Day 22
Back at sea once more, we left Nuku Hiva in our rear view mirror at 6 am. We quickly replaced the calm of Daniel’s Bay with the familiar roll of the ocean waves: life on the slack line once more.
But a light wind and following seas makes it all quite friendly.
Georgie’s decision to jump sharks yesterday kept us anchored for longer than originally planned, but no regrets. I lay on the bow under the slowly darkening sky, watching the moon play peekaboo behind the furled foresails. The cliffs made a bowl of the the bay, brimming with the gold and pink of the setting sun. Time to reflect on all the day had brought.
After our epic day, a quiet clam pasta dinner left us sated and quietly reading….dozing….sleeping in the cockpit.
Ua-pou and its basalt pillars beckons, but we sail past
The end result of our peaceful evening is a missed visit to Ua-pou, instead making straight for Makemo in the Tuamotu Atolls. On a mission to find the perfect white sand beach, we anticipate a three day sail, arriving some time early in the morning of Day 25.
If the passage continues its current pattern, I don’t care if it takes four days. In an act of true love, David rigged a shade over the bow, creating a slice of heaven. I am back on the cushions, watching the Masked Boobies and Tahitian Petrals circle and soar over the waves, cooled by the breeze, and still somewhat protecting myself from the worst of the tropical sun. While the sailing during first days of this trip had us munching through a plate of broccoli, today we are onto the coconut crème brûlée: sweet and creamy, with just a perfect hint of the tropical.
The Mario brothers are racking up brownie points today. Not only installing the shade cloth, they then made lunch, and David is back in his role of Luigi the Plumber, adding Teacher to his title. Georgie just joined me on the bow proudly announcing that she now knows how to replace the joker valve. She has become an honorary Mario Brother, and I’m feeling a little left out.
Plumbing tidbit
A joker valve is a one-way valve in a marine toilet, also known as s duckbill valve due to to its shape, or in Georgie’s terminology, a sphincter.
Maybe I don’t mind being left out.
I thought I’d post a pic of this fabulous creature that landed on Leona yesterday, rather than a pic of today’s toilet machinations.
Both are a little scary.
It’s been three weeks since we left Santa Barbara, and apparently that is the time it takes to form a habit or break a habit. We are drinking less, shaving less, reading more. But perhaps the habit the Leona crew is truly perfecting would make Eckhart Tolle proud: living in the Now.
