At Sea, SouthEastern Tuamotus
8 June 2010
20.1116S 138.9331W

left from Amanu: 17.7300S 140.6513W

I’m not exactly sure what we were collectively thinking. Frank woke up 2 mornings ago, in our idyllic super protected anchorage in the far North of Amanu, smelled the north wind, and in his most boyish excited voice, asked if I wanted to see Les Gambiers. I have a hard time refusing when he’s already excited about the prospect of something. So off we sailed to ride the tail of a storm southeast to Les Gambiers, the southeastermnomst islands in French Polynesia. A day and a half later, I keep flashing on that moment, I was lying languidly reading “The Book Thief” basking in the prospect of another 4-7 days of atoll life relaxing into snorkeling, beachcomging, drinking fresh coconuts, reefwalking, reading = a real vacation after the busyness of the Marqueses. Frank had just the evening before, developed a schedule of approximate destinations between now and next December, starting with the Australes in another week or so. Life was good. Next thing you know we’re pulling up the dinghy, trying to make the boat sea ready again (atoll anchorages are delightfully flat): packing stowing, dealing with the junkyard on the back deck. Can someone tell me what I was thinking?

I don’t really know that much about where we’re going, we don’t have a guidebook on board (I’m brewing up a discussion on guidebooks for another day). So we’ll be discovering as we go. I know a lot about where we are now, the wind and squalls are coming at us out of the North/Northwest, the seas are coming from all directions, and we are trying to head due Southeast to Rikitea. Tonight’s goal is to steer clear of the atoll Miruroa “Zone Interdit.”

I still got to finish “The Book Thief,” so I don’t know why I’m complaining.

And this morning’s sunrise was a most spectacular show. Every point on the compass rose was blooming a different palette of colors. Behind us to the north, pale sky blue and pink hues peaked past high wispy wave shaped white clouds. To the west and close, dark squall clouds glowed an ominous ochre color and two rainbows at different locations faded in and out. To the south the Ochre brightened to a deep yellow and pink. And East was an amazing mash of multiple sunrises. Layer upon layer of different cloud types played off one another passing colors back and forth in an amazing display. At one point a cameo shaped whole in soft yellow glowing storm clouds with golden edges afire revealed high sharply contrasting sand dune-like ripples of brilliant tangerine orange against sky blue, as the ripples approached the horizon, they blended into a citron yellow foam, which combined with the blue sky to create a green haze. There was no way to photograph this 360x3D realtime performance. It lasted a good 15 minutes, and the sun did not actually show his face till the costumes had been removed, and the clouds had dressed in their quieter whites and grays for the day. High and bright, he emerged and smiled on our thirsty solar panels.

Somehow that dramatic sunrise matched my mood. Lots of complex conflicting feelings: excited to be going to a new unexpected place, regretful of the missed opportunities to laze about and to visit the village at Amanu, and angry at this sloppy sea pushing at us from all sides. Weather that brings so many cloud types flying past each other in opposite directions, brings equally confused seas. Every cloud may have a Silver Lining, but today, Silver Lining has seen every kind of cloud.

xoxomo