The Dangerous Archipelago: Playing Russian Roulette in Paradise
The French explorer Bougainville called them the “dangerous archipelago,” a name that echoes with the ghosts of old sailing ships. Before we arrived, I saw it as a romantic holdover. Now, as we point our bow north-east, back towards the safety of the Marquesas, I know better. The ghosts are real. They are the steel…
Landfall in the Land of Men
The Marquesas quickly began to reveal their dual nature. They are a place where the mythic and the mundane exist side-by-side. One day, you feel like you’ve sailed into a Herman Melville novel,
Crossing Oceans under the Southern Cross
Southward Bound Again We were once again on passage, New Life moving steadily through the South Pacific swells. The leg we had just started on was taking us south from the volcanic peaks of the Marquesas towards the low-lying atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago. I had just started the first night watch and the stars…
