We are over halfway to the Tuamotu Islands, there is no wind and we are experiencing very hot and humid conditions whilst at sea. We have been motoring nearly the entire distance since departing Nuku Hiva and are looking forward to our arrival on the island of Manihi. Unfortunately we did not have a chance to clean our hull's bottom in the Marquesas and the heavy fouling is slowing our speed by approximately one knot! We had originally expected to arrive Sunday but it now looks like Monday morning at dawn.
We have all agreed that this has probably been the most boring passage of the Rally so far: the drone of the engine, the inescapable heat day-and-night, and the lack of energy to do much of anything. Somehow Corinne persuaded the girls to work on their special reports for school yesterday afternoon, probably because they got to sit directly in front of our large portable fan. Nonethless, we have enjoyed some very good meals, especially the fresh-caught tuna which we bought from a fisherman just before leaving Nuku Hiva. Two kilos of beautiful, fresh tuna steaks for US$10. Certainly one of the best purchases so far.
Other than the monotony during this 465 nm passage things have been going smoothly. The noteworthy exception was the watermaker which failed to start the first night out. We had left port with minimal water after having been at anchor for several days, the water in the public works mains did not look particularly appealing and we planned to fill our tanks while at sea using the watermaker. Naturally we were a bit shocked when it wouldn't start and we briefly discussed turning around to buy more bottled water. After reviewing the situation we determined we had sufficient water in our emergency supplies to reach the Tuamotu's although we would have had to sharply reduce our showers and dishwashing. Fortunately after a thorough review of the watermaker's plumbing and electrical connections we found the problem was simply a defective switch which we have since by-passed and the unit has been working as brilliantly as ever since then.