Pitcairn Island

Today we arrived at Pitcairn Island. It is a very small island about 4 km in length. It was first discovered by Europeans in 1767. It has been made most well known by the Mutiny of the HMS Bounty. Today all of the inhabitants, approximately 50 people, are descendents of the mutineers and the Tahitians who traveled with them on the Bounty. Our ship as well as others are too large to dock here, hence the islanders came out to the ship to greet us. They boarded the ship and provided a narrative about the island as we sailed around it. The mayor of the island also held a question and answer session which was very interesting. We found out that they have some vegetable and fruit crops, otherwise all their goods are shipped in. They have a large boat that they bring out to meet the ships and transfer goods and take back to shore, including things as large as a car. There is one on the island. Our ship provided us with a viewing of the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, Clark Gable version. This gave us a crash course about the island before we arrived. At noon today, we are now on Pacific time, we started for Tahiti.





January 29, 2008