Anybody up for a mutiny?

Our next stop was at Pitcairn Island. For Mutiny on the Bounty fans it probably doesn’t need any more explanation, but for the rest of us – here goes.

The Bounty had left England in 1787 to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. After a number of months on Tahiti, many of the crew had formed “attachments” to some of the native population. The relationship between Captain Bligh and his crew subsequently deteriorated as Bligh handed out more and more severe punishments as the time on the island passed. After heading back out to sea, on April 28 of 1789, Fletcher Christian led the crew to a mutiny, setting Bligh and 18 crew loyal to him to sea in an open boat. Bligh then navigated ~ 4,000 miles in that open boat to a safe harbor and set about his revenge.

credit Wikipedia

The British Admiralty sent the Pandora from England to seek out the mutineers and bring them to justice. Christian and crew took the Bounty and sailed to find a refuge from Bligh’s prosecution, while some crew remained on Tahiti. Christian found that refuge on Pitcairn Island which at the time was uninhabited and due to an error in previous navigation, was not located accurately on the British maps. The Pandora captured the crew that had remained on Tahiti and, on the way back to England, ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef resulting in the loss of 31 crew and four of the prisoners. The remaining prisoners were then transferred to England where they met their fate.

Christian, the crew and the accompanying natives that made a home on Pitcairn Island set fire to the Bounty in January of 1790 to hide their presence on the island. This was successful until 1808, at which time all but one were dead and that original member was pardoned. The current population of the island traces its ancestry to the crew of the Bounty and the natives that accompanied them. There are currently only ~45 residents on the island.

While a small number of cruise ships visit Pitcairn, almost none are able to land passengers on the island. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Captain Carl and his sailors, they were able to do so via tenders! Here is a pic of the landing area in Bounty Bay.

It was a 45 minute hike from the structure at the water’s edge to the top of the ridge and then down another 15 minutes to the small town and museum and then the return trip and the tender loading process was very dicey with the huge swell. There was no transportation on the island as an option. My ankle decided it wouldn’t be a smart move for me :( I have to pick my battles after the surgery to do the things I really, really want to do.

A number of the island folk came onboard and set up a little market and a resident gave a very good talk about life on the island. Even without making land ourselves, it was incredible to be in a spot where such a rich historical event occurred. Here are some pictures of Bounty Bay.

That night they had a Captain’s Party for the folks that have cruised before on Azamara. There were some amazing statistics – only 80 people on the ship had not cruised with Azamara previously, and some folks had cruised over 900 nights with the company!

Tomorrow – our first stop in French Polynesia at Fakarava!