And Now in Color

Lots of chores as we prepare for our next passage from here to the Tuamotus. We still haven't figured out precisely where we are going to go, but we can assume it'll be at least 4 or 5 days to get there. It will be probably 3 weeks at least before we go as far as Tahiti and there are not a whole lot of services twixt here and there. So, propane, fresh veg, lots of extra washing water and a few jerries of diesel. We've done laundry, washed our sheets, and sluiced out the cockpit, several times. Tomorrow, I must kill the monster in the fridge. The girls spent hours on shore stretching their legs. They were all troopers today trucking water, jerry cans, food, and people from ship to shore. We'll keep them.

We moved back around the corner from Baie de Comptrolleur to the principle harbor of Nuka Hiva. This is where a cruiser can find services in this part of the world. In a bit of pretty unsurprising serendipity, the double canoes all headed around the corner too. So nautically speaking, we're still anchored in the most picturesque bay in the South Pacific. I'll probably post Mera and Aeron's essay responses to their experience with the crews, boats, and shore party in the coming days when I don't feel like writing myself.

In the meantime, you can see some of these many wonders for yourself. I finally posted pictures on http://flickr.com/toastfloats. I don't know why the photos got all mixed up on posting. Sorry about that. I'm just ecstatic that I was able to secure a decent enough connection for long enough to get the photos up at all. Internet in the Marquesas is sketchy at best. While online, I was also able to read some of the many comments on Facebook for the first time in nearly two months as well as check out the blogs of some of my friends.

Browsing Google news was a bit of a shock. We've been disconnected from the world before, but clearly never to this extent. Someone finally killed Bin Ladin? There was a tornado in Auckland? The Rapture didn't show up on schedule (May 12)? I feel like we've dropped into some news black hole. It's probably healthy. It may be dangerous. For all I know, Tonga declared war on the Cook Islands and we're heading into a war zone. There are no doubt ways cruisers can avoid this complete obliviousness to the Real World (tm), but I am not willing to invest the time or energy to sort it out. For now, its enough to know that we still have money in the bank (I know because the ATM keeps giving me some every time I ask) and that DrC still has a job waiting for him on his arrival.

As part of our prep for the next leg, we've finally started reading about the Tuamotus. These are some seriously hairy scary places to drop a hook. Boomies and passes and sharks, omi! Maybe it's just as well we'll only have a few weeks. We're still vaguely certain we want to make it to Papeete in time for the Tahiti Moorea Rendezvous. Fortunately, it's only a day or two from the atolls to Tahiti, so it's doable. Besides, we'll probably run out of fruit.

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