day 99
Ellen: Gentle rise and fall of stern and bow, great eastern swell walking us downwind through the pool of stars. Long low rolling southern swell, sedate and even, tipping us on the beam, whispering old stories of southern turmoil. A west swell, long an lower, only seldom slipping past our bow, a ghost echo - the southern swell bent around the atoll to the south. All these sharpened in the silver light of stars, half moon, the first grey streaks of dawn. Orion, upside down above, Rigel on top. As dawn blossoms and fades into blue day, I see, low to the water, two noddies headed south in a straight line - gone fishing - tonight they raise an island from the sea.
Naomi here, We had a downwind run last night !!! A feat unto itself. 15 knots, gentle seas, very peaceful. I actually slept some of the time, and the rest of the time I lay there and thought, not sleeping in peaceful conditions is much nicer than not sleeping in loud and chaotic conditions. Apataki provided us a wave too- literally a wave, a very long wait between sets but still so nice to paddle out and dive down to the coral in the super clear water and rinse off our stinky bodies from too much time sweating it out in rotoava. After a jaw clenching pass to enter Apataki we sailed across the lagoon to the boatyard here, an all hands on deck affair , not too many bombies but many pearl buoys, some of which were partially or fully submerged :) stoked to be at an extremely peaceful quiet anchorage and greasing up the tools to get ready for our boat projects tomorrow
J r Tolkien here, a delicious dinner of frittata from Naomi tonight and a very peaceful anchorage. Quiet clear night with beautiful stars out. A welcome relief from the last couple of days of toil. Beautiful wave today.. well and truly shown up by the local boogey boarding children getting barrelllllls. I got one unforgettable wave tho , thanks Apataki. WOD - alteration. Alteration - to make a change or edit to SOMETHING. Used in a senny: I accidentally got into a bit of an alteration with an angry barkeep at my local tavern :(
Miriam: I love the feeling of being well and truly tired from a full day of delight. I have not yet remembered how to sleep while underway but rallied from a restless night to snorkel for what felt like hours, mesmerised by all the beings that dwell here. A huge moray bearing their teeth as they arose from their crevasse, elegant Moorish Idols and rainbow Parrotfish, every colour and shape of fish imaginable to my novice, wondering eyes. Schools of needlefish dappled by refractions just below the surface in murmurations of silver light. Swimming to the edge where reef drops thousands of feet to the darkening depths below and wondering what lies beneath. A lovely afternoon sail, starting to remember how to be useful crew. Delicious dinner, a quiet anchorage, brilliant stars above, sleep awaits.
Ia orana, Megan here. Today’s wonders of the world included: 1. Bioluminescent sparks flying in our wake. 2. Fleets of flying fish whirring across the ocean like so many tin toy planes, or the adventurers down under. 3. Standing on the stern during my watch, alone!, and rather enjoying our course through the stars, above and below. 4. Finally hearing parrotfish purr (someone google if fish chirrup, any fish at all although we suspect parrotfish. Is it actually our snorkel masks and a bit of wishful thinking or not??). 5. Anenomefish (clownfish, but not the nemo sort) cuddling into their luxurious homes and chasing off any fish who even dared look. Truly to live in an anenome must be a top three worldwide creature experience. I would pay big bucks to even try it out. 6. Saw a barracuda and ignored him. 7. Breaking the head again lol. But seriously the toilet is broken again. Maururu!