May 25

Masked booby

It is hot and muggy in the boat.  It is cool and refreshing in the cockpit.  The problem is that in the cockpit you get sprayed or doused with saltwater when the wind and seas are up and occasionally when they are not up.  Every couple of days, things seem to be calm and a hatch will be opened.  Leave a hatch open long enough, and I guarantee you that salt water will come through the opening.  Bet on it and you can take the money to the bank.  This morning, we mopped up for the third time on this passage.  Major casualty this time:  the dirty laundry bag.  The cool weather clothes can not wait until New Zealand now.  We will be washing all the laundry in Hiva Oa.

A masked booby visited the boat about mid-day. .  I love it when the bird is flying and holding position right over you and you can see its head turn back and forth as it looks at one thing, then another.  It is as curious and filled with awe about us as we are about it.  As usual, the best photo opportunities occur before the camera can get to the cockpit, be turned on and lens cap removed.  Never-the-less, we get a few nice shots out of the 100 images.  Thank God for modern technology and I can just hit the red X button on the computer and not have to rue money wasted on uselessly exposed film.  Plus, we can put the good pictures in the blog if we ever get a good high-speed internet connection.  Unfortunately, that may not come out here in these tropical islands.  Out here, broad band is the woven pandanus leaf or decorated tapa cloth made from pounded tree bark that is worn around the waist.  When you consider the staggering level of obesity among the Polynesians, the band is very broad, indeed.