John's Blog Updated. Original post with photos: http://travel.reservationkey.com Latitude: -9.76433 Longitude: -139.14037

After spending about a week in Atuona we have now moved on and are currently at the other side of the island. Sailing conditions were great for most of the four hours it took to get here, except for the last two miles when we were bashing into big seas and 20 knot winds. The main attraction at this anchorage is a lush freshwater spring just behind the beach.

The water is very refreshingly cool and excellent drinking quality. This morning I filled two five gallon cans with the water and hauled them out through the surf to the kayak and back to our boat. We had some difficulty getting our watermaker going so we thought we would replenish our water supply from the spring. Just as I get back to the boat though, the watermaker started working normally. Thank goodness, because having to take on water manually like that would be very hard.

In Atuona we replaced our radar unit and picked up new parts for our refrigerator. Since the refrigerator is working well right now we are hesitant to change it, but we probably will anyway since the only reason it is working is because lots of holes are filled with epoxy which could potential give out at an unfavorable time.

Bruce in front of a sheer cliff dropoff all the way to the water. One day in Atuona we joined with the crew from Evergreen and took a day long tour of the island, visiting some of the historic tiki sites. We also drove on a narrow, treacherous road, along steep cliffs for part of the trip. In the highlands of the island the air was much cooler and there are even pine forests. During our trip we picked up a few big bunches of bananas and lots of grapefruit so we are now well supplied with fresh fruit.

Last Sunday we celebrated Pascale's birthday by going out to a nice pizza restaurant (the only one available actually), and then having chocolate cake on the boat after dinner.

One day we hiked to the cemetery above town to visit the graves of two of the islands most known residents. Jacque Brel, the French singer, died here in 1973. Paul Gauguin, the French painter famous for scenes of the South Pacific, died here in 1903.

Tomorrow we set sail early for a 55 mile passage to the next island, Ua Huka.