Upwind slog to Marquesas

Yesterday was great! That's good because today was work. I motored all the way upwind 43 nm from the Tortugas to anchor on the lee side of the Marquesas. Due to winds and currents this trip took 9 hours for a little less than 5 kts, which is annoying. What made the trip even more difficult was that I had to stay on deck to steer the boat to avoid the lobster traps which were everywhere. Pete and Jill took a different course and managed to sail 3 of the hours that I motored, but we arrived at the anchorage at the same time. Avoiding the traps made life a bit difficult, as I couldn't go below decks for more than about 2 minutes, and there was usually a new one in front of me as soon as I returned. So food today was super quick snacks and dried fruit, no time for anything interesting. I dragged lines for a while to see if I could catch dinner, but all I caught was a crab trap. The thing took half my spool of line by the time I could stop the boat. Now I'm an onery and persistent fellow, and don't forget cheap, so I turned her around and reeled every bit of line back in, then I went to the trap and recovered my lure. Yeah how's about that, stupid lobster trap. I gave up on fishing after that. Regina Oceani had better luck, landing a nice blackfin tuna which they've invited me to share tonight. I had hoped this might be lobster country but the bottom isn't conducive to it. It is hard rock and I had a bit of a time getting the anchor to set. Something notable, as we were arriving we heard on the VHF that some cuban rafters were spotted on the Marquesas. Indeed, as we arrived we could see the boat as well as at least 7 refugees waiting on shore and waving to the coast guard helicopter. As I write this there are 2 coast guard boats about half a mile from me going to pick them up. I'm tired and it's time for a shower.