01-June-2006 Noon Report

01-Jun-2006 Noon

9'01.8S/140'11.9W 6nm from Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands 473nm to Manihi, Tuamoato Islands SE 10-12 knots wind 3ft SE swell

Hey all! June 1st already! Team Sandpiper back at sea once again. We left this morning at 1030am from Nuka Hiva and are finally headed to the Tuamoatos.

After one last run to the Magasin (store) Larson (no relation... unless there is Chinese somewhere in the family) for fresh baguettes, eggs, and Tom's favorite pineapple juice, we started getting ship shape. We took down the laundry, which had 3 rinse cycles, due to all the extra rain. We deflated and stowed the dingy, and made sure everything down below was ready to go. We pulled out of the anchorage around 10:30am, and had all the sails up and the motor off by 11:30.

Today was the kind of sailing Jimmy sings about! 12 to 15 knots of wind off our port, which makes Sandpiper move at a comfortable and steady 5-6 knots. It is currently sundown, and we can see rain on the horizon. Hopefully we won't have a night full of squalls.

We still see lots of debris left over from all the rain the islands received the other day. Lots of coconuts, large branches, and random trash out here.

We found out we can receive mail in Tahiti at the Yacht Club. I believe it takes about 2 weeks for mail from the US. So if you would like to send us something, please keep this in mind. We should be arriving in Tahiti in about 3 weeks, and they will hold all our mail. This might be our last mail pickup for several months! So please, mail us stuff.

SV Sandpiper
Tom & Amy Larson
Yacht club de Tahiti
PO box 1456
Papeete, Tahiti
French Polynesia