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Blue Pearl - Almost There



Close but yet so far. We have 250 miles to go and have 2700 miles behind
us. Piece of cake, except the cake is a little stale. The weather is not
cooperating, we are moving slowly at 6-6.5 kts so we still have about 40
hours to go. Hiva Oa, (the Island we are heading for) can expect us
sometime early Tuesday morning. This is the longest sail we have ever
done, 18 days from the Galapagos, 432 hours, almost all of it sailing
with a little bit of motoring here and there. Just under 7kts per hour.
Which is not bad but a little slower than we anticipated and that's all
because of the last few days. Confusing and light winds, overcast,
squally skies, some rain. Just like at home. Except it is nice and warm.

Our experience with the 18 day passage is that time goes by slowly but
the days go by fast and suddenly we are almost there. And there is a 16
hour difference between this sentence and the previous one, so now we
only have about 120nm to go. I quit writing yesterday afternoon for some
reason but don"t remember why. I guess that happens after 18 days on a
boat.

When we get to Hiva Oa we have to check into French Polynesia, then do
some boat cleaning and laundry and hopefully explore what's happening
ashore. Hiva Oa is a relatively recent (by geological standards)
volcanic island with some outstanding scenery. It is also the island
where Paul Gaugin and Jacques Brel are buried. Who would have thought.
And I am sure there are a lot more tidbits about Hiva Oa but I don't
know what they are. Well, I do know one more which is that most
cruisers leave quickly to explore the other islands in the Marquesas
archipelago. You got to Hiva Oa to check into the country..!

We'll let you know how we get on there.

Captain Ruud.

ps. I just heard Laurie say that we have salmon mousse for lunch. This
is a luxury cruise...!

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