Saturday September 2nd

I wake fully dressed at 5.15am, and then again at 8.15am. We're still under tow, going around in circles outside MOruroa!! WIthout them having worked out how to get the steering or the engines operating, they probably don't think its safe to tow us to Hao, and even then they would have the problem of what to do with the ship.

We clean up the mess and the deck. Rob and Derek have both had contact with Jon via hand signals and the odd shout this morning. He's OK.

At about 11am we're off the pass at Moruroa. There is the rectangular striped tower north of the pass, looks like its on the end of the reef but it could be behind it. THere is another rig, the triangular red and white one working in the south west corner (intially it looks as if its actually otuside the Lagoon, but that is just because the reef is very low there). There is water or some other liquid being pumped out the back of the rig. Its either at the stage of still drilling OR putting the concrete in over the top of the warhead.

There is also a white barge with containers on it that is in the mouth of the pass, could be buoyed.

Around 12 noon: The commandos have realised that something is going on in the crow's nest. Derek has asked earlier whether he can go up the mast to do some repairs to the radar, but this has been refused "because Greenpeace is claiming that someone is up there". Eventually, the commandoes get out the fire hose and seem to be prepared to hose Jon down. Unfortunately for them, Rob has turned off the pressure in the foc'sle, so the water rushes out the chain locker, and there is only a miserable spray of water coming out the fire hose. They give up on that and call up the Centaure, which comes alongside a bit. We're worried the tug might use high pressure hoses on Jon.

12.30pm Jon shouts out that he will come down, but only with the assistance of his crew, not with them. After a bit of wrangling they agree to this. Derek and Philip get the bosun chair rigged and I sneak out the camera that Tim has found (its Gilly's). I get a great picture as Jon is halfway down the mast, but it's taken too much time to focus, and the commando captain is alerted. As he and another commando jump me, I push the camera down my front. They pull both my arms behind my back and force me face down on to the deck, grab the camera from under me and the commando throws it over the side. The captain is not too brutal but the other guy is only too pleased to twist my arm and sit on me. They push the rest of the crew back inside, Jon shouts at them.

1pm Jon is down. They send their own commando up the mast in an incredibly uncomfortable looking plastic strap harness because they can't work out how to get into the bosun's chair. He gets a bucket sent up and they lower the steering controls and Jon's bag down the mast. They seem triumphant to have found the controls, because they still haven't worked out how to get the steering operational.

The day drags on. They take Jon up onto the bridge to be interrogated, and then into the office. I make some pasta for lunch around 3pm, the first real meal we have had for 36 hours.

4.30pm Jon is still being questioned. We are still off Moruroa. Jon says they tell him that the MVGP crew refused to leave the ship at Moruroa, but most of them were taken off with just a few key people left on board. Jon is charged with crossing the 12 mile limit, not obeying navy orders to stop, and says they are seizing the ship on the basis of Customs infractions relating to the entry into territorial waters of our inflatables without Customs authorisation!

8pm ish We're finally going somewhere - heading north away from Moruroa. The commandos have left. We end up having quite a cheerful if robust conversation with them before they leave. One, the guy who has acted as their chef, sports a t-shirt which I first think is mufti, and then he tells me is a special unit t- shirt, limited edition. It has "Nautile 1995" (the name of the operation against Greenpeace) and the unit insignia on the front, and on the back -- a picture of the Rainbow Warrior! Bizarre. We try to get him to do a swap, which he is quite happy to do, but the commando captain forbids it. As they leave, one of the commandos tells Pierre-Emmanuel that we're right, and we're doing a good job.

One of the customs officers that comes on is Tahitian. When I greet him in Tahitian, he starts talking to me in Tahitian... I tell him I can't really speak the language, but it seems to have been an entre, because he comes over surreptiously and asks us how the Tavana (Oscar) is. He says Papeete has been blocked for the last 24 hours while Oscar has been on the ship and detained.