Position: 09 degrees, 57 minutes South; 139 degrees, 07 minutes West

Today we got up early and sailed to the next island on our trip- Tahuata. Right now we’re anchored in a lovely little bay about 30 yards from a steep hill covered with coconut palms. Hapatoni Bay. We tried anchoring a little further South of here right in front of the village, but there was too much coral. We don’t anchor in coral for two reasons: the anchor chain breaks the coral off which is bad for the ecology and anchor chains will wrap around coral heads and become impossible to pull up. So, we moved from our intended anchorage to this nice spot about ¼ mile away. Tomorrow we will take the dinghy into town and explore. There’s supposed to be more archeological ruins here as well as local crafts (mostly wood-carving) to see. It would also be nice to get some fresh fruit as we’re getting low. Ann is making banana bread from the last of our huge stalk of bananas. A nice surprise, our friends from Blue Rodeo sailed past and we called them on the VHF. They didn’t recognize our boat visually as they sailed by since Ann finished the new bimini, but once they knew we were here, they decided to stop in, anchored next to us and we got invited to their boat for dinner. Yay! So, catching up on yesterday (Sunday). We and several of the other boats thought it would be interesting to attend Polynesian Sunday worship. It starts fairly early before the heat of the day (there’s no air conditioning around here to keep things cool) so we were up at dawn for our coffee and went ashore at 0730 to make sure we got a seat. It was a Catholic service spoken in Polynesian but Ann and several others reported that the flow and cadence was exactly the same as they are used to and was therefore easy for them to follow along. There were some striking differences though. Instead of organ music, they had guitars and ukuleles to accompany the singing-and to my ear the singing was so joyous and heartfelt, it was very moving. Also, instead of the depiction of Christ crucified on a cross, this Christ was a beautiful carving above the altar where Christ was walking with arms outstretched with rays of sunlight carved into the statue and a very large, freshly made lei hanging around His neck. At the same time as the Mass, the children of the village were in Sunday school next door and we could hear them singing. After the Mass, the children come into the church and everyone sings as few songs together before it’s done and time to go. One other fun thing about this morning at church was that since we had enjoyed dinner the night before at the Matriarchal Chief of the village and it was her granddaughter’s birthday as well (which we were part of), we had met a LOT of the children and other people in the village. Thus on Sunday morning we were welcomed very warmly not just by villagers, but by people who we had befriended at the dinner the night before. The sermon was given by our favorite ukulele player who we have since learned is the husband of our hostess After church, we went back to Charisma for some boat projects to fill up the rest of the day. Ann sewed the new bimini out of our sunshade fabric. It’s working great! Really helps cut the direct sun. I jumped in the warm water and scrubbed the marine growth off the side of the boat. The day’s activities were followed by “Charismas” at sunset where we were thrilled to see the GREEN FLASH as the sun set below the horizon. I’ve seen it a couple of other times in the tropics, but this one was the longest I’ve ever seen lasting for five or more seconds. A very cool way to end a wonderful day. After dinner, we were invited to “Gato Go” for a game of dominos which was a nice way to end the day. The only downside to the day was the very squally wind. We didn’t sleep really well because there were gusts in the mid-thirties. You always worry about the anchor dragging in that kind of wind and even though our anchor was very secure, having been set for three days, the wind gusts as they moan and howl through the rigging rattling anything not securely tied down just won’t quite allow a peaceful sleep. Oh well, small price to pay for the incredible experiences we are having the privilege to see and do. A few answers from some of the recent posts: Jerry (jham) asked a few days ago; did Ann have her glasses tied on. Yes. She had some straps and they were tied tightly but the surf grabbed them right off. Jerry also asked about the “cute native girls in their grass skirts”. The little girls are darling. By the time most of them are past their teens they could only be described as “very large island girls”. They do have a “large” elegance and beauty and nothing beats a Marquesan hulu which we have been privileged to watch several performances so far. Lastly, on nasty bugs: Yes, there are a few. The two that bother us are the giant wasps and the nonos. The wasps are huge, but fortunately just curious and not aggressive. Just scary looking. And enough good ol’ Deet seems to keep the nonos at bay when other friends of ours are covered in itchy bug bites. It seems they like the women more than the men. Lucky guys! Christine (CJ), there is no good internet here. Only the shortwave that allows us to upload these text posts. I spent 2 hours on wi-fi at the post office in Atuona/Hiva Oa as I thought we might get pictures loaded from there, but only text went through. Pics clogged the system. Might be a while before we get near enough bandwidth. Sorry, because some of the places are amazing to see. Cliff, (camcauliffe) thanks for all your posts. We enjoy reading them (and all the others), every night. New Zealand sounds good, but we’ll have to figure out timing and such over the holidays as we don’t know where we’ll end up yet. Joan and Paul, thanks for the notes. Ann loves to hear from you guys. Several of the islanders have been really surprised when Ann has told them that she has six siblings. Lisa (llmiller), If we do a book, you’ll have to be the copy editor and proof-reader!

Again, thanks to everyone who posts a reply. It’s so entertaining for us to read them every night and keeps us in touch with our friends and family.