Greetings all,

We left Nuka Hiva's main town around noon yesterday. I think it was Sunday, but it might have been Saturday. A funny thing about cruising is how quickly you loose track of what day it is. Usually after some debate we check the computer and find that we were both wrong about what day it is. Now I have the added problem of having set my computer to Greenwich time so it is sometimes a day ahead. So I actually don't know what day it is and cant' find out. Everyone should be blessed with such champaign problems.

So we left Nuka Hiva bound for the Tuomotus. We had done the usual boat preperations like closing all the hatches so water doesn't come in, and tyeing the kayak down and checking the engine fluid levels so we were ready to go. The sailing was perfect. Sunny, warm breeze, calm seas. We were wondering where our friends Jim and Kent on Sea Level were. I just had a feeling they were near by, so I called them on our vhf radio which has a bout a 25 mile range. "Sea Level, Sea Level, Sea Level, this is Endless Summer please come in." Right away a voice said, "Endless Summer this is Sea Level where are you?" "We're just leaving Nuka Hiva, what about you?" "We're about six miles out flying our red spinnaker." I looked with the binoculars, and sure enough off in the distance there they were! After some discussion onboard Endless Summer, we decided to delay our departure and we asked them to meet us in Danial's Bay for dinner. So Manjula and I had a nice sail for a couple of hours and then headed back down to Danials Bay. We anchored right off the beach in less than 10 feet of calm water and Sea Level anchored right next to us. We had a great reunion with our friends over dinner, and then over coffee this morning exchanged information about the Tuomotus before Manjula and I again set off.

Our route takes us about 500 miles south and a little west to an area that before the advent of GPS navigation was referred to as, "the dangerous isles". Unlike the Marquesas which are three and four thousand foot mountains and cliffs rising abruptly out of the sea, the Tuomotus are low lying coral atolls. They really are fascinating. Check them out on Google Earth and zoom in. You'll see the most interesting shapes. These islands were formed when volcanoes rose out of the sea and coral reefs formed around them. Later the mountains sank back into the sea leaving a chain of coral reefs with lake like centers. The larger atolls have lagoons 20 and 30 miles across. Many of the reefs have passes deep and wide enough for cruising boats to enter. The depths inside range from very shallow to around 100 feet. The water is crystal clear and the diving is some of the best. The Tuomotus chain runs 1000 miles form south east to north west. I've been looking forward to visiting this area which is also known for having great surfing!!

Some of the passes into the lagoons have fierce currents up to 10 knots. These occur as the tide is going out. So it is important to enter the passes at the end of the low tide. It is also an area where "eye ball" navigation is required. There are many uncharted coral heads and shallows in the atolls. Between 10 AM and 3:00 PM it is easy to see how deep the water is because the sun's angle is high enough. Outside of those times it is very dangerous to move about in the atolls and passes. These navigational factors make it challenging to time our arrival and movement between atolls. There has been much discussion about inaccurate charts, and tide tables among the cruisers in the Marquesas. Many boats are opting to take the shortest route through the Tuomotus stopping at the biggest and most popular atolls only. We feel this is a great chance to see an extremely remote and beautiful part of the world that should not be missed. We selected an atoll called Kauehi for our first landfall. It has an easy pass and is near many other atolls. It's small and probably visited less frequently than some of the more popular stops. We heard from a commercial fisherman who works the Tuomotus that low tide is usually between 9:00 and 12:00. So we are trying to time our arrival for early morning. That means that as we get within a day of the island we will start slowing down spending the last night at sea in order to arrive at day break. Now that we have our elephantitis vaccine, we are anxious to visit. Yup, you heard right. It turns out that some of these islands have had some cases of elephantitis. Manjula and I went to a local clinic and asked the medic for the vaccine for the mosquito born disease. Within five minutes we had our pills and were out the door. No paper work, no I.D., no charge. Gotta love non US medical services! The vaccine is good for a year. Many cruisers didn't get the vaccine, but we thought it was worth the effort.

So we set off in perfect sailing conditions and were soon enjoying a fast easy sail south. We aimed for the island of Ua Poa about 25 miles south so that we could do a drive by and see the island on our way out of the Marquesas. It was sure worth it. The island has needle like spires that top out at 4000 feet. It looks like a back drop for the hobbit or avatar. With the great conditions we cleared that island within a few hours and now at 3:00 AM are still sailing with full main and our big screecher up. The wind calmed down after dinner making for perfect moonlit sailing.

Thanks again for all the comments and interest in our blog. We are frustrated that we cannot post more pictures, but will do that when we get better internet.

Best to all,

Steve