Good Thursday Morning

Each morning the dawn breaks and I'm faced with a band of puffy clouds under which rain falls at various intervals. I worry and fret, but by the time we reach the clouds they've lifted a bit, the sun is warmer, and I've won my game of chicken once again. Although I don't like the thought of getting rained on (mostly because it sometimes means increased wind) Nakia would welcome a good bath. She's encrusted in salt - you can't touch a surface forward of the cockpit without coming up with a handful of salt crystals. But I'm in no hurry since I know our turn for a downpour will come soon enough.

Before we left I asked John to use some of our remaining Hotspot internet minutes in Raiatea to download some of our favorite cruiser blogs and web pages. So he pulled up an Explorer window and opened tab after tab of our friend's adventures. Now we're reading about Masquerade in Kwajalein, Nine of Cups and Sarana's summer in the States, Mist in Hawaii, and even Yohelah's 2005 Pacific NW entries. Great fun to have the company of friends during a long passage!

Ziggy got a flying fish on the side deck last night but I grabbed some paper towels and relieved him of his catch as soon as he returned with it to the companionway. They are stinky, slippery things. Freedom reported "catching" one that was a foot long! We've never seen one that big.

It was another nice, quiet night, and we'll hope for another sunny day moving along. Oh, and yes, we have plenty of food on board to get us where we want to go! Just not as many fresh veggies/fruits as we normally would because variety of the former is limited, quality of imported produce is poor, and all are expensive in French Polynesia.

Linda