On the road again ..

 

It is early evening on Wednesday, May 12.   Oso Blanco is 292 nm from our destination in the Tuamotu Islands and 230 nm from Nuku Hiva, where we left yesterday afternoon.   It has been a perfect passage, so far, with 10 - 15 knots of wind and gently rolling 4' - 6' seas pushing us along.   The sun has just set, not with the blazing glory of many ocean sunsets, but, like our day, it gently slid over the horizon behind some distant clouds.   The darkness comes quickly at sea and soon we will see the Southern Cross pointing at the southern pole star and in the other horizon the Big Dipper, but Polaris is not visible from here at 12* south latitude. 

 

Since our landfall in the Marquesas 3 1/2 weeks ago, we have been in a blur of new islands, new friends, hikes in beautiful valleys, hours snorkeling, and reconnecting with our cruising friends that also came over from Mexico.   The Marquesas have been our goal for the last 2 years' planning.   It was hard to look past the islands far out in the Pacific, as we focused on the "crossing".   It seems strange today, having left what had seemed like the destination, as we move on to the next South Pacific paradise.    French Polynesia is a huge area larger than all of Europe.   For some reason, the French limit our visas to only 90 days.   It would have been easy to spend months in the Marquesas, but our adventure continues as we look forward to 3-4 weeks in the Tuamotus and then on to Tahiti and the Society Islands.

 

We expect to arrive in the Tuamotus early Friday morning.

 

E

Manta ray photo

Look back on the blog posts for the one written by Bear called "Swimming with Manta Rays".  I've added a photo of our friend with one of the rays. To give you perspective, when Jamie is stretched from fin tip to finger tip he is about 8 feet long. Those Manta were BIG! 

Photos

We were able to put 120 photos onto our Shutterfly sharesite in the album called "South Pacific". To view, click on "Photos" on our website and enter the password "osoblanco".

View the Tattoos

Eric got a ring of Marquesan sea symbols imprinted around his left ankle. Our friend and crew member, Karl, got a Marquesan turtle put on his left shoulder to symbolize his shellback status. Both look great!

A Night to Remember

 

We are curently anchored in a small bay on the north side of Nuku Hiva.   There are 5 sailboats here with us, all with kids.   3 of the boats are our friends from Mexico and there is a one from Switzerland and one from Australia.  

 

After a day where we all swam with giant Manta rays in the bay, we arranged for a traditional Marquesan dinner at a small neighboring village.   They roasted a whole pig in the ground wrapped in bananna leaves.   The dinner included roasted breadfruit, tapioca, and fresh fish.  The village is approximately 5 miles away in a different bay, so Oso served as the mother ship and we took everyone in the anchorage, 14 adults and 13 kids, over to the other bay.    After the cocktail cruise, we then had to ferry everyone to the beach in dinghys. The town is set against the steep cliffs of an ancient volcano and there are archeological ruins and remnants of stone tikis everywhere.   It was a wonderful adventure with new and old freinds!  

 

PS   We have not had wifi or internet for a while.   We'll post photos soon.

 

E

Swimming with Manta Rays!

Early this morning we went snorkeling in the bay. On our way back, my friend spotted a fin flapping in the water. We got closer and it was a group of seven Manta rays. We all got in for a half hour to swim with them. They were huge! Their wing span was bigger than my dad. They were very curious and playful. I followed one in a complete circle. My friend, Nile, even went down and held on to one of the big ones for three seconds. Then it darted away. There was one Manta that had no tail. It was a once in a lifetime, extraordinary experience! Written by Bear

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Slideshow

Check out the slideshow on the left side of the Blog. There about 40 photos there from our trip. To enlarge, double click on the photo. Enjoy!