Hot Water

0800 Position 4-35S 136-04W. Days run 204 miles.

I recall reading somewhere that there aren't significant coral reefs in the Marquesas because the water is too cold. I didn't see much coral during my first cruise there in '86 which seemed to confirm that theory, but now I'm not so sure. I had expected the water to keep getting colder until we reached the islands, and it got down to 83.5 degrees as we got south of the doldrums. I even had a sweatshirt on the night before last. Yesterday morning the water temperature reversed direction though, and has since increased to 86.5 degrees. Hot water means hot air and it was pretty uncomfortable yesterday during daylight hours. It was almost too hot to be below, and impossible to sleep. Last night it cooled off enough to sleep, but you didn't even need a t-shirt on deck. We are less than 500 miles from the Marquesas now, and I can't see the water cooling to the point that coral won't grow before we arrive there. I just pulled out a cruising guide and read that it is hot year round in the Marquesas. Hmmm. Maybe Berg and Kai can get the facts for us.

Perfect sailing conditions continue though. We are still beam reaching in eight knots of wind and flat seas. The lack of change should make it boring, but who can get tired of these conditions? All the hatches are open and the deck is dry. Climb into the cockpid during the day and you'd think you were in a library with everybody sitting around reading in the shade of the bimini.

It was Mike's turn to cook yesterday and he put in a request for fresh fish. Longy and I tried to oblige but had no luck. It is a bit surprising. There are flying fish everywhere and we are seeing groups of sea birds working as we get close to land so there should be something catchable out here.

If the weather continues little changed, which is the forecast, then we should arrive in the Marquesas on Monday morning. Depending on our arrival time we will either go directly to Fatu Hiva at the southern end of the group, or to Hiva Oa, fifty miles to the north where we will formally check in to French Polynesia.