Most probably I will be sailing into Hawaii Yacht Club on Tuesday afternoon on 1st of December. That means I am only just over 54 hours from my final stop.

26 November – I really don't know what to write. 448 miles to go. 27 November  - my stomach has refused to take food, I'm really weak, what a 'misfortune.' again, there is something wrong with the engine but it's something new so I don't know if I can repair it. I need the Sun so that I can charge my batteries. I slowed down a lot as not to arrive on Sunday but on Tuesday evening as we planned.  28 November – I fixed it! I even don't know how . Today, within the reach of my radio, there was a yacht calling for help, but it was somewhere on the other side of a big island, which was too far for me to help them.  The coastguard announced that we should look out for some object drifting on the south. At night? How am I supposed to look out for it? I get the impression that squalls have simply got used to me, actually, I have already got used to them as well :)  29 November- gosh, what a night, I didn't sleep a wink, squalls, rain, silence, whirling water, squalls......

T.....for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather. H.....for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday. A.....for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart. N.....for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember. K.....for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon. S.....for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that abounds. That spells THANKS---for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving. ~~By Aileen Fisher.~~ May you always have something to thank for. Happy Thanksgiving!   Natasza

16 40 N, 149 49 W, 0300 zulu 25th of November 2009 Finally, there is some Sun, and the wind has calmed down to 18 knots – how nice! I'm left only with a manual pump, but I am able to cope with the leakage. Only 555 miles to go. Gosh, I've run out of coffee cream. I'll just run to buy some, be right back! :)

23 November, 2100 zulu, Monday pos. 13 54N, 146 13, 820 miles to go Once a Day, I talk to the Nakia yacht on the radio. John and Linda are also heading for Hawaii, but they set off a week or so later. I am waiting for the Thanksgiving Day to open the pie which I have got from them especially for this occasion. Everything is so damp.

22nd of November 900 miles to go. It's Sunday, and the sky is really cloudy. I haven't written much recently, because it's hard to stay upright at the computer with all this tacking and jibbing (and just think it was me who designed the navigation desk - what was I thinking about? Gosh!). Moreover, it's really something here! It started with strong winds right into my face, while I had to head up in order to go further to the north and pass some of the small Marquesas Islands. I have to admit it was rather difficult. Then, it turned out that some small cuts on my right knee and my left ankle got infected, and I had such a fever that I couldn't even move. I had never been so hot in my whole life;) The blocks of the self-steering gear got worn out, and I had to replace them immediately, because the ropes would wear through, too, which would be a disaster. Then, I discovered a 'tiny' leak in a place from which water would not pass to the bilge, where I have a pump, so every...

24.11.2009 I'm wondering when I'm going to see the Sun or the stars again. I wish the squalls stopped now. At night, the kettle fell out from the hooks in the cooker and it ended up on my head. I won't tell you stories about how great it is – it is hard at times. For example, today I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything yesterday.

12 30 N, 144 26 W Sunday, 1500 zulu 954 miles to go

11 32N, 143 21W 0030 zulu,  1020 miles to go!

two days on the Marquesas Islands: I slept under the stars, got woken up by the sun, and on my way to dry land I met someone I know. I knew he rarely leaves his yacht, so I imagined how much he missed fresh fruit. I had a lot of these, so I offered that he should go and take some from Tanasza – it is such a great feeling to see someone smile first thing in the morning! On land, I had some coffee with my friends, then I went to give someone a souvenir - a piece of amber, and on my way I met someone who offered me a horse ride there. Then, on my way back I stopped by to say hello to Andy, who treated me with a wonderful lunch (raw fish, rice, grapefruit). With my belly full of delicacies, I came back to the yacht (on the beach, I nearly fell from the horse because the stirrups were too long, and the blanket which served as a saddle would slide down the horse’s back). As due to the lack of wind I haven’t set off today, as I planned, I asked Jonathan to help me with a photo...

05 09N, 138 49W, at 0400 zulu Tuesday, 17 November There are three good things I can share with you: 1) I am sailing, 2) I am sailing in the right direction, 3) the Sun is charging my batteries.  

12th of November, 2009 Everything's fine. I'm on the sea but I have some problems – I'll drop a line when I solve them.

I've begun the last,  16th lap of my cruise! Instead of setting off on Saturday, I set off on Sunday, 8 November. Instead of 20 knots, for the first three days I had 30... and how could I believe weather forecasts? Everything's fine, I'll get back to you as soon as deal with all the stuff here!

  Gosh, it's raining as if you were standing under a shower! I'd like to set off tomorrow but there's no wind. I have many things to do today – I have to give back the anchor I borrowed (it keeps the bow in the direction of waves), have a tattoo made, get some food supplies, etc. I gave out everything I could here – it's nice to make other people smile! I've just got back from dinner at Maria Helen and Fred's. They told me a lot about the local culture, they gave me a beautiful necklace made of grains, and fruit to eat during the journey... eh, it's so hard to leave friends. I saw some places here where I could stay forever. Houses without windows surrounded by fruit-trees and flowers, animals running around... a place where you don't need to lock the door to the house or even a car. Can you imagine living in such a place?

I'm going to miss the Marquesas. I've met fantastic people here – not only the locals but also those who came here, like me, just for a while. Bob found me a new alternator and helped me reinstall the electronics to fit it. Steve has been on a cruise around the world for 11 years and he always smiles. The Ukrainians who have captivated my heart simply being themselves... The days have passed too quickly. Everyday I had so much to do and see. There was always someone whom I could help or someone who helped me with the repairs and then I tried to return their favour... Fortunately, people who come here usually are real cruisers and they perfectly understand the need to help others. We joke that sailing boils down to repairing yachts in exotic ports ; It was wonderful to accept invitations for dinners, not to cook for myself – it's one of those luxuries I can't afford on the ocean... but I had problems when it was time for me to cook. Fortunately, the fishermen whom I...

I woke up very early, before the Sun began to burn. I could only see its first beams when it was rising above the mountains surrounding ‘my’ bay – it was such a beautiful view... a sleepy orange sky above the green tops ofmountains still covered with clouds. I could hear chickens (!); on the corner of the street I could see bakeries with fresh and hot French bread... such things make you feel alive. The night was charming, too: it was almost full moon, I couldn't even count the stars, I slept outside and small waves rocked me to sleep...  now, I'm writing to you from a flat of a local doctor – I'm his guest and, accepting his offer, I've come here to do my laundry :) The hospitality of people living on the Marquesas Islands is great  – he offered me to stay here while he's out, use the Internet, make myself some coffee, and all that in the accompaniment of the music of a grand piano. It's wonderfully relaxing. I'm looking at the ocean, I can smell flowers, it's so...

published on http://polonia.pap.pl  France/Polynesia: Another account of the cruise around the world by Jean-Jacques Kowalczyk NUKU HIVA Wednesday, 29 September 29 2009 Well, I think it is high time to answer all the questions that have piled up recently… So, both me and Ben decided that each of us would go his own way. I mean, of course, our compulsory sailing together. We reached the point when we had to make the final decision. We’ve got accustomed to the yacht during the last four years. After the discussion we agreed I would buy the shares Ben had as a co-owner of the yacht and sail away ALONE! I guess that was the best solution for the cruise to finish successfully. I didn’t even think that the cruise could have finished here or after reaching Papeete. One of us has to complete the cruise… I have to admit that the discussion was difficult. Ben seems to be tired and I think it will be nice if we part as friends....

it’s really great here, so much different than on the ocean – very green, with lots of mountains. It rains a lot, too, but when it’s sunny, it’s really burning (I’ve been trying to cure my sunburnt lips for more than two weeks now). I’m meeting more and more people and making friends with them. The inhabitants of the island invite me to go hunting or just to have dinner with them. Everyone here is tattooed. The tattoo designs from French Polynesia are very distinctive...well, maybe I should get one, too?  Actually, the only thing that prevents this place from being my favourite place in the world is black volcanic sand, which makes the beaches here unusually dark and colours the water black, too... As a result, you are not able to see sharks, which seem to be virtually everywhere. Luckily, I managed to find someone to clean the bottom of Tanasza, otherwise I would have to continue my cruise with tonnes of seaweed stuck to the yacht. The sharks are so huge that...

cont. First, I sailed to Fatu Hiva Island. It was beautiful, though the anchorage was pretty fair-to-middling. The downslope wind from the mountains often makes the yachts trail their anchors; I guess I would have easily got into trouble if I’d depended on the flimsy chain I had so I trusted my intuition and sailed away. I didn’t make a stop at the next island on my way only because they wrote in the guidebook there were too many sharks to swim there. OK, maybe not this time :) So I am now on Nuku Hiva and this is where I am writing from. As I was sailing into the bay, my little school of fish surrounded Tanasza, and I found myself in a kind of bubble of enormous blue sea creatures. I couldn’t make a photo because the battery in my camera had just run down; Still, I shed a tear or two because there were more than 50 fish there, swimming side by side, escorting me till the end of the bay and jumping out of the water all the time, just as if they wanted to say goodbye –...