Position: 09 degrees, 21 minutes South; 140 degrees, 02 minutes West

We awoke this morning to a stupendous view of the steep minarets rising off of our stern. Bob’s mountain climbing wanderlust was awakened just looking at them. When we went ashore and checked in with the Gendamerie, just a courtesy check-in as we actually checked into the Marquesas in Atuona, I asked if people actually climbed those minarets. He hesitated and said yes, but that due to the rain of the last two nights it was not advisable. It would be one heck of a climb as the highest peak, Mt. Oave, is 4,040 high.

So instead we wandered the small town looking for provisions. Mostly we wanted fruits and vegetables. Although the mangos and breadfruit seemed to be prolific, the trees were all in people’s yards so we abstained from picking any. The vegetables in the stores consisted of tomatoes and some sad looking potatoes. Can’t be picky, so we got some of both. We ran into our friends from “Island Bound” who asked us to join them for lunch at the local restaurant. The waiter seemed to want to direct us to the special of the day, tuna tartar, but Island Bound had been there yesterday and so finally he brought the whiteboard to our table with other selections. Bob and I stayed with the special and it was really delicious. Island Bound had shrimp and sashimi and were pleased too. But it should have been for the price. We are so used to Mexico’s prices that we were a little stunned by the $47 lunch (for two). We stopped in to see the local Catholic Church after lunch. There was a class of about 30 students practicing for what might be an upcoming First Communion. They were pleased to have us as an audience and we got many secret waves and smiles. The church has a beautiful pulpit. It is a massive block of tou carved to look like the bow of the boat cutting through the waves. Incredible carving. This town is interesting because it has the islands’ high school in it. Apparently the students board in apartment-looking buildings next door to the school because the other villages, though not far, are difficult to get to by road. So the town has lots of teenagers around. We have not seen many in our travels on the other islands so now we know where they all are.

These same teenagers were playing at the dock as we returned to our dinghy, enjoying pushing each other off and teasing – just like at home. As Bob rowed us back to Charisma, his back to the anchorage, I informed him that Island Bound had three of the local teenage girls hanging out on the bow of their boat. We found out later that they wanted to practice their English so asked to come back to their boat when they returned. This was just the start of the fun as their friends on the dock could see and wanted in on the fun. No wonder as we rowed out several kids were calling to us. We greeted them back but misinterpreted their calls.

The girls ended up being quite social and loved playing with Kat’s digital camera. We can’t wait until cameras are so cheap we can give them to people in places like this. When Bill returned the girls to the dock three boys managed to convince Bill to let them come play. What a trooper! After having Tang and cookies on the boat while playing Bill’s guitar and singing songs, they convinced Bill to let them drive the dinghy around the anchorage. Just like boys in a car for the first time – pedal to the metal. Bill did a great job of keeping them from running over anchor lines and other boaters.

As the sun set on the bay the far side of the bay (which is only a little over 100 yards away from where we’re anchored) we could sit and watch surfers finding large 5-6 foot waves to surf in on. Even the outriggers get in on the game. One 8-man outrigger was doing a splendid job of surfing very long distances and bailing just in time before hitting the rocks. No sand here. Poetry on water! We watched a single outrigger surfing for about three hours this morning. Just going again and again. These guys are really strong.

We will be leaving this bay tomorrow and after posting this blog will determine if we round the island to the next anchorage or continue to the next island of Nuku Hiva which is 25 miles to the north. Tune in tomorrow to see where we landed!