Not so much rain.

We're still in Nuku Hiva (Baie de Taiohae, the town is called Taiohae). A note about these Marquesian/Tahitian names: pronounce every letter. Good luck pronouncing Taiohae.
Right now we're playing the waiting game until the crew list on the boat can be changed at the Port Captain's office (I'm going to be on the crew list!) And then we'll wait until Jory flies out and sail to the Tuamotus.

The waiting game here is pretty rough. It involves wandering around town looking at all the tikis, chatting with other cruisers and chilling on the boat. Hanging out with the other cruisers is a blast--there's so many folks from every imaginable background here. Most of our time is spent with Richard and Brian on Osprey, Liz and Joe on Set Me Free, and Heidi and Joe on Huck. Half the time we say people names and half the time we say boat names when referring to folks, so there's a list for reference.

The plan for Saturday was to go on a hike but I felt like a zombie with a sore throat and fatigue, so Ben and I hung around the boat and he worked on projects while I slept. That evening we went over to Osprey to talk about sailing plans since they're great hopscotch-sailing partners. I fell asleep around 8, as usual.

When we woke on Sunday morning there was actual BLUE SKY! No rain! Immediately I draped wet things over the lifelines to dry--all the mildewy towels, wash cloths, bathing suits, etc. The sun here is so intense that even with the high humidity things will dry.

We planned on a hike and then a potluck over on Osprey, but the boys had also committed to stopping by Compass Rosey and either sailing or merely checking things out. Compass Rosey is an odd duck. In England, where the boat was registered, they can't have more than one boat with the same name and there was already a Compass Rose. They added a y and called it good. The owners are in a bit of a pickle. Neville bought the boat in Mazatlan, Mexico and had planned to learn to sail on the passage across the Pacific, but was sick the entire 3-4 weeks and didn't learn to sail. So he's looking for a skipper to get him through the Tuamotus and to Papeete in time for him and his wife to meet their daughter. The boat also has some issues that could make that very difficult. Best of luck to them, I hope it works out.

The time on Compass Rosey ate into our hiking time, so no hike again. The consolation prize was the potluck on Osprey--Brian made curry where the only thing not local was the chicken! He soaked coconut meat in milk to make the coconut milk and all the veggies were bought in the little market here. So delicious! Richard made lemon bars, but used local limes. We contributed some tobasco popcorn and breadfruit chips.

Breadfruit is a pretty awesome staple here. It cooks up like potatoes which makes it extremely versatile. It can be sliced thin and fried for chips, boiled and mashed with butter, or even made into hummus for sandwiches.

Sorry if the posts seem a little discombobulated--there's so much going on here it's hard to describe in a cohesive, readable way.