocked, I have to say, much better than Mangareva), a church, a museum, a community hall, and a few houses, it didn't take long to look around.

The island beyond the settlement is lush and beautiful, with fruit in abundance. I could go on and on about Pitcairn Island because it really was a totally unique and wonderful experience. Brenda was very generous with her time and she and Mike, her British husband, spent the day taking us to all the highlights.

Christian's Cave, a steep climb, showed us where Fletcher used to sit, day in and day out, looking for ships, wary (and actually rather paranoid it turned out) of being discovered. We went to the grave yard, and St. Pools Pool, a stunning tidal pool. Jon fancied a dip, until Brenda told him to wait and see what happened with the waves! The water rushed in one side, and out another, taking with it any foolish person who had chanced a dip in the wrong conditions. Jon gave it a hard pass once he saw the crashing water!

We went for lunch and drinks at Brenda's and then went on a mission to find Mrs T, a giant tortoise, all the while getting the history of the island from Brenda. At the end of the day, one of the villagers sold us (for $35) an enormous amount of fresh produce... much needed, after are fruitless search for provisions in Mangareva (pun unintended!)

Back on Ugly Betty, and underway by sunset, we were all sad to see Pitcairn Island disappear on the horizon; it had been the most magical day... I'd say that everyone should visit at least once (but good luck getting there!!)