Nuku Hiva - where Herman Melville jumped ship, spent time in the jungle, and lived to tell the tale in TYPEE

we have been in the Marquesas for three weeks, and have explored Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva, and now Nuku Hiva. We have not given up entirely on this blog, but must admit it is way more productive to post updates on our track (see the link on the “contacts” page) which I can do easily from the boat using the internet connection we have for weather maps. You will see that it took me until day #14 of our crossing from the Galapagos to figure out how to do that! When we are near cell towers, my google fi phone lets us update Instagram with photos and do email etc. We are thrilled to have so many of you along with us for the ride!

this is what our potatoes looked like when we forgot to check on them every day.

one morning halfway between the Galapagos and the marquesas I splatting noise in the cockpit got my attention. At first I thought one of our bananas had exploded ( that actually happened a few times) but on closer inspection I saw it was a squid. On my way to get a rag to clean it up I glanced at the windward deck and saw masses of squid, all squirting jet black ink all over the place. Regrettably I did not think to take a photo until we had cleaned 40 of them - here they are right before we cooked them in olive oil and garlic. We had them for dinner and lunch,