Up-date..

Good New "Voodoo Child" one of the missing yachts turned up safe &
sound in Hiva Oa after an 8 weeks crossing..

15th April..

Ummmm... ...So What's that saying.... "A picture paints a thousand
words?" we'll in this tiny Village of Motopu, they probably missed
that one.... because.. the internet is SOOO slow.. totally impossible
to send a single photo under $50 each....eek!1. So the new saying
here is... "A word saves a thousand dollars" ...

So picture this...... "Apple's" teak deck's gently swaying in rhythm
with the clear turquoise ocean, her deep blue hull rock's,
silhouetted against the perfect white coral sand beneath, sunlight
dances as if refracts against the Pacific's smooth surface, Veronica
lies sleeping in a rope hammock, creating a shadow over the ripening
banana's that swing from the mast, a lone breadfruit roll's back &
forth against her shrouds..... beyond is the hypnotic sound of waves
crashing against the coconut tree lined coral beach, which separate
the monolithic volcanic landscape that piecers the perfect blue sky,
the air is filled with the fragrance of rich tropical
vegetation.. .Ummm heaven..

Suddenly.. I expect to be pinched by Jay my agent at CAA.. " Mike..
Mike"... I open my eyes and see .. Ethan Hawk... saying to me... (as
he has so many times)..."Mike.. Yes !! I think I should say this line
& this line..... Oh..oh... ..i've got a brilliant idea..let's change
the name of the island... from Nuku-Heva... to ummm.. Heva-Nuka..
Yes.. Heva-Nuku & could we re-locate it in ...scotland.. make the
locals scottish, except me!!

Tahuata.. definitely is a place to visit... No tourists.....
because ..No airport! & No ships!... the only access here is via small
private boat's.. & the boats have to travel 3000 miles to get here... .

Soooo... just us & a few other visiting yachts.. we've met yachts
that sailed from Italy, France to Netherlands to South Africa.. Nice
people all out to explore their imaginations.... the owner & crew of
"Carinthia" a large Benneteu lagoon catamaran, invited us the dinner
last night so we're both just relaxing ..and a little hangover..
also tired as my dingy flipped the previous day..so I've been busy
draining & rebuilding the little Yamaha 4HP...

There's plenty for us to celebrate.... but we also received a very
strong reality check .. when we heard that 3 yachts are missing out
in the pacific. 2 still missing between Mexico & the Marquessa's &
one between Panama & Marquessa's.... both the Mexican departures
are over 3 week's late.. make's us both extremely humbled ... & very
grateful to Rick & Sharon on Cat Limerick, who whilst cruising in the
sea of Cortez .... carefully tracked our crossing, whist delivering us
weather 24-7.... i hope that one day i can return this amazing favor.
that sort of umbrella is beyond words... anyways ...our hearts to the
missing crews..

So tonight were heading out... Veronica, Apple & myself are now
heading to the capital island of the Marquesas islands "NUKU HIVA"
around 120 mile to the north.. there a forecast of 17-20 knots winds
from the east.... with a swell of 1.7M ENE, so should be a fast
passage.. I'm hoping to make it in around 14 hours so departing at
night means arriving at sunrise.. the perfect time to find a new
anchorage....

12/april

After checking in & re-stocking "Apple" (yacht) with some local fresh
produce.... Bread fruit, banana's, Egg plant's, Mango's, olives &
coffee... & getting out laundry done.. & we've truly learnt that these
islands are EXPENSIVE! $110 to get two bang's of laundry done.... ?
eek!!

Anyways... we said good bye to Nathan & Naomi, The couple we met in
La Cruz... So Nathan turned-out to be a Taxidermist.. Ummmm? & we
never quite worked out exactly what Naomi did or could do..? other
that drink Diet Coke & eat peanut butter sandwiches all day.. after a
couple of days at sea.. Nathan started inventing term & equations
biased on light speed & worp factor's? to try to fathom out distance
covered.. he just kept mumbling different numbers in relationship to
light speed? This all seamed very confusing... however after I caught
him referencing a "Star treck" adventure book.. ....I guess ...that's
when i realized Nathan wasn't all he said he was........ anyways
having them on board wasn't too difficult... they took responsibility
at there respective watches which made such a long passage easer.. I
made a watch rota of 4 hour on - 8 hour off... neither had much too
sailing experience so i remained available 24-7...

Having our space back is like heaven... we're now in Tahuata an
Island only 3 miles off Hiva-Oa, it's only 8.5 miles long with a
total population of 500, This is the first island that the French
declared the the Marquesas as conquest...... I guess the lone monument
to French Admiral Dupetit-Thouars, who died here is a cold reminder to
it's violent past...

Were currently anchored in Baie Du Nord-Quest.. an idillic white
coral sandy bay, lined with palm tree's that frame the tropical
rainforest beyond..
On first arrival we were greeted by 3 baby wild pigs..!! they seemed
more that happy to jump around our dingy... this is such a stunning
bay that were staying here for at least five day's as i heard that
giant manta-rays feed here around 5-7am each morning... Cool..