Ella shows off
20 March 2009 | underway
Monique
Where are we going? That's a question we are asking ourselves. Wind has changed a bit and we are being blown to a different island in the Marquesas to make landfall. Spending a couple days in the very remote Fatu Hiva, before making an overnight sail to the main island of Nuku Hiva to get officially checked in by the gendarmie, was the original plan. But, Mother Nature is pushing us towards Nuku Hiva, allowing us to arrive in the AM sunshine as opposed to darkness in Fatu Hiva. Everyone has enjoyed the passage thus far, and would love to sack out in a quiet anchorage tomorrow night, we'll see how it shakes out. Currently, we're in a little squall, blowing 26 knots from behind and we have Ella up. Yes, that's the spinnaker. Zen's flat and going 14-16 knots through the water. Tom's in his glory, like a little kid riding his bike down that roller coaster road with his hair on fire. Other than our rocket ride towards land, we also had the pleasure of catching another tuna today. Tommy had pulled out the Galapagos book and was on the back deck trying to categorize a bird we had not seen before. It was dive bombing the water near us. I looked off the bows and saw a swarm of birds, something we have not seen in a few weeks. Immediately I called out, "Watch the rods, we're going to catch a fish in the next few minutes." Ten seconds later, the fish was on and the fillet knife was out. OK, common sense has returned to the captain without me having to club him with the fish bat. I am off to help Don and Tommy bring Ella down. All's good, I'm back, now under just the jib (no main) and Zen is still making 7.5 knots boat speed. Looks like I can return to my book that is transporting me to another location which is surrounded by water...Venice, Italy ("The City of Falling Angels" by Berendt, author who wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil").