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15/06/2022 Pacific

At 02:30 a.m. JK time, we dropped below 400 miles from Nuku Hiva capital of the Marquesas Islands.

NuKu Hiva is the farthest Island in the world from all continents, and we are basically at the antipodes with respect to Italy.

Awaiting us is a pristine land populated by just 3,000 people divided into three villages the largest is located in Taioha’e Bay.

On this pristine strip of land there is no harbor.

There is no reason for it to be built; few navigators land there.

I, Ric ( Riccardo Polacchi ), Caf ( Luca Cafaffo ), Jhonnny ( Luca Franceschetti ) and Spin ( Roberto Spinella ) will be among the privileged few.

On board, fatigue, mostly mental, is setting in.

Yesterday with Caf there was a tense moment that ended in an immediate embrace.

Caf is a monster, an unstoppable warrior.

He goes from skillful handling of the headsails, to the rudder, to repairing the watermaker with an ease that makes it all seem obvious and trivial.

But I assure you that there is nothing trivial in the middle of the Pacific.

Always with a smile always ready to dispense advice to those on board who are struggling.

An ideal travel companion.

Ric is a boy seemingly built in a laboratory.

The manners workshop.

He is of rare education and kindness.

His parents, whom I will want to meet, did a great job on him.

He arrived in the boat introducing himself as the one who had never sailed at night.

After 22 days he has turned into a vampire when the sun goes down he is the first to get on JK’s wheel.

On moonless nights he was without a shadow of a doubt, along with Jhonny, the most skilled of the helmsmen

Beneath his good-guy face grit and determination to spare.

Jhonny, a self-made man.

Although an owner of a beautiful sailboat for years, he came aboard on tiptoe.

He humbly made his experience available to the team.

Leading a boat over 4,000 miles without touching land is far from easy doing so with him on board was an added security.

The world according to Spin.

Spin, my age ( actually older than me but past 50 it matters little ), comes on board with a Yacht Master title.

Sti cazzo I immediately thought.

The Yacht Master is the most prestigious of the titles attainable for those who, like me, run a sailing boat.

You must certify that you have sailed at least 2,000 miles to be eligible for the licensing exams.

Spin, having boarded JK, had the Pacific ahead of him with 4,000 miles of uninterrupted sailing without being able to touch land.

In the midst of the sea, titles are not needed what matters most is the heart.

The one from Spin high 190 swimmer is great.

First-hour Grillino has theories of his own.

He will soon write a book “the world according to Spin.”

It theorizes a world in which everyone can have an equal chance in which there are no children of the rich because with each generation everything resets to zero.

In his imagination you are born, you study, you work and if you have ability you can fully enjoy your success but on your deathbed the state comes and commandeers everything.

It is with this team of dreamers, unconscious lovers of the sea that I am concluding the longest leg of my round-the-world journey from Panama to Nuku Hiva.

Taken from the logbook of Luca Davoli captain of JK sail