Back on the big blue. We are sailing between the Marquesas and the Tuamotos and hope to arrive by Saturday. It is beautiful, with light winds and (mostly) smooth seas. For the first time in weeks, the boat is gloriously bug free and a bit cooler. The forecast shows the winds continuing to drop and we may end up bobbing around for longer than we hope, but we are sailing well now.

As there is basically nothing new happening, I will catch up on a few of the events that kept us busy lately.

Timothy continued his track record of being a hazard and we had an opportunity to visit a French hospital for a laceration on his head. He was playing with friends on another boat and ran head long into a winch on the boom and opened up his scalp for an inch or so. The family called me on the radio to let me know that most of the bleeding was stopped and Mary and Timothy would pick me up on the way to the hospital. My first reaction was "Timothy? Great, here we go again." Fortunately we were in the main town of Taiohae and a dingy ride and a short walk brought us up to a small hospital where he was treated for free for what would have cost us at least $1000 in the US. As for the very concerned family on the other boat - Our lawyers will be in contact.

While we lament the lack of fish that we have been catching, our efforts have not been completely fruitless. The seabirds regularly check out the lures and boobies seem especially fascinated. Boobies are not the smartest birds to start with, as we approached Ua Poa after an overnight sail from Tahuata an exceptionally slow one grabbed the lure and was promptly hooked and drug along after boat. We carefully brought the bedraggled thing in and deposited him in the cockpit. Fortunately, he was hooked through the webbing under his beak and we were able to disengage him with out much damage. By the time he was unhooked we were approaching the harbor so we just let him wander around at our feet as we anchored. It was pretty funny watching the boys' reaction as they straggled out of bed and sleepily climbed up the steps and found a booby standing in the cockpit. After pooping in the cockpit three times it wore out its welcome and we picked it up and set it on the side deck. Seeing the water made it so excited, it immediately tried to fly through the lower life line. After bouncing off about four times (rather than walking under) it gave up and just stood there. When it pooped again, despite the kids protests, I helped it over the rail with my foot.

Mary wants me to add that Timothy looks like he has chicken pox from all the mosquito bits. He is covered in red bumps that have all been thoroughly scratched.

We have only had about 10 minutes of internet access since we left Mexico and it looks like this will continue to be limited. We were able to read some of the comments on the blog and appreciate all the hello's.