Reaching our stride

5/18 Thursday We pulled up anchor and headed back to one of our favorite anchorages in Hakatea on the island of Ua Pou. It is prized because of it's very settled waters, no rolling for us, it has amazingly easy dinghy access to get to town, very well provisioned magasins, the water is perfect for swimming and best of all, you guessed it - NO BUGS. It is not that we are so against bugs, just their bites. And these no-no bugs leave a bite that initially you don't feel, though the next day they welt up into terrible itching mounds and then move onto the slightly dormant phase that head up like a chicken pox mark, choosing to flair up and itch when they please.
The scars themselves can last up to two weeks we have found. Some people are much more susceptible than others. Bruce and Matthew apparently are much tastier than Tristan and I.

Capaz and Sarabi joined back in this anchorage as well and we were please to connect again with our pals on Moorea and Sensei. We had not seen Sensei, a kid boat carrying 11 year old Clair, since Marina del Rey. We spent Friday and Saturday enjoying the water and everyone's company. We baked a lot of banana bread, made some pizza to eat with the Kelly's and had a pancake breakfast with much of the gang on Sarabi Saturday morning. We finished our last bits of provisioning and Sunday morning after we greeted one last kid boat Blue Sky into the anchorage we made our departure and began our crossing for the Tuomotus. It is a bit strange to be leaving the Marquesas Islands behind but it is time and we are ready for a new set of islands to explore.

5/22 Monday coordinates 14 01.703S,142 00.406W wind 25-30 knots ENE. We are on our second over night of possibly 3 that it will take to reach landfall in the Tuomotus. These islands are known for being very low lying atolls, which are sunken islands of sorts, hollowed out with shallow lagoons in the middle, surrounded by coral reefs. We will be proceeding very carefully. Many of the passes run so shallow into the lagoons that they are not possible to navigate so we will pick and choose our island choices wisely. In order to navigate around many of these coral reefs you need to stand someone at the bow and watch for color changes in the water to see
where the reefs are and direct accordingly. The darker the water the deeper it is. We are starting in the southern set, choosing a road less traveled in hopes of some fun adventures. The islands are also known for their crystal clear aqua blue waters, amazing dive sites, and black pearl farms. We hope to enjoy them all.

We have to say that having been in the South Pacific for almost a month now, we feel like we are really beginning to hit our stride. Daily routines work a little more smoothly whether it is a daily load of laundry by hand or the trek to the store with the back pack. You only buy a few items at a time as it is all you can carry and the sticker shock won't kill you with these high French prices. A box of cereal at almost $7, you choose wisely. We are relaxing a bit more finally, enjoying the tasks that need to be done to keep us going, and enjoying the company of the little community that develops around us. It is a life to be shared.
Until next time,
Lisa and the boys

TheMartins on Ohana Kai
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