The Marquesas

Well...we made it. Safe and sound, even, if you can believe it. We arrived in the island of Nuku Hiva of the Marquesas on the 2nd of May after a sixteen day passage from the Galapagos. 'Uneventful' is one word that could be used to describe the trip across the Pacific: we saw a total of one whale, a handful of small jumping squid that landed on deck, and thousands of flying fish scattered by our presence. And not much else. For eleven of the sixteen days, the wind blew 20 knots on our port beam (perfect for sailing), making me wish everyday that we could just turn off the engine and hoist a sail, of which, we, of course, have none.

Our three-hour watch schedule - 3 hours on, 6 hours off - between the three of us (owner Naveen, captain Devin and I) made the days go by quickly but, jesus, let me tell you, sixteen days was a long time to be cooped up in a boat. The wind was more of a curiosity to us on this power boat than something to actually take into account and there were no sails to trim or lines to flake so we just sort of settled in for the ride. I think I read about seven books and watched twenty movies and had plenty of time to practice my singing voice...turns out sixteen days wasn't long enough to help there.

And now in the Marquesas, we've explored a couple islands (Nuku Hiva and Ua Pou, now Hiva Oa, where Paul Gauguin lived the last few years of his life), stocked up on fresh fruit (including the famous breadfruit - fried it's really good!) and tried to remember how to use the french language (this is French Polynesia, afterall) after having spent the last six months immersed in spanish. Devin brought his spear gun along so, once we find the clear water everyone talks about - so far we haven't seen much, having anchored in larger, populated harbors - hopefully we'll be able to catch some fresh tuna dinner, accompanied with fresh lobster tail. We'll see.

From here on Hiva Oa, we'll head to Fatu Hiva (also of the Marquesas) and by next week we'll transit west and south to the Tuamotu atolls for a week or so, then on to Tahiti before the end of the month. I hope all is well back home in Minnesota and Seattle and wherever you are - I've been thinking a lot about you (gawd knows, I've had enough time recently) and thanks for checking in.