02:39.4S

148:02.1W

I have to get used to putting in the latitude as south.  We passed 3 big fishing boats last night.  They are hard to figure out; you see a red light and presume they are going from right to left but they aren’t moving.  They are drifting sideways directly at us.  Early responses by our keen eagle eyed crew have avoided any problems.  We contacted a marina in Tahiti, yesterday, and made arrangements for our arrival, in French (so let’s hope its what we expect).

Last night Thom talked about a video he took off the internet, showing John and Yoko Ono at a concert in Toronto in 1969.  When I told him I was there (Rock and Roll Revival), he played it.  Quite eere to see the concert so many years later.  This was the concert where Yoko screeched from under a blanket and drowned out John and Eric Clapton.

The nights are special; lying on your back you see a half moon  so bright, you think it is so near it must be attached to the mast, and you want to turn it off because it obscures the stars.  The dominant sound is the rush of the water by the hull.  It is overtaken by the feel of the wind on your face when there is a slight gust or wind shift.  Then you hear the water again.  And if you open your eyes, the stars have come out more strongly, now that the moon has hidden itself behind some clouds.

We caught a little fish yesterday that we threw back.  Dave made special vegy chili with roasted red peppers that gave it a real punch.  Unfortunately, during the last few days, we have been throwing out much of our fresh stuff; eggs, lettuce, mangoes, grapes.   

Our course is generally on track; we wanted to be a little further east (146 instead of 148) of Tahiti, which is at 149 degrees west, because the winds and currents south of the equator are supposed to push us west.  They have not done so yet as predicted, but we have a way to go.

I am reading Melville’s account of his entry into Tahiti and feel I can almost use his descriptions of entering Papette as piloting directions to follow.  His writing strengthens our connection to travelers who have gone this way before.  In the vernacular, “cool”.

So far, ours has been a solitary voyage.  Upon arriving in Tahiti, I expect we will meet the boats coming from Mexico and Panama through Galapagos and Marquesas, which is the more normal “milk run”. There will be pluses and minuses to joining a community, but looking forward to it, if it happens.

Gnerator just needed two starting attempts to get going; hope that’s not something serious.  Sam just told me about a new book by a favorite author, Michael Lewis. 

Babelfish in da south