November 28, 1999 Morning Report (from Bruce Blankenfeld and Kamaki Worthington) / 18.5 days since departure: Landfall! Navigator Blankenfeld sighted an island this morning at sunrise--Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas. Hokule'a is heading for the island to identify it and then the navigators will reset their course for Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Archipelago and Tahiti. Actual Position of Hokule'a at 6:00 a.m. HST: 10 degrees 30' S; 138 degrees 23'W; Fatu Hiva: 10 degrees 28' S, 138 degrees 50' W. The crew was feeling down last night, thinking that perhaps they had passed the Marquesas, which would have made finding Rangiroa much more difficult. Now that land has been sighted, spirits are up. The next priority is to get to Tahiti to make the December 5 flight to Honolulu, as some crew members need to get back to jobs and family. The sail to the Marquesas from Rapa Nui took 4-5 days longer than anticipated due to light winds early on. Now the crew has six days to make about 800 miles. If the winds are light, the canoe will be towed by the escort boat Kama Hele to maintain a speed of six knots. Fishing: 10 lb. sailfish. Sealife: Land-based seabrids (Manu o Ku and Noio) sighted throughout the day yesterday.

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For more information on the quest for Rapa Nui, go to the PVS Homepage.