Blue Pearl - Big Day

Big Day for Blue Pearl today. We will be leaving The Marquesas Islands
and start on our way to the Tuamoto's and we will have new crew aboard.
Jack and Colin who have been with us since the Galapagos are leaving
this morning and Brita and Adrian are joining us.

Jack and Colin have been great. We could not have wished for a better
crew for the long passage from the Galapagos. They are hard working,
knowledgeable, good humored young men who made it easy for us to sail
the 3150 nm. They will always be welcome to join us again. Brita now
joins us from Amara, a fellow rally participant, and Adrian from
Christine, also another rally boat. As the rally proceeds crew comes and
goes and both Brita and Adrian became available as other crew (friends,
family, etc) joined the boats they were on.

We have really enjoyed the Marquesas Islands, much more so than the
Galapagos. They provide very nice cruising grounds, beautiful scenery,
some wonderful Bays for anchoring and interesting shore side activities.
We were treated to some very nice entertainment by local dance troupes
and enjoyed a beautiful dinner organized by the town of Nuku Hiva. We
could have easily spend more time here. But on we go, that's how this
rally works.

So, in a few days we will be at Fakarava in the Tuamoto's. This is atoll
land, essentially reefs surrounding extensive areas of deep and not so
deep water and land. Apparently the diving and snorkeling there is
amazing so we are planning to do quite a bit of that. And the water is
clear..! This was not the case in the Marquesas where the water is
somewhat murky with poor visibility which apparently attracts sharks
who can move around unseen, so we stayed out of their way by electing
to stay on the boat or on land. As I write this Laurie, who is up in the
cockpit, just spotted a shark. Fun.

In any case, we'll be writing again soon from the Tuamoto's.

Captain Ruud