After 28 days at sea we finally made landfall in Hiva Oa, again, at night, however the harbor was well marked and Keith didn’t have any problems bringing us in. 2 hours later the sun rose and we were on land. We walked into the town of Atuona but almost everything was closed. Apparently the day after Easter is a holiday as well. We couldn’t change any money nor get any out of  ATM but did have a credit card and found an open market where we bought a few beers, some bread and cheese for lunch. After sitting under a tree for a while and being philosophical we decided to head back to the boat for the evening. We were curious about internet, and stopped in a snack bar on the way back to see if one of the locals could point us in the right direction. We ended up meeting this French dude who spoke some Spanish so Keith could communicate with him. He took us to his friend’s house who had internet and had many beautiful guitars that the friend had made all around the house. The Frenchman then took us back to the boat but then decided to take us to another one of his friend’s houses after picking up the guitarist friend. Even though they only spoke broken English and Spanish we all had a wonderful time and I’m sure if we ever went back we would have a place to stay. We stayed 2 more days, one in which we found out that we would have to front a $1600 bond, which we couldn’t cause we didn’t have that cash available and they wouldn’t take credit cards. The other day we went for a hike where we came upon a huge boulder with petroglyphs and a bunch of fresh papayas, bananas, mangos, limes, and some kind of pear fruit that tasted like a cross between an apple and  a pear. 
We sailed over the Tahutua- a smaller island about 10 miles from Hiva Oa- on Friday. Friday was relaxed, but Saturday was amazing. It started with me (Keith) going spear fishing- though I didn’t shoot any fish, I did see a black tipped reef shark and a 6 feet manta ray. Its mouth was over a foot long, but it is harmless. It was so graceful in the water and I watched in for many minutes. After the swim I went to land- this is an uninhabited beach- to gather wood to make a fire (we don’t have much gas on the boat so we use wood when we can). During my fire building a group of local fishermen came into the bay and were diving for red snapper fish, with the bare hands; I waved to them. Once I had the fire going John came on land with the food and fresh water. We were having broccoli noodles, but the local fishermen came on land and offered us some fish which we took it, and started chatting in broken English. The next thing I know we are drinking red wine, eating raw fish prepared in lime juice- which was the most amazing raw fish I have ever eaten, (they even showed us how to eat the fish eyes, which were surprisingly tasty). It was another amazing experience, another example of what this voyage is all about. That evening we met some Scotts, sailing on the boat, “Jus do it” who invited us aboard to check out his boat and have a few drinks. We had great time that night swapping stories and confirming a crazy fish story that we had heard from a Kiwi in Fahardo, Puerto Rico. 
The next morning, as planned, weighed anchor and headed to a town 2.5 miles south on the island and anchored to check out the town. After a short dingy ride and walk we came across a plaque commemorating the original name of the island translated: Island of men. We then stumbled across a church while it was having mass. It was beautiful and the stained glass window behind was marvelous, our pictures don’t do it justice. After the mass we walked around a bit more before leaving for a 5 day sail southwest to the Tuamotu islands, specifically Manihi. We entered the Manihi pass early in the morning. The pass is known to have a strong current and we arrived about 2 hours before the current would have slowed but we were anxious to make landfall and decided to go for it. The beginning of the pass had a current but our engine was able to overcome it. The last 100 yards was a different story. After coming to a complete stop, even with the engine at full throttle we hoisted all our sails to see if the could give us the extra oomph to get through the pass. They ended up doing just that and we anchored down, inflated the dingy and went on an excursion around a close island where we came across only one family. They offered us a cold 2 liter bottle of water and would take nothing in return. There is a pic of them sitting in the doorway in the photo album. After finding some nice shells and coconuts we decided we would come back in the evening, build a fire, and cook dinner on it. We kneaded bread and baked it for dinner- a quite rewarding task when  done completely on your own (my mom would be proud no doubt). Keith worked on the fire and dinner while I shucked a coconut which, without a sharpened stick, is a tough task. The next morning we went to the main town and were befriended by a few locals who were so glad that we would spend the day with them and talk to them even though they had a rough grasp of English and we knew basically no French. We joined into a volleyball game going on in the town square and were offered a plate of the local bbq.  We were able to trade some DVD’s for some pearls, which will always remind me of the great times in Manihi. After Manihi we headed to Rangiroa, the, second largest atoll in the south Pacific. There, unlike Manihi, the focus was on tourism and not on pearl farming which was kind of a letdown. We walked the length of the island, about 8km, and were able to get a ride halfway back. The highlight was snorkeling in the pass, drifting with the current. The fish were beautiful and the coral was ok, about 80% bleached. Here, we saw a few 3 foot black tipped sharks and 2 huge moray eels. Keith speared a few small red snapper and we had them as an appetizer for dinner. The next day, we went snorkeling and then were offered some yellow fin tuna from a boat that just anchored in. They brought over at least 6 pounds and then invited us over for dinner. It was a great night and they explained that they had caught the tuna the first few hours out of the Marquesas and fought it for over an hour. They estimated it at 75-85 pounds! We had hits on our line, one ripped the lure in half, and the other broke the line. We did leave a line overboard and ended up having a 3 foot black tip shark of the end of it in the morning. We decided to let it go, not wanting to deal with it. 
From Rangiroa we sailed strait to Tahiti Nui, arriving about mid afternoon and anchored down in a little nook between the intercontinental hotel and a fishing wharf. We dingied ashore and decided to walk into downtown Papeete. We were not fans. All along the walk there was trash all over the place. There is a six lane highway between the water and the shops and bars, and it is so very expensive. You might as well go to St. Thomas if you were only going to stay on Tahiti Nui. To top it off, we came back to a deflated dingy which wouldn’t have been too bad except that one of the pontoons had been slashed. So, we spent a few days on the quay and a few days at anchor down island off Marina Taina where we have been able to get rides to shore from fellow sailors while we wait for the dinghy to be repaired--which will cost an arm and a leg. I took a bus ride down to the grottos which were nice, but access is limited. We did come across the Maltese falcon here which was docked in Papeete, but didn’t see it with sails up. It is a beautiful boat but I don’t know if I would want to cruise around in it. It definitely wouldn’t be able to sail into places like Manihi and Ahe where the passages are narrow and you have to keep a good lookout for coral heads near the surface.  

A brief update on our plans. John is leaving today, April 17th to fly back to NJ to work with his family for 3 months. I have 2 friends from NYC coming to visit me for 1 week which will be a fun break from the sailing. After they leave my brother from MO comes to sail the boat with me from Tahiti to Samoa- he will have some say in the route we take, but ultimately I will go the route which I feel safest. I will try to update before leaving the Tahitian Islands, but no promises as it is 5 USD per 10 minutes for the internet (for this reason the pictures will not be upload until John returns to the States where he can upload the many pictures for free). 

Obviously there are many other stories and it is impossible to capture the uniqueness of this trip, but we hope you enjoy reading our stories and adventures. Warmest of regards and look for an update in 2 or 3 weeks.