Monday 16th July

Nuku Hiva
Marquesas

8 54.888 S
140 06.115 W

Torrential rain continued all night and we woke to a very wet boat deck and unfortunately a couple of leaks – in the usual places so it was no great surprise. We were kicking ourselves for not having put out collection buckets to catch the water as there is nowhere to get drinking water here and we are down to our last few gallons. We aren’t even sure how much is in the tank as there are no gauges on it so we could run out at any moment. Gerry was determined to get to the shop and buy croissants for breakfast today so at 07.30hrs he set off in the dink, the rain having let up for the moment. At the same time I got out the buckets and positioned them to catch rain water when it came again. Suddenly a few huge gusts of wind came up and the spinnaker sock was straining to break free from the halyard and the cleat which it was anchored to. I braved the elements and eventually managed to drop the spinnaker on to the deck, without it falling into the water. I then went to put some coffee on to perk as I thought Gerry would be returning shortly. It was 08.30 hrs before he got back, having been to the bank (without success as his card wasn’t accepted at the only bank in town) and the shop – arriving late and only managing to purchase the last croissant, 3 sweet rolls and a loaf of bread for both Y Not and us. Of course it had begun to pour with rain again before he got back to the boat so he was soaked through. We enjoyed the fresh bakery foods and hot coffee and then settled in to read for most of the day, there being little else we could do in the torrential rain. Oh we did empty the buckets into the water tank as they filled up – every little helps! We had thought we would go ashore in the afternoon but the rain continued well into the evening so we hunkered down and read for the entire day. Gerry had his usual afternoon nap and got up in time for sundowners (had there been any sun to go down!) in the wet cockpit. As we sat out there with the rain coming down around us we noticed that there was a fabulous floral fragrance wafting across the harbour, I think it is jasmine but will have to check it out when we go ashore next. Once cocktail hour was over I couldn’t be bothered to cook as I wasn’t hungry and Gerry settled for a can of ravioli. Both of went to bed very early, we are slowly catching up with our lost sleep, and if we aren’t careful we will be in
debit mode to the sleep gods!