Anakena anchorage, Easter Island

Hello all...Hard to believe that we have been on Easter Island for 10 days and have not found the time to send along some impressions and details. It is a very unprotected thus rolly anchorage so we have had a hard time doing things on the boat down below besides eating and sleeping(and the sleeping has for me been very poor for the above reason). I do not get seasick but all the noises from the movement keep me awake! Monday we came over to one of the other anchorages that is OK in certain conditions and wind (the current wind direction making it OK) It is an absolutely gorgeous beach and with two anchors keeping us headed into the swell we are actually pretty comfortable. Yesterday was the day I had thought we would have many more of on this trip..sitting under palm trees on a beautiful beach, reading and cavorting in the waves. The reality is that days like that are few and far between so far as there seem to be endless maintenance and things to do that preclude having a whole day to just hang.

We have had some other great days here tho' so don't get me wrong. We did a tour with a group that was just so so but also rented a car with another couple and toured the entire island on our own. Went to the big crater which was gorgeous. Saw all the moai sites and were awed to consider how they were made and transported to the places they now are. There are all these theories about their significance and history but not alot of written data...alot of conjecture on cults and different parts of the culture and where the the original peoples of this island came from . Pretty fascinating and great to feel that at this point in time the Rapa Nui (original heritage) is held all important . The current population seems to be a mix of Rapa Nui, Chilean, Polynesian, and French. They speak Spanish here but much English too. 95% of the economy is based on tourism so it is clean and inviting and people have been really friendly. It does not feel third world (very clean bathrooms, food and water perfectly OK). I even got to have the experience of going to a dentist and it was not scary...had a broken tooth that he did a temporary restoration of to get me by till Tahiti or home.

One thing we have noted is just how different and beautiful the light is here.Have not figured out if it is the lack of humidity or angle of the sun or the fact that there is zero polution in the air way out here.( I think we are over 2000 miles from any mainland) It truly is a photographer's dreamland. We have taken tons of pics and hope to be able to post some later this week when we head back over to Hanga Roa(the main anchorage/town on the other side of the island) where we can get to an internet cafe. Yesterday Bill and I went for a run and on our trail came across wild horses and cattle and it all just seemed so surreal on these grassy hills with an azul blue sky and turquoise ocean over the cliffs. We went on a dive and had the best visibility by far that we have ever experienced. It was at least 100 ft of clarity and tho' the fish life was not superb the coral and overall dive itself was phenomenal. The dive shop is run by a couple of French guys, the father apparently used to dive with Cousteau.

We think we will be here till the weekend and then plan on departing for the Gambiers with a possible stop on Pitcairn. That will be either about 1100 miles or if all the way to the Gambiers more like 1400 so a bit shorter than the 2000+ to get here but still a long passage. So, expect lots more emails and posts as we tend to be much better offshore at that than on. Send us some news as we think of all of you often and wonder what is going on in the real world. No idea about politics or economic forecasts or realities is what we have out here.