Its been a few days since I've written anything in the journal. Today is Sunday the 10th and we are having a very relaxing day. Nothing new has broken recently, so I am in good spirits! We've been diving every day since we've been anchored here on the West end of Makemo. Our new friends Dave and Gail from "Blue Yonder" as well as Marcus and Chris from "Pez Vela" are here with us.

After trying 2 mornings and catching nothing, Marcus and Dave finally caught two nice fish yesterday without me! I was too tired to get up early so I didn't go. Chris went instead and they caught a small Wahoo and a nice 40lb Dogtooth Tuna! As is the custom the fish was split amongst the three boats (you get credit for trying around here even if you come up empty). Last night we had Wahoo on Blue Yonder and this afternoon we had some of the Tuna for lunch (just Kate, Jonah and myself). Both fish are fabulous! Nothing beats freshly caught fish.

We have no idea how long we will stay here. The spot we are anchored in is incredibly well protected on all sides so it is flat calm and very comfortable. The diving in the pass is incredible and we could probably stay here for weeks and not see all the fish and coral there is here. The highlight of the dive in the pass is the school of Gray Reef Sharks, which hang out in a "hole" at the end of the pass. They just hover there facing into the current (we always dive when the tide is flooding so the current carries us into the pass) right at the end of the reef where we turn right into the anchorage basin. The school consists of 30 or 40 animals and are of decent size. It is quite impressive. We take turns manning the dinghies - one person follows the divers as they drift into the pass - and yesterday was my turn. Jonah helped me watch for the diver's bubbles and we waited right at the corner where the sharks hang out. On yesterday's dive Kate came up first (even though she had over 1000lbs of air remaining) when she came to the school. Apparently her senses just overloaded when she saw the school so close and as the bottom sloped up she was literally pushed to the surface by the current! She was ecstatic. This afternoon it is Gail's turn to man the dinghies and I get to dive!

Unfortunately Pez Vela's dive compressor is on the fritz Chris seems really depressed about it even though I have taken up the slack by filling her tanks as well. I think its clear that she just doesn't like to be dependent on us and also feels like she is imposing (the compressor is quite load and is a bit disruptive). I don't mind though, it's a pleasure to dive with them as they are so knowledgeable. I told Marcus, as long as he keeps catching fish I will fill their tanks all the way across the Pacific! They can probably find the parts needed to repair it in Tahiti though, so they won't be dependant on us for long. Chris is a marine biologist and diving is very important to her. If they can't fix it in Tahiti I expect they will purchase a new one there.