October 19

Work had barely begun in good faith effort to accomplish boat work when peer pressure (not just for teenagers anymore) forced me, forced I say, to go diving on nearby reef. Visibility, expected in Ha'apai to be stunning, was only 40 or 50 feet. Oh sure, there was a plethora of fish swimming around and through canyons of coral, but not a single whale, great white or nuclear submarine. Having serious problems with expectation threshold.

Moved again (likely to be a daily event until Nuku Alofa) to Uonukuhihifo (three times fast), bypassing aerial mammals and free fruit at Langahu for lobster, purported to be stumbling over each other to improve life atop the food chain. Contentment triumphs as crustacea are surely full of mercury and green curry potato over rice is a favorite anyway.

It's possible that sails abetted movement of craft in today's short journey. Have no expectation of a recurrence until Friday when GRIB (Generally Ridiculed Insipid Bunk) shows eagerly anticipated return of trade winds which will cause ipso facto an equally earnest desire for lower seas.

"The trick in life isn't getting what you want, my dear, it's wanting it after you get it." - Katherine Hepburn as grandmother Janou in "Love Affair"

Jack