Almost there...!

Although we are still surrounded by sea and sky, land is not far off! The GPS says we have 147 miles to our destination, and our ETA is 22 hours: less than one day! WAHOOOO!!! Don't get me wrong, this has been some pretty incredible sailing... but I will be so stoked to arrive.

Picture Rutea cruising along at 7.5 knots, hitting 9.0+ as she surfs down a wave. The wind is steady at 16 kts out of the East, with gusts to 18. The thing is, its night. It is pitch black outside as there is no moon and the stars, while bright and clear, are no match for the thick darkness that one finds thousands of miles from any cities. The bioluminescence leaves a faint green trail in our wake. We are barreling across the ocean essentially blind, hoping that in the millions of square miles of the Pacific ocean there is no whale or container in our path. Sometimes I feel like we are going to sail right off the edge of the Earth, but rumors are that it is round, and we won't fall off.

This is an exhilarating feeling, and for the past few days we have had great wind- special shout out to the southerly tradewinds- to get us to the Marquesas with speed and style.

Funny, I am more excited about getting in the water than getting on land. Whereas we are surrounded by water, I have not gotten in it once, and my gills are drying up. As for surf in the Marquesas, I am playing the pessimist and not expecting much... so I will either be right or pleasantly surprised. I could have gone swimming when we were sitting in the doldrums, but there were tons of jellyfish in the water that I have concluded- with little research- were man-o-wars. Aside from that one day in the doldrums we have been moving too fast to go for a dip, unless I wanted to be left behind. No thanks.

I have been trying to brush up on my French and Tahitian, but it is hard to learn a language from a book. I figure I will just have to go make a fool of myself until I can get the basics... and I can't wait!! We have heard from friends who have already arrived and they make us jealous, and we have also heard from friends who are just leaving Banderas Bay. Hahaha, suckers. I will be drinking tropical drinks while they roll their way across the Pacific.

I think the thing I am looking forward to the most is to stop moving. Being on the go 24/7 is really exhausting. I just want to stay in one place for a bit. And the second thing I am looking most forward to is moving! Running, jumping, swimming, playing frisbee, whatever! This sitting all the time is exhausting. Did I just contradict myself again? Yes. But I find life to be a paradox, a catch-22, a contradiction, a positive for every negative and vice versa. Oh no, when I start to write like this I know it is time to stop.

I hope the next time you hear from me we will be at anchor in a beautiful, calm bay drinking champagne and toasting our good fortune. And so, I give you a preemptive "cheers!!"
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At 4/9/2011 8:02 PM (utc) Rutea's position was 07°53.59'S 137°04.65'W

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