Land Ho!!!! Marquesas at Last.

We had two bets on the homestretch to the Marquesas: spotting land first and whether Gary would catch a fish before we landed. Gary was ahead in previous bets 2 nil, but Lo was ready to get on the board. We were only about 50 miles off the coast when Gary started his evening watch (2200 - 0300), but he would go to sleep that night with sore eyes from squinting and no land in sight. Lo worked diligently to ensure that we weren't going to hit land, plotting out our position every hour and adjusting course accordingly. Just before sunrise a grey smudge appeared on the horizon, getting larger with each mile. Sunrise was spectacular, with the early morning rays illuminating the jagged mountains and ridges of Hiva Oa, our destination. Lo was filming the sunrise when she noticed a fluorescent flash just behind the boat...a beautiful mahi mahi (dorado) on the extra hand line that Gary had set up to target tuna. Of course, that got Gary right out of bed (more effective than any alarm clock), so we were both up when the pod of dolphins came by and surfed the waves with us as we were running towards the Baie Tahahuku, next to the village of Atuona. We were surprisingly nervous to be so close to land after all that time at sea, but were soon anchored safely. There was a music festival on in town that afternoon, so we shrugged off our fatigue and went to catch the music. The town has built a traditional festival area comprised of huge rock benches covered with thatched awnings for shade. A band was belting out a mix of french reggae and Marquesian music. We saw a dance performance put on by 5 and 6 year-old girls, they were so cute. Dinner at the local food stall and a nice cold beer for Gary...then back to the boat. That night we actually got to sleep at the same time and for a full 8 hours!!!