Marquesas Diary, water baby makes landfall

On the 22^nd day after leaving the dock in Puerto Vallarta MX, we sailed into the magical archipelago of the Marquesas.

On arrival at Hiva Oa, the largest of the islands, we were immediately assaulted by its beauty, by the heat and humidity of the climate, and by the smell – the smell of earth and leaves and flowers, fragrant new growth mixed up with the mustiness of decomp – in short, the smell of land, the smell of fertile rot and renewal, the smell of life on land, death and renewal, that we’d been missing for last few weeks – not that we’d even noticed, until it hit us.

We arrived on a Wednesday (April 26) thoroughly exhausted, though too excited to rest. That is, until we all became sleepy enough for bedtime at 8 o’clock that evening! And what a sleep it was, uninterrupted by any night watch responsibilities, the first full-night sleep in three weeks.

I digress to say that, while at sea, I slept better than I have anywhere anytime in my life. Turns out that the roll of the open ocean really suits me. I’m completely at peace in its rhythm.  All the disruptive forces of daily life continue to have their way, of course, but we each have an inner rhythm that prevails, and mine is compatible with the rhythm of the sea.  Even in the most boisterous seas, I sleep like a baby. I’m not sure how to explain it. A deep deep sleep, always at hand, combined with fantastical (good) dreams.

From the ancient Greeks to 20^th century psychology, the four universal elements – fire, earth, air, water – have been thought to define our basic personality types.  Which one defines you? 

According to astrological lore, we each have our own dominant elemental rhythm. You don’t have to believe in it, but it’s hard to ignore the connection between our spiritual selves and nature, between the elements of our own spirits and the elements of nature all around us.  Astrologically speaking, as a (double) virgo, I am earth dominant – practical, materialistic, grounded, centred, control freak – guilty as charged, I’d say, and I’ve always thought of myself as well-born under this earth sign.  But now I’m thinking, No, I’ve been wrong all this time, I am water, I must be water after all. Rhythmically speaking, that is. I have a palpable connection with the rhythm of the sea.  

I would go so far as to say, it made me feel just a wee bit apprehensive about our arrival at Hiva Oa – would I ever sleep like that again?  But when we dropped our anchor in Baie Tahauku, just outside the town of Atuona, we found ourselves welcomed by a gentle swell that rocked oh-so-gently through the night.

I thought, how lovely, to sleep through the night, no more bleary-eyed late nights for me, no more shaking Bill at 1 am for his shift, or Shawn at 4 am.  Looking forward now to the next 30 days visiting the Marquesas, rocking in the swell, with nothing more than a day sail from one island to the next.  

Or so I thought at the time …