It had been 29 days since we left the Galapagos. 29 days out of the sight of land. 29 days of water everywhere you looked. The journey had been wonderful by sailing standards, not too much wind, beautiful sunny days and starry, starry nights with no close encounters with large ships. I baked date nut bread for our breakfasts and we usually had fruit, bacon and eggs or a tuna wrap for lunch. Dinner was quiche or mac and cheese with tuna or pasta with any canned meat available sauce or rice with canned chicken or tuna. Canned veggies were used after the fresh ones ran out. We carried lots of canned tuna and canned chicken. When we left the Galapagos I had stashed away 3 large family size Butterfingers and nibbled away on them over the first few weeks while John and Gary were in the cockpit. They shared packets of cookies every afternoon. I went down below to read. I failed to mention the Butterfingers and was busted when we arrived in the Marquesas. John found the candy wrappers under the mattress when we were cleaning. I’m still living that one down.
Late one afternoon we came across a dark place in the ocean and as we got alongside, realized that it was a sperm whale, at least twice the length of the boat. It came completely to the surface as we glided by and acknowledged us with a huge blow from it’s air hole. Seemed a bit like he or she was greeting us!
So, after 29 days at sea I was the one who got to yell “Land Ho”!!! I saw our first glimpse of The Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia just peaking up from the horizon. As they became clearer the closer we got, they became more stunning, awesome, breathtaking and so many other words! Land! We had found land!
We sailed into Nuku Hiva harbor and anchored, went ashore to check in with customs and then the first thing we did was buy a warm, just out of the oven, crisp and chewy baguette for 2o cents! It was gone in seconds and tasted like heaven! We actually bought three and after we walked around town for a bit we all went back to the boat and ate the other two smothered with butter and jam! Really, sometimes it is just the simplest things that are so important and leave the most lasting memories. A couple days later Gary took us out to a farewell dinner at a little resort above the harbor. He was leaving the next morning to go back to Oklahoma. We all had tuna steaks with a Polynesian Vanilla creme sauce. It was one of the best things I have ever tasted. I am still trying to perfect that sauce. I find it interesting that so many of my best memories seem to revolve around food?
We were on our own now. Just the two of us and NeverMonday!
We moved down to another anchorage and started exploring. Having been told that trading is appreciated, we loaded up a bag with T-shirts, school supplies, candy and odds and ends from the boat that we were not using and set off to do some bargaining. We came away with more than we could have imagined. An islander named Austin Taupotini Tui said he would do some carvings for us. He wanted to make a life-sized Tiki for us but we assured him that we couldn’t fit huge carvings on the boat. So, we came back a couple days later and he and his son, Taupotini Carlos, had hand carved two beautiful, oblong wooden bowls with intricate detailing and stunning wood grain. They were all lightly polished with oil and gorgeous. Then he smiled and handed us a hand carved Tiki in the exact replica of the huge one that he had wanted to make for us. This one is about 12 inches tall and we promptly named him “Tiki Bob”. He was the perfect size for Never Monday!
Moving on down the island to the next anchorage, John finally caught a huge Giant Trevally! He had been fishing for days and days, the entire 29 day crossing with no luck, except for the one huge strike that bent the pole over, screamed out the line and then snapped it off. Probably just as well that we didn’t land whatever was at the other end of that one! The Trevally was wonderful and supplied us with several wonderful meals.
From the Marquesas we made our way over to the Tuamotu Archipelago, Papeete in Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora, they were all wonderful and stunningly beautiful. The evening crepe trucks in Papeete, the beautiful mountainsof Moorea and the white sand bays and sparkling turquoise waters of Bora Bora…We snorkeled in crystal azure waters, visited black pearl farms, ate baguette after baguette and had a fantastic visit from our good friends Doris and Greg from Montana. I can still hear Doris jumping up and down on the dock in Bora Bora yelling, “Diana, we’re here” as we waited in the cockpit for them to arrive.
Then on to the Cook Islands, Suwarrow Atoll, an incredible island surrounded by a coral atoll with only a few islanders living there. At that time, only a few sailboats ever made it to Suwarrow. It was a very special stop for us! They made us a huge feast with copious amounts of lobsters, breadfruit, fruit salads and coconut drinks. We caught up on boat maintenance, lots of swimming and daily doses of exploring. Had to keep a close eye out though for the many blacktip sharks in the harbor as we took a dip every afternoon to cool off!
We waved goodbye to our friends in Suwarrow Atoll and headed Never Monday! for Pago Pago, American Samoa, our next stop, where we would anchor for almost a year, waiting for good friends from the British Virgin Islands to arrive. One night out at sea, before we arrived, we were sailing quietly in good weather around midnight with a beautiful moon shining. We heard a bit of commotion, John was out in the cockpit and I was down below. Definite noises around the hull. I went up top to have a look and John was laughing and reaching over to pet a pilot whale that was right along side the boat. We were moving along at about 4 knots and so was the whale! John thought it was real fun until he leaned over a bit too far and the whale blew from his blowhole right into Johns face! His first exclamation of “I’ve been slimed” was hilarious and kept us laughing for hours. Let me tell you, the smell of whale snot all over your face and clothes is not a nice thing! John had to have a cockpit shower before he was allowed below decks!
Pago Pago was a wild and beautiful island and we kept very busy. Lots of boat work, John took a job as a carpenter and I worked at the local drug store Pharmacy while we waited for our friends to arrive. We rode the colorful local buses to work and stocked up on canned tuna, since the tuna plant was right around the corner of the Bay and I even had my knee operated on in the local hospital after tearing some cartilidge on a hike. (a story in itself). Suffice it to say, Always make sure you tell them repeatedly which knee is the bad one!
The year went by fast and our friends on S/V Isis arrived safely. The plan was to head on down through Tonga to New Zealand where we could relax and see the all the sights. None of us had any idea of what was in store…