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Free & BrEasy - Welcome to the Marquesas



We have arrived in Hiva Oa, one of the Marquesas islands which are part of French Polynesia, literally in the middle of the Pacific ocean. 4000nm from Panama City and 4000nm to Australia. We have been told not to expect much in the way of fresh produce (we are eating the last of our fruit, a melon, and the fridge is virtually empty) but apparently the croissants should be good! The 3000nm passage from the Galapagos has taken exactly 21 days and is the longest any of the three of us have ever undertaken. Generally the weather conditions have been good although we motored the final 250nm due to light winds and the loss of our light wind foresail (the screecher!).

At dawn this morning, the shadows of the Marquesas gradually emerged from the morning twilight about 35nm away. Gradually, the rising sun filled in the land colours and we could see tall jagged mountains which rise from the deep ocean floor and sheer cliffs plunging in to the sea. The mountain peaks each had their own wooly hat of clouds! The strangest sight was the colour green which had been completely absent in our ocean of blue.

The passage now behind us, we can feel good about the small isolated society that has been Free and BrEasy. The 4 hour watch system has worked well and only the metal monster of the motor has disturbed our sleep when it was on! We have learnt about life in Lanzarote, Winnipeg and Scotland while chatting over the sumptuous meals. Roger was forever busy doing some jobs in the boat and even caught a flying fish which flew straight onto his dustpan while cleaning the front deck. Alejandro spent hours watching our wake disappear as he sat on the steps of the sugar scoops and Michael learnt a few songs on the guitar. We have had a chance to read, which was unusual in our previous existences. Titles include - Bring up the Bodies (Hilary Mantel), Fall of Giants (Ken Follett), Best kept Secret (Jeffery Archer), Don Quixote (Cervantes), Moby Dick (Melville), Midnights Children (Rushdie), Los Navegantes (Rosset), Vagabond of the South Seas (Moitissier)and Longtitude (). Reading occupies the loneliness of the long distanced sailor!

The beers are cooling in the fridge as we write this ready for the celebration after we anchor. Already we can hear the chatter on the radio of other World ARC boats who have arrived. The end of the first Pacific adventure and the beginning of our exploration of French Polynesia over the next few weeks including the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti and Bora-Bora, in the Society Islands. The anchorage at Atuano, Hiva Oa is surprisingly unspoiled with a few scattered wooden buildings perched on the green hills above, a coco nut tree fringed beach at the end of the bay and a cockerel crowing in the distance. High above cloud capped peaks soar ..all bodes well for French Polynesia Adventure. Cheers!


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