tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55711476921991755502024-03-15T19:09:31.153-06:00Log of s/v Del VientoMichael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.comBlogger458125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-78320344640561226822018-08-13T05:38:00.000-06:002018-08-13T05:38:31.344-06:00Del Viento from Above By MichaelGLADSTONE, AUSTRALIA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The day before we sailed away from Fiji, we went for an afternoon sail with our friends Ranga, Aruna, Thanuja, Arindi, and Asel. It was overcast and very light air, kind of perfect for a group who'd never been sailing aboard a boat <i>Del Viento</i>'s size. Nobody got sick or injured and it was a good time a couple miles off Lautoka. After dropping sail we enjoyed a characteristically fantastic meal prepared by Thanuja. We miss our friends but we look forward to seeing them one day in Sri Lanka, where they're from and headed.<br />
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During the sail, Ranga shot video with his Phantom 3 drone. It was pretty cool and the landing aboard and underway was tight, but successful---the drone lives to fly another day. Here is a compilation of what Ranga captured...</div><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zTv2L_S9Tf4" width="560"></iframe></div><style>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-12416086612709469092018-07-24T03:30:00.001-06:002018-07-24T03:30:40.961-06:00Live from Vanuatu By MichaelPORT VILA, VANUATU<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windy today in overcast Port Vila, Vanuatu.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We’ve
been busy and non-communicative.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">To catch folks up:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
left Arizona for Fiji the beginning of June, alone. The plan (and all went
according to plan) was for me to fly solo and move the boat to the yard in Vuda
Point, have the old girl hauled, and do all the needed grunt work before Windy
and the girls (having wrapped up Arizona life for the season and having visited
old and new relatives in California) flew in 3 weeks later to board a boat that
was more or less (less) ready to sail west.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then we sailed west.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We just arrived in Vanuatu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’ll
let the pictures tell the whole story.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAS24oMR0BT9rjbKDDmQJsXV9PWtIHw83jhyphenhyphenfaxDX2vB8jHxP7Gb3i7lC3aCxfsRIrTNtU3HUsLSEMFvuFGhVmqiLuf7gt6kPYBN3BD1IP-MxPnn5P9ghUJtKM7-fyBeppVYxdETptv9g/s1600/IMG_7177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAS24oMR0BT9rjbKDDmQJsXV9PWtIHw83jhyphenhyphenfaxDX2vB8jHxP7Gb3i7lC3aCxfsRIrTNtU3HUsLSEMFvuFGhVmqiLuf7gt6kPYBN3BD1IP-MxPnn5P9ghUJtKM7-fyBeppVYxdETptv9g/s640/IMG_7177.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jumping back to last December, here are the girls in Musket Cove, Fiji,<br />getting a lesson from the local volunteer beekeeper.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEipE3w75Lg08WTHmp6rT-PwRKq0fp0QeCUb2xL26NE066fpI5aGdLYkRERCGE_q-4KyiRwj3WUoITY_yPaAvmsAbyq37RlJpx1x7FLqqiUKQxK5pGaRIpRxpgFnNBGj2NDWi_fUwR68/s1600/DSC_0165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEipE3w75Lg08WTHmp6rT-PwRKq0fp0QeCUb2xL26NE066fpI5aGdLYkRERCGE_q-4KyiRwj3WUoITY_yPaAvmsAbyq37RlJpx1x7FLqqiUKQxK5pGaRIpRxpgFnNBGj2NDWi_fUwR68/s640/DSC_0165.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Days later, via Fiji Airways, we were back in lovely Ajo, Arizona,<br />and reunited with our white truck.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLxSZQBH9H8yP-JvwLZG4ADxwNTppborI4xT4kgy4ht0dmiF1Cazt6NrTe348YczmJ3Ucq_jaEQ7aXjHh7g4QFR8yvhN37XH-EpaC0FxeKyr3nNz3KeaG0wlirvpkRVH77VOcIpFyT7ow/s1600/DSC_0025.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1593" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLxSZQBH9H8yP-JvwLZG4ADxwNTppborI4xT4kgy4ht0dmiF1Cazt6NrTe348YczmJ3Ucq_jaEQ7aXjHh7g4QFR8yvhN37XH-EpaC0FxeKyr3nNz3KeaG0wlirvpkRVH77VOcIpFyT7ow/s320/DSC_0025.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We let the javalinas know we were back and that they needed to<br />find another place to hang.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQNIQa234pnwCdAnEc44vsdQD72gFUYwL2r0JjlaHPck7GfwZPvxy0m4_9hmpm5zHd2oNsKTJ7hHBt_A2u2YmypHfAvrwk7_BGiRJc8bPVhnxNDsgBadIxc-O3MtU26ezQFDgjOm3WZg/s1600/DSC_0108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1003" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQNIQa234pnwCdAnEc44vsdQD72gFUYwL2r0JjlaHPck7GfwZPvxy0m4_9hmpm5zHd2oNsKTJ7hHBt_A2u2YmypHfAvrwk7_BGiRJc8bPVhnxNDsgBadIxc-O3MtU26ezQFDgjOm3WZg/s640/DSC_0108.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then we noticed they were tearing down the problem house two<br />doors down...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAiKcatWm-rjm4jlbNm714ruxoVNdkEOVB1uRwlC9GoSCmX0tWcAIM88yTAbYTkOXXxu0K16fgIDMVYFG5ve7AQB7s-fGgWl-UuobVFJSzOo8XR3ZFapLRQABK0QVtf1Kcjdi0OoYlSM/s1600/DSC_0116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="855" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAiKcatWm-rjm4jlbNm714ruxoVNdkEOVB1uRwlC9GoSCmX0tWcAIM88yTAbYTkOXXxu0K16fgIDMVYFG5ve7AQB7s-fGgWl-UuobVFJSzOo8XR3ZFapLRQABK0QVtf1Kcjdi0OoYlSM/s640/DSC_0116.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And that we had more to do on the white house we were camping in<br />than we thought.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPiX-SDyBOCeXc7QegBPQqPgE6w2gEj4WdM9K2zJI0UzXS7GCSBJL3x10ERptLCZQsp-zNkVJ4WXJkd7n-BsK7NY3VXZB7LXRCDqGV3c25mB-AcKp3BYFtP-2iWuXx5HGc2XbhukNuf8/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUPiX-SDyBOCeXc7QegBPQqPgE6w2gEj4WdM9K2zJI0UzXS7GCSBJL3x10ERptLCZQsp-zNkVJ4WXJkd7n-BsK7NY3VXZB7LXRCDqGV3c25mB-AcKp3BYFtP-2iWuXx5HGc2XbhukNuf8/s640/DSC_0034.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And that the sweet little raspberry house between the white house and<br />the problem house was for sale and move-in ready, so we bought it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAq0UQnhYSSPAM1iNfK-AUWL6f-rm9ioRNN0BAyGxPnrdyv0-9jNkrVDEtHmYLyueV-yyXNTHzM6i_SYxvLwL32HlFK2n-v1-KFZSzRVmMX3Q_vBDbUmytTS__ME5ni7fuudoOGDqGS40/s1600/DSC_0242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="855" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAq0UQnhYSSPAM1iNfK-AUWL6f-rm9ioRNN0BAyGxPnrdyv0-9jNkrVDEtHmYLyueV-yyXNTHzM6i_SYxvLwL32HlFK2n-v1-KFZSzRVmMX3Q_vBDbUmytTS__ME5ni7fuudoOGDqGS40/s640/DSC_0242.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So while Windy worked on the raspberry house...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbOazCibqPwnQtJiRM8tXw6I8EHcCPw1nSu4Q836HMmD3bgv8EUYp0Si1KA8Jnstp48bGYyG6JXRLVhZpsZyTD94jPZSc9ul7QgAA8NZam28JuH36qP_KoNOJebBvwbWQybyHI3FRhns/s1600/DSC_0246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbOazCibqPwnQtJiRM8tXw6I8EHcCPw1nSu4Q836HMmD3bgv8EUYp0Si1KA8Jnstp48bGYyG6JXRLVhZpsZyTD94jPZSc9ul7QgAA8NZam28JuH36qP_KoNOJebBvwbWQybyHI3FRhns/s640/DSC_0246.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And I dove deep on the white house...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zOwld9OIOcd9ySTtrFtxF0jCk8yxlT_VDNkniDIl_KqhmFzOXQhNjcwsVUrWBlw-CG9HWpLmMN3XwQ7M5DRMPz9gik0JSYawrOV9WI9adB3YDHfV32VIl289EgchzGV5Mib6yjme2nE/s1600/DSC_0287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="855" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zOwld9OIOcd9ySTtrFtxF0jCk8yxlT_VDNkniDIl_KqhmFzOXQhNjcwsVUrWBlw-CG9HWpLmMN3XwQ7M5DRMPz9gik0JSYawrOV9WI9adB3YDHfV32VIl289EgchzGV5Mib6yjme2nE/s640/DSC_0287.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Eleanor completed middle school...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lutQUMK5pxD8kn12dPqw7rLJ5-vale7ydM4WPm5kpUqM88trsRjfyI90lBGjao12RyAs2PpmVzxx0azxC6UQIljV14c0xTu8L3LDLL58NNSVIIA4Rd_tiW5aJ4QOVZ69hiUngwLG80s/s1600/IMG_7199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1493" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lutQUMK5pxD8kn12dPqw7rLJ5-vale7ydM4WPm5kpUqM88trsRjfyI90lBGjao12RyAs2PpmVzxx0azxC6UQIljV14c0xTu8L3LDLL58NNSVIIA4Rd_tiW5aJ4QOVZ69hiUngwLG80s/s640/IMG_7199.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Frances fostered dogs....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbbcS2ayWPEYBP5Wj-RZrt_QSpGtCsHVabxBZ-v_GZG1g9mx259Z5eDBVNX_9F-c5CbTXCNW77thtRMpkLk54oFnfID9vypYdK5GNW-VC1-UPUCUTrcdLe_C-QnGHb90jd89qihqu7PI/s1600/DSC_0360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbbcS2ayWPEYBP5Wj-RZrt_QSpGtCsHVabxBZ-v_GZG1g9mx259Z5eDBVNX_9F-c5CbTXCNW77thtRMpkLk54oFnfID9vypYdK5GNW-VC1-UPUCUTrcdLe_C-QnGHb90jd89qihqu7PI/s640/DSC_0360.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We enjoyed our lives in Ajo. Here we are one of our last nights before<br />returning to Fiji, watching Coco at the outdoor community pool.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHnnkKvRhIiG8RYu8WrTQr12HMKetiMC83-NrVpOZ_p51EnXvYQfdsyHj6RU6CnzUkOV4KUpcpDouO69WhXPqfNklJTAJRkKCsEkyMTj9eXF4B9XxQWuFxSuF9Q7aeiHrfkXFw-hyAwk/s1600/DSC_0381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="855" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHnnkKvRhIiG8RYu8WrTQr12HMKetiMC83-NrVpOZ_p51EnXvYQfdsyHj6RU6CnzUkOV4KUpcpDouO69WhXPqfNklJTAJRkKCsEkyMTj9eXF4B9XxQWuFxSuF9Q7aeiHrfkXFw-hyAwk/s640/DSC_0381.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before I knew it, I was back in Fiji, working on Del Viento and<br />missing my family. That's when Lin Pardey stopped by<br />to lend a hand.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVFgLT7R4bIkUPSgmE7iivLR_zswqaRlum7S3LL_v5sFApTurhWRLqhapOEqb9YIuNNL9PEaKFUhwHdMlnQmXj_90fMhmMmaaXwZBNZjsrJ8KwUJm4O4QPKo7lfRD3rqOroBv6BjksQ0/s1600/DSC_0420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVFgLT7R4bIkUPSgmE7iivLR_zswqaRlum7S3LL_v5sFApTurhWRLqhapOEqb9YIuNNL9PEaKFUhwHdMlnQmXj_90fMhmMmaaXwZBNZjsrJ8KwUJm4O4QPKo7lfRD3rqOroBv6BjksQ0/s640/DSC_0420.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then my jet-lagged ladies joined me in Fiji.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OrkDC8j0hyqNOVQN4_iAyBZG2_LpLROLebLD-pg8EBWLv0n42ngxh-SQlzZk8rPFVBLrwlCX5vLOKbggSBGW0CEpBna78RvJwi8jd-Yd8XXpt4WdKrdV1wxsoURPvX-_FYfWsbvO52s/s1600/DSC_0450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="855" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OrkDC8j0hyqNOVQN4_iAyBZG2_LpLROLebLD-pg8EBWLv0n42ngxh-SQlzZk8rPFVBLrwlCX5vLOKbggSBGW0CEpBna78RvJwi8jd-Yd8XXpt4WdKrdV1wxsoURPvX-_FYfWsbvO52s/s640/DSC_0450.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And helped me get the boat finished. Here Frances<br />is up the mast running the lazy jack lines through the<br />cheek blocks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f0vHersMupOAZ43wt0D4pnbdAMwHDoVNOBdz7g-HkRrpNxg8_-QoMHq1zchdUrzCBF0IqQWg7pKmcLvGCn5w0h-5yRjFdbzVL-1pNlCD4HTwK9krnt_iYX9E5wv27n8KYMlqeeg7wsk/s1600/DSC_0503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f0vHersMupOAZ43wt0D4pnbdAMwHDoVNOBdz7g-HkRrpNxg8_-QoMHq1zchdUrzCBF0IqQWg7pKmcLvGCn5w0h-5yRjFdbzVL-1pNlCD4HTwK9krnt_iYX9E5wv27n8KYMlqeeg7wsk/s640/DSC_0503.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I should have written a whole post about this photo. This is Miriam from <i>Enough</i><br />and Aimee and Phil from <i>Terrapin</i>, all dear cruising friends. Not pictured is Jeff<br />from <i>Enough</i> and all the crew aboard the other boats who made our last bit of time in<br />Fiji so memorable: <i>Me Too</i> (plastic-free Saweni Beach!), <i>Cape D</i> (Fatty Boom-Boom!), and<br /><i>Bear</i> (Frances is back in top form, thank you Mamma Bear). Just appreciate this<br />setting, with that evening sky, a view of our boats, a place to cook,<br />no clean up, and a bar at the ready. Many great evenings spent here over two<br />seasons with a gaggle of great kids and parents.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last water top-off after checking out of Fiji.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv12BBTjQlheevikJJl1y6N02qknQlyQhw-6Bc-amPiDcpFEL_dfMfXGdeXrn0GADpBVDEhhGMkV8ASoUW9MAV0cDO8WTV0MKr43FOsxIOpbuEydH3cUol59vrRa67Ve9SJ4sb92ABRa0/s1600/DSC_0516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1287" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv12BBTjQlheevikJJl1y6N02qknQlyQhw-6Bc-amPiDcpFEL_dfMfXGdeXrn0GADpBVDEhhGMkV8ASoUW9MAV0cDO8WTV0MKr43FOsxIOpbuEydH3cUol59vrRa67Ve9SJ4sb92ABRa0/s640/DSC_0516.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And our last anchorage in Momi Bay, the morning we set out for Vanuatu.<br />Couldn't this be California?</td></tr>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-89171868183069331832018-03-09T15:18:00.002-07:002018-03-09T15:18:10.193-07:00It's (almost) Over Johnny By MichaelAJO, ARIZONA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwMt2RlreJ5S2h06a4XOn4Gv1BvRwtNSYPUuZfqrU6nVjm8-qbMAcn2x1r8o6ky0Rclvv1lL0XcX9mus7a63HAibxsd_pa0x6fCdQlEbe8lxUtpcrLQoVzN2F5dq0244DHwqUAcSmPYw/s1600/DSC_1148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwMt2RlreJ5S2h06a4XOn4Gv1BvRwtNSYPUuZfqrU6nVjm8-qbMAcn2x1r8o6ky0Rclvv1lL0XcX9mus7a63HAibxsd_pa0x6fCdQlEbe8lxUtpcrLQoVzN2F5dq0244DHwqUAcSmPYw/s640/DSC_1148.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shortly after arriving back in Ajo from Fiji,<br />we took a quick trip down to Mexico (the<br />border is only 30 miles away). Sunsets like<br />this were our reward.</td></tr>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After
seven years that stand as among the most enriching and illuminating of our
lives, we’ve got an end game planned.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After
we return to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Del Viento</i> in Fiji in early
June, we’ll haul the old gal and paint the bottom and re-grease the MaxProp.
Then we’ll check out of Fiji and head west for Vanuatu. Uncharacteristic of
this crew, we won’t spend more than a few weeks there before setting sail for
New Caledonia. Then, still on a delivery-like schedule, we’ll raise anchor soon
after arriving and point our bow for Australia, likely making landfall in
Brisbane. At this point, we’ll pack our things, clean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Del Viento</i>, put a For Sale sign on her, and fly back to the States to
build a new life on land.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We’ll
be back in time for Eleanor to start high school—she’s 14 for goodness sake,
she’ll be 15 this fall. Frances is 12. My kids have spent the bulk of their
lives so far as sailing vagabonds.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In
fact, this has been such a unique and vibrant and recent chapter in my life
that it feels like the bulk of my life. Seven years on a tiny private island
with my family. The beauty and magic of that, especially in retrospect, is
something I’ll always be grateful for.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">My
friend Wendy Mitman Clarke once wrote that she doesn’t like the term cruising
lifestyle, she wrote that it feels smarmy, perhaps illicit. I see her point,
but it leaves me with a loss of words when trying to describe the way we’ve
lived as cruisers. Because it is a lifestyle, and one so removed from what is
common, from how I grew up, for example, that living the cruising lifestyle
imparted an identity. To most family and friends and acquaintances, we’re the
only ones they know living like we do. For a decade, it’s been who we are,
first as the family with the crazy plans and then as the family enjoying the
cruising lifestyle.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
cruising lifestyle has suited us. It’s made us happy and rich, though not
financially, but in many of the ways in life that matter. As the end draws
near, we don’t have a smidgen of regret for deciding to cast off as we did. For
that I’m grateful. In fact, I remind myself that most families don’t even get
the short sailing adventure we still have ahead of us.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Of
course, things could be different, right now regret could be the primary
feeling about our cruising lives. On more than one occasion, only <span style="margin: 0px;">blind luck saved us</span> from a very
different reality. But that’s the case no matter the path we choose in life. No
question I’d rather be on a path that challenges and provokes than one that
pacifies. The cruising lifestyle taught me the meaning and value of the idea
that life is short.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Which
begs the question: why stop?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
think the reasons are different for each of us.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
feel like I have no choice but to stop, regrettably. For the past year, my gig
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Old Boat</i> editor has been more
than a full-time job, and one that requires regular Internet connectivity. Both
those demands are at odds with the family cruising lifestyle. Upon accepting
this role (the previous role as managing editor was half-time and not such a
conflict) we cancelled plans we’d had to head north for Japan, something that
was upsetting to all of us. (Even getting to Australia this year will be a
challenge, in terms of juggling work.) But, I need an income and at least this
career provides an enormous amount of flexibility and mental stimulation and
genuine interest. I’m fortunate that have successfully navigated a mid-life
career change, and to have put it off long enough to have the time on the water
we did.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Windy
wasn’t ready to stop, but realized we must. And now, having gotten her head
around the idea, she’s among the most enthusiastic stoppers of us all. No
regrets, we’ve had a good run, time to move on. Let’s plant a garden!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Eleanor
would have gladly retired from the vagabond sailing life a year ago. She wants
permanence. She wants to be in a setting where she sees more people her age and
sees them regularly. She wants to find her tribe. I don’t understand this. I’ve
told her how miserable I found high school, but she’s got a mind of her own and
that we can’t ignore.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Frances
is content to keep cruising, just as we have, indefinitely. I guess she and I
are of like mind that way, but I’m part of the reason we’re stopping, and she
is not. I feel badly for this, but I reason that she’s the kind of kid who will
be happy anyplace and she’s extraordinarily lucky to have had the time she’s
had. I also feel that part of her reticence to leave the cruising life behind
is tied to the fact that it’s really all she knows. Frances remembers very
little of the house in Washington, D.C., the house she was born in and that we
left seven years ago. She’ll be fine, but she’s not ready to leave the party.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
we’re almost done. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Going
back to the identity thing, there is a nagging feeling that when we leave
Australia, I’ll be leaving part of who I am behind. We’ve become those people
who live on a boat and travel. I think the molting that’s coming will be good.
“I live on a boat and travel,” was too easy. It begged questions for which I
had pat answers guaranteed to impress. I rarely had to explain or define myself
further. It was my skin and it was comfortable. Our cruising lifestyle was the
why of everything. When it’s over, I'll be just another guy who lives in a house. I won’t fall back on “I used to live on a
boat and travel.” Perhaps that’s the new
journey ahead, a challenge to find the life ashore that provokes. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWLmemQ4mLzgbVNJ6YJuafhIfDkzwXzNTI-_ODHdMXQ-oi9X82yxBdYo-a67DdYyG0Ok1XMBeFfSHH4nnJ_u72kxXQ7Y6Cr0bHR7hR0gMnFGJ4oidsLTza9FbT2YlYnznPF61MnRFdic/s1600/DSC_0708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWLmemQ4mLzgbVNJ6YJuafhIfDkzwXzNTI-_ODHdMXQ-oi9X82yxBdYo-a67DdYyG0Ok1XMBeFfSHH4nnJ_u72kxXQ7Y6Cr0bHR7hR0gMnFGJ4oidsLTza9FbT2YlYnznPF61MnRFdic/s640/DSC_0708.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from a road in Fiji.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8FOQKAUN-AOVF7KbQjaNlB_EvqhIVU8bpDuFVasf-4uYY0FFtjWYrdUt-APeK80IfL0fEF1l22jRVhXC5GiUU7u4B8D2q2kGpJMUGb16IlSy-qtSHOkSJLQ7iq2XLNqEtHoSOqHgGJg/s1600/DSC_0743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8FOQKAUN-AOVF7KbQjaNlB_EvqhIVU8bpDuFVasf-4uYY0FFtjWYrdUt-APeK80IfL0fEF1l22jRVhXC5GiUU7u4B8D2q2kGpJMUGb16IlSy-qtSHOkSJLQ7iq2XLNqEtHoSOqHgGJg/s640/DSC_0743.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor aboard <i>Del Viento</i> opening the package of nori<br />in preparation for assembling her sushi. We had dinner<br />together as a family (at a table) nearly every night of our cruising<br />lives. It's something that we take for granted and a practice<br />we'll maintain in our land lives.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWe8OJHWcSqtuBt2dPY6rJhqAypJEEvz7rVLBJ2rb9XAQY6NRfKsm3J4xvquFL4UI8iBFOsao2dmZMBiXpNJDRfXOnjehZDd5UEKOBsmk4qbpKjd9xTra9uzbfJIlXtQk2SPaeEfO3aw/s1600/DSC_1114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWe8OJHWcSqtuBt2dPY6rJhqAypJEEvz7rVLBJ2rb9XAQY6NRfKsm3J4xvquFL4UI8iBFOsao2dmZMBiXpNJDRfXOnjehZDd5UEKOBsmk4qbpKjd9xTra9uzbfJIlXtQk2SPaeEfO3aw/s640/DSC_1114.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are at the Nadi airport. Windy's face says it all, it was grueling<br />to get to this point. We brought a lot of stuff back with us this time--one<br />more load like this from Australia this fall, and everything else goes with<br />the boat.</td></tr>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-37036980279201272532017-11-24T15:19:00.000-07:002017-11-24T15:19:43.054-07:00Stuffed and Ready By MichaelMUSKET COVE, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"What’s
this?"</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXd4JH3tDWaZQPEGZY7DMvuBHMn3HpYbcFRCvdNyHiHeyY1-U_NNEpFuEV6Z3injmGh9n8ifs7p-pBItD_FIaEYvhP6sWEQ932Dx67eXDQpAtFcqqIudvQv49WG_E5ERaHCruuUHOkCA/s1600/IMG_7089a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1006" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXd4JH3tDWaZQPEGZY7DMvuBHMn3HpYbcFRCvdNyHiHeyY1-U_NNEpFuEV6Z3injmGh9n8ifs7p-pBItD_FIaEYvhP6sWEQ932Dx67eXDQpAtFcqqIudvQv49WG_E5ERaHCruuUHOkCA/s640/IMG_7089a.jpg" width="402" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windy and I borrowed bikes one<br />morning and toured part of the small<br />island.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXd4JH3tDWaZQPEGZY7DMvuBHMn3HpYbcFRCvdNyHiHeyY1-U_NNEpFuEV6Z3injmGh9n8ifs7p-pBItD_FIaEYvhP6sWEQ932Dx67eXDQpAtFcqqIudvQv49WG_E5ERaHCruuUHOkCA/s1600/IMG_7089a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Stuffing."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Stuffing?
What’s that?"</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
heard this back-and-forth about 5 times beside the long table where all of us had lined
up our Thanksgiving dishes for what turned out to be a surprisingly grand
potluck at Musket Cove’s outdoor Island Bar. All the kid boats are gone,
<i><a href="http://www.sv-terrapin.com/" target="_blank">Terrapin</a></i> and <i>So What</i> off exploring, the rest on their way to New Zealand. (We’re
missing all of them.) So the potluckers were a mix of ex-pats living on-island and
several cruising couples, still here or planning to stay through the cyclone
season. We and the American couples who spearheaded the potluck are the only
folks here from the States. There was at least one Canadian couple, but all the
rest were Kiwis and Aussies.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Apparently
stuffing isn’t widely consumed in New Zealand and Australia.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When
not eating, we’re in the throes of again readying <i>Del Viento</i> for her months
alone in the Tropics. It's turned into perhaps our biggest spring cleaning of the past several years (and before you object, spring is exactly the season we're in now, here in the southern hemisphere). We're emptying lockers and realizing how much has accumulated that we no longer need, how much the girls have grown up and out of not just clothes, but stuff. All the books that have been read. We're literally up 1/2 inch on our waterline.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This time we’ve got Don helping us while we’re gone. He’ll
be moored next to us and will open her up and run the pumps regularly. He’ll
check the batteries and start the motor on occasion. If a cyclone looms, he’ll
take <i>Del Viento</i> deep into the mangroves near Denarau.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_moH0_OCvQd3n0Dp_5_lgpPHVQUL2eLVzhqf1CL34c2RdC-exR-qvcntn0prJlqrKV1zIfooXDXenD2uz7sjBMTWEnGkknv6uwdOZzLqPp1f1bHU-x8zGIHmSvJtv7OzreLKalgqAPuM/s1600/IMG_7091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_moH0_OCvQd3n0Dp_5_lgpPHVQUL2eLVzhqf1CL34c2RdC-exR-qvcntn0prJlqrKV1zIfooXDXenD2uz7sjBMTWEnGkknv6uwdOZzLqPp1f1bHU-x8zGIHmSvJtv7OzreLKalgqAPuM/s640/IMG_7091.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the Marquesas, the high point on this island<br />(separated by an isthmus from the larger part) is<br />only about 100 feet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuEyGVD7pt17okQEV9Az6Jt9Gg7dYbvhYg5tKt27KuLRhvPcZyAhD7KdhvtQYglzZK21RXBHXWqW1wqbcPcfBM0A1-YOWxhyXtsjveH3B6LdZXJaeAXSim_czvEJ6BoM76vWsILd75N4/s1600/IMG_7092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuEyGVD7pt17okQEV9Az6Jt9Gg7dYbvhYg5tKt27KuLRhvPcZyAhD7KdhvtQYglzZK21RXBHXWqW1wqbcPcfBM0A1-YOWxhyXtsjveH3B6LdZXJaeAXSim_czvEJ6BoM76vWsILd75N4/s640/IMG_7092.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing something without the kids!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3gzyZ5QrPohyphenhyphenXtT39iuWBzzLqW_ErDv24sY57Zy13etS_toOLH6ywpLsO4euNmDMHrr5fpnSSNuHbbev0WiTZPpuA1hPrn0JxN28Oqy3FOKuYK0o6c0qPjGDjS8Qk06EbRAMx0UP08A/s1600/IMG_7093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3gzyZ5QrPohyphenhyphenXtT39iuWBzzLqW_ErDv24sY57Zy13etS_toOLH6ywpLsO4euNmDMHrr5fpnSSNuHbbev0WiTZPpuA1hPrn0JxN28Oqy3FOKuYK0o6c0qPjGDjS8Qk06EbRAMx0UP08A/s640/IMG_7093.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Del Viento</i> is among the boats moored in the upper right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-6356216625057422872017-11-16T01:03:00.000-07:002017-11-16T01:03:22.028-07:00Fast Lane to Nadi Town By MichaelMUSKET COVE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJWax60GwvwryvzWZwuddFLRXapZwOGs_vM-uuIb7T5WSVTCAb0CUJ482KCPc-XnFN27bRbUgoMXtLngQcV-BRbWl-pxrZTj5TVedJw_LlUIDQI-8xN7oIpTypLNWKlP4-qF156AxPoQ/s1600/IMG_7099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1075" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJWax60GwvwryvzWZwuddFLRXapZwOGs_vM-uuIb7T5WSVTCAb0CUJ482KCPc-XnFN27bRbUgoMXtLngQcV-BRbWl-pxrZTj5TVedJw_LlUIDQI-8xN7oIpTypLNWKlP4-qF156AxPoQ/s640/IMG_7099.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loading the dinghy on the dock in Denarau<br />
for the trip home.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We've been pretty stationary in one of Fiji's main cruising boat hubs: Musket Cove. It's not a remote remote Fijian village, it's not the bustling and interesting Suva, it's just a tourist resort that opens its doors to cruising sailors. No apologies, it's a lovely setting, we'll protected, and we've had the pleasure of hanging with one of the best cohorts of cruising families we've seen in a while.<br />
<br />
But for all it offers, Malololailai Island is not a good place to provision. The veggies here aren't bad, but we left our last good place to provision with too few staples aboard, and knowing that we're leaving Fiji at the end of this month, we've been careful not to over-buy. The result is we've needed to get back to Nadi Town (via Denarau) a few times to get what we need. Fortunately, Windy found a mode of transport much cheaper and more appealing than the only (high-priced) ferry that brings the tourists and their luggage back and forth.<br />
<br />
About a month ago, Windy went exploring by dinghy with Susan of <i>Wiz</i>. They found a couple of villages on the island and met Sia. At some point, the cruising women learned that Sia's husband makes the trip to Denarau every Saturday (market day in Fiji and much of the world), for a shopping run. His panga makes what would be a 3-hour trip in <i>Del Viento</i> into a 30-minute E-ticket ride (does anyone even use that expression any more?).<br />
<br />
So a few times now, Windy's made the passage. The panga arrives at 7:00am, they're in Denarau by 7:30, the village usually has a driver waiting at the dock to take shoppers into Nadi Town. In town, Windy fills her cart and then lets the cashier know she's with Sia, her stuff gets boxed and put aside, and she's free to go to another store. When shopping day is done, a driver collects all the people and provisions, takes everything back to the panga, everyone loads up, and makes the passage home.<br />
<br />
--MR<br />
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-21289280569395464132017-11-08T17:45:00.000-07:002017-11-08T17:45:17.093-07:00Boo and Birthday By MichaealMUSKET COVE, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid00w8ioODyMAJCF0bHCX_oqwnxgk9cfpS43HgVbTCYx0Bb54GAsCRspvl3qGU2DHHmjJB0O2GJS6oeCEFwxeg0ju9bYVUwZFh-HD5k1ie1mnKBAOQvDLR1ToiXwd2Wa9s6s3JvBaQ5Wk/s1600/DSC_1049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="918" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid00w8ioODyMAJCF0bHCX_oqwnxgk9cfpS43HgVbTCYx0Bb54GAsCRspvl3qGU2DHHmjJB0O2GJS6oeCEFwxeg0ju9bYVUwZFh-HD5k1ie1mnKBAOQvDLR1ToiXwd2Wa9s6s3JvBaQ5Wk/s640/DSC_1049.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even Mona gets thirsty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
end of October is always a special time for the <i>Del Viento</i> crew. Windy turns a year
older, Eleanor’s birthday is just before Halloween, there’s the
dress-up-and-candy day itself, and then soon after, I pull another year away from Windy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Eleanor’s
birthday was low-key and enjoyable. For Halloween we planned to be on a mooring
off Musket Cove, a resort on an island off the coast of Nadi. We heard there
might be other kid boats there, many waiting for a window to make the hop to
New Zealand.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
didn’t disappoint, one of our girls’ favorite cruising Halloweens so far—and that’s
saying a lot, given the success of Santa Rosalia a few years back and Woodacre
before that.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Next Halloween? We're shooting for Montana. More on those plans in a future post.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-N-S2-jAzY79ORCeSMb9GgAfuVrCS6TGJBQeNPW5sCLjDpixGUhpLesRi6kdCRaPbw2kZTRcfagsenDm1dVqta-gtbQDEarvPDr12jQtUr7nDUpRF_zciXONPkXl8tjTLddADkF9_sQ/s1600/DSC_1027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-N-S2-jAzY79ORCeSMb9GgAfuVrCS6TGJBQeNPW5sCLjDpixGUhpLesRi6kdCRaPbw2kZTRcfagsenDm1dVqta-gtbQDEarvPDr12jQtUr7nDUpRF_zciXONPkXl8tjTLddADkF9_sQ/s640/DSC_1027.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's really all about this group, kind of magical. All the kids<br />clicked, nearly all a bit on the older side. They're not all pictured<br />here, but from <i>Del Viento</i>, <i>Terrapin</i>, <i>Pesto</i>, <i>Me Too</i>, <i>So What</i>, <i>Enough</i>, <br />and an unnamed boat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj8ImamleXDTk_OGm78woOYVIk6BgHDmOTndRB47hM5RH5TRF3uqO0otZx2ww2lH_OOolOyLe-VZ-GLuyi2PKXSXJ1_N4Q51ufV7PWUReBTNTpvUimUT8N0hW34ldqrpxJSvlnLo17g9s/s1600/DSC_1011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj8ImamleXDTk_OGm78woOYVIk6BgHDmOTndRB47hM5RH5TRF3uqO0otZx2ww2lH_OOolOyLe-VZ-GLuyi2PKXSXJ1_N4Q51ufV7PWUReBTNTpvUimUT8N0hW34ldqrpxJSvlnLo17g9s/s640/DSC_1011.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor opening one of her birthday gifts, a<br />pedal for her electric piano. All wearing her new<br />21 Pilots t-shirt and her new bandana.<br />Definitely a black theme, welcome 14!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1HTJvuhAtGY08OSBY2cGTiQm-YCWxjZc8eAK8bMpArGvH9in4M1IHToFM6KiqTpEMkCAkJRTlN5YqO0HdrViunmrYrk8kZV_N5t2_HjYkDBbQ1dvrcqI2PKfinvMLqwRpBEKyIwB5qk/s1600/DSC_1038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1HTJvuhAtGY08OSBY2cGTiQm-YCWxjZc8eAK8bMpArGvH9in4M1IHToFM6KiqTpEMkCAkJRTlN5YqO0HdrViunmrYrk8kZV_N5t2_HjYkDBbQ1dvrcqI2PKfinvMLqwRpBEKyIwB5qk/s640/DSC_1038.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the beach doing the birthday cake thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs0PlihpeJl3mXM6dZcnZYOEwNNWJAfSnUz4VQqZNN31V_7VvnUJj52jwGSnP6oVdeNu85rSMGUxA8DLuWctFHwSMUMp0Bf4HGCZsoLS3wTTvqw-44OlfKVDu2A1pY3wXETJFgU0VwxQ/s1600/DSC_1046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSs0PlihpeJl3mXM6dZcnZYOEwNNWJAfSnUz4VQqZNN31V_7VvnUJj52jwGSnP6oVdeNu85rSMGUxA8DLuWctFHwSMUMp0Bf4HGCZsoLS3wTTvqw-44OlfKVDu2A1pY3wXETJFgU0VwxQ/s640/DSC_1046.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls came up with and executed their costumes<br />themselves. Surprisingly, all we had to acquire were<br />the plastic flowers for Frida's head décor. Leo wasn't<br />around, so Mona painted her own cardboard<br />background and frame.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Vcmwe84lO1DQjkYhs_KQ_UK0-h5IIHI2iqSMaHMUoZiHflj3jSXAhmKmn-tz9K0TzSC7SCxtY-PJYyeoZKcJ1mkY-PDaFlugZqVexA1T03M1IZOg-_SGnyLugYArwV1JcgLpm3NHKHs/s1600/DSC_1052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Vcmwe84lO1DQjkYhs_KQ_UK0-h5IIHI2iqSMaHMUoZiHflj3jSXAhmKmn-tz9K0TzSC7SCxtY-PJYyeoZKcJ1mkY-PDaFlugZqVexA1T03M1IZOg-_SGnyLugYArwV1JcgLpm3NHKHs/s640/DSC_1052.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halloween 2017</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1Dvyptj9a7WHpAy2uTgwTkIxBL4wBtJv6rppA7FM2e35LQG0e65y8eQe9zQCv-Rq3m3r13g_-D_2GhcFuFBTK-ZMSuPkncq75toiEtUA7AIkkn8fw_Zk3rRQddvg6dHCG2W6YPhnme8/s1600/DSC_1062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1Dvyptj9a7WHpAy2uTgwTkIxBL4wBtJv6rppA7FM2e35LQG0e65y8eQe9zQCv-Rq3m3r13g_-D_2GhcFuFBTK-ZMSuPkncq75toiEtUA7AIkkn8fw_Zk3rRQddvg6dHCG2W6YPhnme8/s640/DSC_1062.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not all of them, only those we could rally for this photo.<br />Many of the adults were in costume too and thanks to<br />some of us just back from trips to the States,<br />there were the Halloween staples like you<br />cannot find in Fiji: Snickers, Take Five, Twix, etc.</td></tr>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-17957633706192019132017-10-26T19:28:00.000-06:002017-10-26T19:54:32.849-06:00Who Sailed the Boat Here? By WindyMUSKET COVE, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMbN_bzGIAf4snJG-WhqaTz3BiFwzkXZdYSaLm7r-2CJ0u8P9WHVCAZveOvQi10mhpaWd4qf7YkpVrpG4xqCnwZwFR79xZ0GjV9Hdh9g72ONu9treZukx-bQXbnk16-VGToHpnWAbldU/s1600/FullSizeRender%255B83918%255D2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="931" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMbN_bzGIAf4snJG-WhqaTz3BiFwzkXZdYSaLm7r-2CJ0u8P9WHVCAZveOvQi10mhpaWd4qf7YkpVrpG4xqCnwZwFR79xZ0GjV9Hdh9g72ONu9treZukx-bQXbnk16-VGToHpnWAbldU/s640/FullSizeRender%255B83918%255D2.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not missing Dad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A
Musket Cove Yacht Club lifetime membership is quite possibly the best US$5 a
cruiser can spend. Our plastic laminated member cards had entitled the girls
and me to spend the past few weeks walking sandy paths, lounging on a shady
veranda, chilling with friends on the picnic island, and soaking in the pool at
the casually classy Musket Cove Resort on Malolo Lailai Island, Fiji. Now it
was time leave our mooring and head to Port Denarau Marina on the main island,
Viti Levu, to pick up Mike, flying in from the U.S. the next day. But I decided
to first fill out a club membership form for Mike.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"He
should already have one," said Bale the office manager.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Why
should he?"</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Because
he's the most important."</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
paused, then a realization dawned on me: crew cannot be members absent a
captain. "Oh, Mike didn't arrive with us," I said.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Who
sailed the boat here?"</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"I
did," I said.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Then
you are the captain!" She smiled.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Yes!"
I said.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
wasn't a lie. There's no strict hierarchy aboard <i>Del Viento</i>, and with
Mike gone there was no question who’d been captain these past few weeks. But
that was new. The three hour sail from Nadi Bay to Musket Cove had been my
first solo sail—though it wasn’t truly solo because I had my kid crew with me. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
thought back to that journey. I’d been nervous. Even though everything I’d be
doing I'd done a hundred times before, I realized that I'd never taken total
responsibility. Perhaps I'd never captained the boat before? Does Mike feel
this responsibility? Or have we truly split the job, always sharing
responsibility?</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
realized how much peace of mind having backup had always given me. Countless
times, two hands aboard had been better than one. Simply raising <i>Del Viento</i>’s
huge old mainsail is usually a two-person job. I thought back to groundings
that did not happen and collisions avoided because we had two sets of eyes on
the job. Just recently I’d caught a sheet on a hatch. It was certainly
something I could have dealt with alone, but it was helpful to have one of us
on the foredeck to free the line and the other at the helm managing the boat.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7GezB2mQyXNdm8ybhCzL2FrLly2a2u1FbVOPv38dJ9WrFkmB3xWaH7RP0qZhHnbUqtdQEvV6U7wrRo3C1OgPzYW8Kf6QUl6hd81ozXfNUjPxo7OVlWxpSH_y81QSwf2DItbXYJx-2jQ/s1600/IMG_3805%255B83916%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="990" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7GezB2mQyXNdm8ybhCzL2FrLly2a2u1FbVOPv38dJ9WrFkmB3xWaH7RP0qZhHnbUqtdQEvV6U7wrRo3C1OgPzYW8Kf6QUl6hd81ozXfNUjPxo7OVlWxpSH_y81QSwf2DItbXYJx-2jQ/s640/IMG_3805%255B83916%255D.jpg" width="394" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor and Dillon (<i>Sangvind</i>) flying a kite.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In
my experience, many singlehanders are extra careful, extra conservative, they
take meticulous care of their vessel. My singlehander brain switched on. What
could go wrong during this really short passage in protected waters? An injury
could happen. If I were seriously injured would the girls be able to manage and
seek help? I decided, yes, they could. What if I went overboard? Ditto. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What
concerned me most was equipment failure, especially engine failure. Our
raw-water engine pump was on its last legs. In fact, Mike was returning with a
replacement. I was banking on squeezing a few more hours out of the old one. I
came up with a plan in the event I lost the engine en route.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Having
dropped Mike off at the airport, the day of departure was upon us. Together,
the girls and I raised anchor and headed across Nadi Bay, weaving through the
fleet of boats anchored off Port Denarau. Once underway, my nerves calmed.
Winds were light and on the nose. We continued motoring toward Musket Cove. I
kept an eye on the temperature gauge. When the wind later increased, still on
the nose, I advanced the throttle. I could have raised the sails, but we'd have
had to tack back and forth and I was eager to reach our destination. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzkTxpblL3nSWTMA8soDPy6KOrHEAJEiIFLb4Ta5cPddYes8wI0oFvHBuI5yC1IXafDIWvuZcVqrUK4QriZvP6CUlO4ls9AM56YO8ng2fwXl8QgZefHTJjovDmDxf4spTGnS-LjO6WX4/s1600/IMG_3790%255B83948%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then
I noticed the engine temperature needle creeping towards the red. I leaned over
the transom. Water was spitting out of the exhaust, but the volume was
diminished and was accompanied by a bit of steam. Alarmed, I throttled way
back. While I watched the temperature gauge, I ran through my options in the
event I lost the motor:</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">sail</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">drift and let the engine cool and try again</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">anchor</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">call for a tow</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
decided my best option would be to raise sail and head back downwind to Nadi
Bay, which is wide open and shallow. I would be comfortable getting there and
anchoring under sail.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQ_oD3eiEgmo5KLapM12Nv_oha7DsdSlC-dBTcTAXYz37elPYJraUoQxzx6EMC478DULsrOhEBEaHPu0ovE81hTcMGtY4hfBW-lFECQqYuP1ZZp7bBJonxBf_X3uQLTbe0hcmUyL4Yj4/s1600/IMG_3632%255B83942%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Fortunately,
it didn't come to that. Throttling back did the trick. The engine temp returned
to normal as did the water from the exhaust, the steam was gone. After an hour
of slow motoring we entered the mooring field at Musket Cove. The moorings
were full. Circling around, we found a spot behind our friends on <i>Full
Circle</i>. Within minutes of anchoring I was sitting in the cockpit with a
cold beer, watching Frances fly around the anchorage on a surfboard, towed by <i>Sangvind</i>'s
fast dinghy. I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back: this was definitely
going to be worth the journey.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<u><br /></u></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--WR</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQ_oD3eiEgmo5KLapM12Nv_oha7DsdSlC-dBTcTAXYz37elPYJraUoQxzx6EMC478DULsrOhEBEaHPu0ovE81hTcMGtY4hfBW-lFECQqYuP1ZZp7bBJonxBf_X3uQLTbe0hcmUyL4Yj4/s640/IMG_3632%255B83942%255D.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor on the Spit near Musket Cove.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzkTxpblL3nSWTMA8soDPy6KOrHEAJEiIFLb4Ta5cPddYes8wI0oFvHBuI5yC1IXafDIWvuZcVqrUK4QriZvP6CUlO4ls9AM56YO8ng2fwXl8QgZefHTJjovDmDxf4spTGnS-LjO6WX4/s1600/IMG_3790%255B83948%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzkTxpblL3nSWTMA8soDPy6KOrHEAJEiIFLb4Ta5cPddYes8wI0oFvHBuI5yC1IXafDIWvuZcVqrUK4QriZvP6CUlO4ls9AM56YO8ng2fwXl8QgZefHTJjovDmDxf4spTGnS-LjO6WX4/s640/IMG_3790%255B83948%255D.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Musket Cove resort life: learning to make pulisami.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><br /></b>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygI3ghCOq-k8m5jYL-Lp40h6uX3CNN0ihckwx5A12FNrRrGNLV3dYoiT7fzF5-Ef9Ig6mykxIUUbfJ_jUSTvYtlP8DlOfsjweSBRb2N1A6N5ZG8uclJYNCTzpjTLojRs-46Pt4iC6gVM/s1600/FullSizeRender1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1163" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygI3ghCOq-k8m5jYL-Lp40h6uX3CNN0ihckwx5A12FNrRrGNLV3dYoiT7fzF5-Ef9Ig6mykxIUUbfJ_jUSTvYtlP8DlOfsjweSBRb2N1A6N5ZG8uclJYNCTzpjTLojRs-46Pt4iC6gVM/s640/FullSizeRender1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All is good aboard (this is a selfie taken inside the head).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygI3ghCOq-k8m5jYL-Lp40h6uX3CNN0ihckwx5A12FNrRrGNLV3dYoiT7fzF5-Ef9Ig6mykxIUUbfJ_jUSTvYtlP8DlOfsjweSBRb2N1A6N5ZG8uclJYNCTzpjTLojRs-46Pt4iC6gVM/s1600/FullSizeRender1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><b><br /></b>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-UB1fqKJC7BwwqpU-iXQK52VDM-RY8rXY6jhyphenhyphenP0mpKDhvA_1Hma8MrYClgL4luYXdJab-0A9pyd3KELpZPlg5Bi52w9IAgCV-zVL4pu9N-kH94dsUBwjUTHmTDhA2KV83OAtvPh0dog/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-UB1fqKJC7BwwqpU-iXQK52VDM-RY8rXY6jhyphenhyphenP0mpKDhvA_1Hma8MrYClgL4luYXdJab-0A9pyd3KELpZPlg5Bi52w9IAgCV-zVL4pu9N-kH94dsUBwjUTHmTDhA2KV83OAtvPh0dog/s640/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When's Dad coming home?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-29589759968332793712017-10-21T01:19:00.000-06:002017-10-21T01:19:41.553-06:00Good Old Boat Show By MichaelDENERAU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The 2017 United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland was a good, exhausting, productive, and fun time. Things are definitely different when viewed from behind a booth. For starters, I was there all five days and never even stepped foot on a boat, not a one! I had no time for such luxury. I hardly walked the show at all. Get this: over five days, I consumed only two Painkillers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
But it's all good, I was there to work, to spread the word about <i>Good Old Boat, </i>The Sailing Magazine for the Rest of Us. Who are the rest of us? Like I told a thousand show-goers, "If you own and maintain a fiberglass sailboat, this is the magazine for you." On the first two days of the show we set records for signing up new subscribers. What a pleasure to have met at least a hundred regular readers during the show. (And what a pleasure to have met about a dozen readers of this blog!)<br />
For those who've never been, this is the mother of all boat shows. Everyone is there. Some of my favorite moments were meeting long-time friends face-to-face for the first time.<br />
<br />
Here's a (partial) photo essay (there were lots of great moments that happened without my camera at hand, lots of other heroes I met):<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxXItIqrkEWCZsN8HvB-3r6ak7yOPlSl_3z-yJHIjD13y8nBZCROoEhEL62vFuchDa7OOWaNaMqjOMIY6DbnSUaDCEj8atVcvvJbeN8wXv3VVqQHTGhZjxEoEf-afGpgMgNkr7Uf17y4/s1600/IMG_6993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxXItIqrkEWCZsN8HvB-3r6ak7yOPlSl_3z-yJHIjD13y8nBZCROoEhEL62vFuchDa7OOWaNaMqjOMIY6DbnSUaDCEj8atVcvvJbeN8wXv3VVqQHTGhZjxEoEf-afGpgMgNkr7Uf17y4/s640/IMG_6993.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this about midnight, the night before the show was set to start,<br />
from across the bay.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53JoSXHCsqRMYgRCFAROTeA6H3ldl-BuU2Bvi6SbAdjY9B5CWD0I5ZCvfAhVIBHZPoHFv_i5ZChsdX9Yaazh446jN1uDmXNBx0fmiRWTpvcGkKjPchR7Ce0O1Yjj6DbBUdZOuDdW9ovY/s1600/IMG_7002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53JoSXHCsqRMYgRCFAROTeA6H3ldl-BuU2Bvi6SbAdjY9B5CWD0I5ZCvfAhVIBHZPoHFv_i5ZChsdX9Yaazh446jN1uDmXNBx0fmiRWTpvcGkKjPchR7Ce0O1Yjj6DbBUdZOuDdW9ovY/s640/IMG_7002.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the show at night, everything buttoned up and ready for the opening.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTjbE8STUBFlxy2ZspIwUYtffvTsOes1ek85iQrFUi8xufciiZqdacdBTfMut1ZWHPL5jQVIESRX-SFRE9QnGKFRwFg6lac-hoMKqa0H-vb_3x9YEuiVEt53BhyphenhyphenkEQzGh1S-wlzyNZ5c/s1600/IMG_7006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTjbE8STUBFlxy2ZspIwUYtffvTsOes1ek85iQrFUi8xufciiZqdacdBTfMut1ZWHPL5jQVIESRX-SFRE9QnGKFRwFg6lac-hoMKqa0H-vb_3x9YEuiVEt53BhyphenhyphenkEQzGh1S-wlzyNZ5c/s1600/IMG_7006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTjbE8STUBFlxy2ZspIwUYtffvTsOes1ek85iQrFUi8xufciiZqdacdBTfMut1ZWHPL5jQVIESRX-SFRE9QnGKFRwFg6lac-hoMKqa0H-vb_3x9YEuiVEt53BhyphenhyphenkEQzGh1S-wlzyNZ5c/s640/IMG_7006.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our booth looking sharp...this was long before we ran out of the<br />
2,500 magazines we gave away. That's Karla behind the counter<br />
and Chuck in the captain's chair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tnKRg1t4H8hlFj-uZrt8kjeHcxtmYQCNcIR1lBvLpVdo104slwG6dmPwBERsPGWV0GGN7iXhbpLTLexuCQTQm9k1D8b2LTEssWL3jNMsnqhfSxywQpIblvqdCuj4gcFfyyh1dE2VBBY/s1600/IMG_7016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tnKRg1t4H8hlFj-uZrt8kjeHcxtmYQCNcIR1lBvLpVdo104slwG6dmPwBERsPGWV0GGN7iXhbpLTLexuCQTQm9k1D8b2LTEssWL3jNMsnqhfSxywQpIblvqdCuj4gcFfyyh1dE2VBBY/s640/IMG_7016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Carolyn Shearlock, tireless promoter of all things<br />
galley. Have you been to <a href="http://theboatgalley.com/">theboatgalley.com</a> lately?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheePVSDU98d71k0y2HMxsaTgXWbDRP_HyxktKnV1h653BpxXK5hX2xiiiacNhBFiQTUQ-6gfIdGvxkbyWHsl8znKQoKHyTGUpNA7FoZHPRkBXS4XkP_4ETQgzN4pQLS_Q5eY98kIG-K-8/s1600/IMG_7021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheePVSDU98d71k0y2HMxsaTgXWbDRP_HyxktKnV1h653BpxXK5hX2xiiiacNhBFiQTUQ-6gfIdGvxkbyWHsl8znKQoKHyTGUpNA7FoZHPRkBXS4XkP_4ETQgzN4pQLS_Q5eY98kIG-K-8/s640/IMG_7021.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Pillsbury (center) is Editor of <i>Cruising World</i> magazine.<br />
Jeremy "Mac" McGeary (right) is a master wordsmith who<br />
graces the <i>Good Old Boat</i> masthead and who started work at<br />
<i>Cruising World</i> shortly after the sextant was invented. He<br />
has an endless supply of good stories. After this photo was<br />
taken, I sat back and listened to Jeremy and Mark<br />
remind each other of different anecdotes regarding a<br />
stuffed purple monkey--I think I've got that right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnMA8Q4EhkMaiCX7tgf6TSu7jVcMNk8OShywlCPVHkwggD8codEvOZA4_1FUIC00Urd4MfokgT-Zaohso0tZ3y-Z5ryNPHvAkYoX_BitHca0q5lK5Xm3NRN02csMd2ZOiIx4Tv2yy44M/s1600/IMG_7022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnMA8Q4EhkMaiCX7tgf6TSu7jVcMNk8OShywlCPVHkwggD8codEvOZA4_1FUIC00Urd4MfokgT-Zaohso0tZ3y-Z5ryNPHvAkYoX_BitHca0q5lK5Xm3NRN02csMd2ZOiIx4Tv2yy44M/s640/IMG_7022.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her shirt should read "#BrittanyStrong." This is the <a href="http://www.windtraveler.net/" target="_blank">Windtraveler</a> writer<br />
herself, here at the show just weeks after Irma turned her life upside down,<br />
here to raise money to help her island community. She's a dynamo.<br />
<a href="http://www.remembertheadventure.com/bvistrong" target="_blank">Buy your own shirt</a> or donate <a href="https://www.youcaring.com/bviimmediaterelief-943806" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8hSQxejpE-VJLKhyvo4QfWBmJH18R0Jc7soVuPSl0Pq3lsQAe6aT4ywuEBcoQe_d82yFe3SvxsUFFIO9cKwlWf_LUPtkv8UP2S2mblxEKKFWBk8EFuGdGTuB8N6QfYRoErpPdKizlEk/s1600/IMG_7024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8hSQxejpE-VJLKhyvo4QfWBmJH18R0Jc7soVuPSl0Pq3lsQAe6aT4ywuEBcoQe_d82yFe3SvxsUFFIO9cKwlWf_LUPtkv8UP2S2mblxEKKFWBk8EFuGdGTuB8N6QfYRoErpPdKizlEk/s640/IMG_7024.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, Tim Murphy, another master wordsmith who has long made<br />
others' words great on the page. Lucky for me, Tim is the editor of<br />
<i>Voyaging With Kids</i>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53JoSXHCsqRMYgRCFAROTeA6H3ldl-BuU2Bvi6SbAdjY9B5CWD0I5ZCvfAhVIBHZPoHFv_i5ZChsdX9Yaazh446jN1uDmXNBx0fmiRWTpvcGkKjPchR7Ce0O1Yjj6DbBUdZOuDdW9ovY/s1600/IMG_7002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO62mnDH_ShKkUEbZ0ls3Yj-SgfzZ9o1MTb0Z5tMe5Wzqhtvifx9kkBUweWPsDXCHXk5RKqUpDMI8KpcII-d80QGza37CaU_qAP-Wu3m5ZH75xdt9YhlToQYYcCI4s5kMkxpze87SZ0I/s1600/IMG_7013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzO62mnDH_ShKkUEbZ0ls3Yj-SgfzZ9o1MTb0Z5tMe5Wzqhtvifx9kkBUweWPsDXCHXk5RKqUpDMI8KpcII-d80QGza37CaU_qAP-Wu3m5ZH75xdt9YhlToQYYcCI4s5kMkxpze87SZ0I/s640/IMG_7013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wendyhinman.com/" target="_blank">Wendy Hinman</a> is a fellow freelancer and boating author.<br />
Everyone has heard of <i>Tightwads on the Loose</i>. Her new<br />
title is <i>Sea Trials</i>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53JoSXHCsqRMYgRCFAROTeA6H3ldl-BuU2Bvi6SbAdjY9B5CWD0I5ZCvfAhVIBHZPoHFv_i5ZChsdX9Yaazh446jN1uDmXNBx0fmiRWTpvcGkKjPchR7Ce0O1Yjj6DbBUdZOuDdW9ovY/s1600/IMG_7002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuuyrdAEQ8H4Y7HRan1RFfgM3PkEDhIC_qFMhJTI-9FM5MkABBGMiG5jjeXfmSuU-kONNZeUUzB5gWiMvxTRXLan1BjVA_yj3RbQzXtHDuo5ZjnDQ9788RBZrj-NHjKRn8IXQvRHJLRk/s1600/IMG_7011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuuyrdAEQ8H4Y7HRan1RFfgM3PkEDhIC_qFMhJTI-9FM5MkABBGMiG5jjeXfmSuU-kONNZeUUzB5gWiMvxTRXLan1BjVA_yj3RbQzXtHDuo5ZjnDQ9788RBZrj-NHjKRn8IXQvRHJLRk/s640/IMG_7011.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I swear, every time I run into Lin Pardey, she seeks my<br />
advice on sailing. I think here she'd just asked me about<br />
heavy weather sailing and I'm explaining the best<br />
approaches. I think someday she is going to be<br />
quite the sailor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yacG7h29Pe325wqW9bq4bxMUpwkBdxOamCTb9hiZa6UGszMdOdtApQBvghaMhOdVO2GMTsDWpfri6tB58aXiXKd9BP4lHUhzpPZB6SONDGD4s8OofDp2DaMcDJTQQHndn3ddeKLH4BQ/s1600/IMG_7009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yacG7h29Pe325wqW9bq4bxMUpwkBdxOamCTb9hiZa6UGszMdOdtApQBvghaMhOdVO2GMTsDWpfri6tB58aXiXKd9BP4lHUhzpPZB6SONDGD4s8OofDp2DaMcDJTQQHndn3ddeKLH4BQ/s640/IMG_7009.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My good friend Jen Brett. She bought some of my early<br />
stories when she worked at <i>Blue Water Sailing</i> years ago.<br />
She is now the Senior Editor at <i>Cruising World</i> and<br />
still a pleasure to work with.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF7-lzvRMbS0jncGkXT1sbUSrewyvdSa3US92vPZxGMaQJSjk19fFlPGJL5DdLvrbYQd4rJ6k5xgmDU9exrS1Q-FenGkutWLsv57eMGrtsKx3n9S8QQwMw9Kw506UF0AntcE9N98HjpY/s1600/IMG_7008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDF7-lzvRMbS0jncGkXT1sbUSrewyvdSa3US92vPZxGMaQJSjk19fFlPGJL5DdLvrbYQd4rJ6k5xgmDU9exrS1Q-FenGkutWLsv57eMGrtsKx3n9S8QQwMw9Kw506UF0AntcE9N98HjpY/s640/IMG_7008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behan! Imagine writing a book with someone and corresponding<br />
for years, and then meeting in person for the first time--this is<br />
what that looks like. Such a pleasure. Her <i><a href="http://www.sailingtotem.com/" target="_blank">Totem</a></i> is a short distance<br />
from circumnavigating.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0vsUwX6QwH-1QhcNzGRVrOpOTrcW4X3vgiswJ01RIurlAe02O88qmVi19KFhKcDVd4bV5PpsaKGcQbGsuQwEXR-Bxt47t8t6MjSadPHLM3xjzTivRE1zllICrl5KmaOucjIDtUAiB9E/s1600/IMG_7007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0vsUwX6QwH-1QhcNzGRVrOpOTrcW4X3vgiswJ01RIurlAe02O88qmVi19KFhKcDVd4bV5PpsaKGcQbGsuQwEXR-Bxt47t8t6MjSadPHLM3xjzTivRE1zllICrl5KmaOucjIDtUAiB9E/s640/IMG_7007.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was Wendy Mitman Clarke's biggest fan when she was writing<br />
a column for <i>Cruising World</i> years ago. We've met before, but<br />
since then she and her talented daughter contributed to<br />
<i>Voyaging With Kids</i> and it was a real pleasure to<br />
catch up in person. I'm reading her latest now:<br />
<i><a href="http://amzn.to/2l45nls" target="_blank">Still Water Bending</a></i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTjbE8STUBFlxy2ZspIwUYtffvTsOes1ek85iQrFUi8xufciiZqdacdBTfMut1ZWHPL5jQVIESRX-SFRE9QnGKFRwFg6lac-hoMKqa0H-vb_3x9YEuiVEt53BhyphenhyphenkEQzGh1S-wlzyNZ5c/s1600/IMG_7006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z8Z0pAMruVAkboqj2KU7BfEErDBXVMKi-LXjHKk2UJdB9xMoPOg_4i61lsG8NzMCdh6okTqT9PrGjzKpPX_Kw5soygVAovIY0mLxLgECIedrW__o-gBcWpI1zr3QobET06tD9OULBUc/s1600/IMG_7025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z8Z0pAMruVAkboqj2KU7BfEErDBXVMKi-LXjHKk2UJdB9xMoPOg_4i61lsG8NzMCdh6okTqT9PrGjzKpPX_Kw5soygVAovIY0mLxLgECIedrW__o-gBcWpI1zr3QobET06tD9OULBUc/s640/IMG_7025.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jimmy Cornell has done a lot, but I appreciate most his<br />
<i><a href="http://amzn.to/2yE5p8s" target="_blank">World Cruising Routes</a></i>, love it. Better still, he's a fan of<br />
<i>Good Old Boat</i>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj__va4xQ7lFDsPUjOJkvN5a39Ch8Zp00HVfvfmJ0H_0PkDH7LtmTdvZvItRACvLKHjc6EOdaLeR38B88eMFnCxCyxXqOzKiQlvfPOhmR3xRM7FBKbG-z6Bd1r59vmoqCDjqfgt1-2KUw/s1600/IMG_7030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj__va4xQ7lFDsPUjOJkvN5a39Ch8Zp00HVfvfmJ0H_0PkDH7LtmTdvZvItRACvLKHjc6EOdaLeR38B88eMFnCxCyxXqOzKiQlvfPOhmR3xRM7FBKbG-z6Bd1r59vmoqCDjqfgt1-2KUw/s640/IMG_7030.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
My second family; we email each other daily. From left to right:</div>
<div>
the word guy Jeremy "Mac" McGeary, me, the money gal Karla<br />
Sandness, the artsy gal Nancy Koucky, and the ad man Chuck<br />
Koucky. Together we put out the magazine we all want to read,</div>
<div>
and have fun doing so.</div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-71767232322897709582017-10-03T11:30:00.000-06:002017-10-03T11:30:09.688-06:00Headed for the Annapolis Sailboat Show By MichaelWASHINGTON, DC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNrQlQ3IyHzrzQDtxhAYM21pEvXT_8rlXeHja9f1ZW1sEqUAaEbcccv6U2nzGJnUWkUqFndIANWybmVFcTqkIom2a5bidO93e2nKZywPj65lr1NcZVnT3b5sz3hBs66-wKjpyyoROuGs/s1600/IMG_6976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNrQlQ3IyHzrzQDtxhAYM21pEvXT_8rlXeHja9f1ZW1sEqUAaEbcccv6U2nzGJnUWkUqFndIANWybmVFcTqkIom2a5bidO93e2nKZywPj65lr1NcZVnT3b5sz3hBs66-wKjpyyoROuGs/s640/IMG_6976.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
was my sunrise view out the window of the A330 I just flew aboard from Nadi, Fiji, to
LAX. I realized this was my 7<sup>th</sup> flight across the Pacific, the 6<sup>th</sup>
on Fiji Airways. It’s a terribly long, overnight slog, but thankfully
direct—and Nadi (pronounced nan-di) airport is an easy one to fly through and
with a comfortable international terminal (they actually have these large,
bed-like platforms that passengers are encouraged to spread out on).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I left
Windy and the girls in Fiji and I’m headed for the Annapolis Sailboat Show.
I’ve been to the show nearly a dozen times, but this will be my first visit
where I’ll be working the show, from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good
Old Boat</i> magazine stall. I’m not a salesman and have been anxious about the
prospect of spending 4 days spreading the word about The Sailing Magazine for
the Rest of Us. But that was then.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
just spent a few days in California visiting family as well as boatyards and
marinas from Morro Bay to Oxnard, passing out magazine copies to sailors and
telling them about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Old Boat</i>, my
role as editor, and what we’ve got planned. I always received a warm,
encouraging reception and I look forward to more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’m
also looking forward to meeting in person all of the people I’ve known for
years, but have never met. First are the fellow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Old Boat</i> folks with whom I email daily. Then there are all the
editors of the magazines I’ve sold to over the years, my publisher Lin Pardey,
my co-author Behan Gifford of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Totem</i>, my
friend author Rob Avery—and I learned just this morning that my friend Brittany
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Windtraveler</i> will be at the show.
It’s going to feel more like a party or festival than a boat show.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
If your a <i>Log of Del Viento</i> reader, I hope to<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> see you there too. Stop by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Old Boat</i>
exhibit and say hello.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-91939688157140929642017-09-23T17:15:00.000-06:002017-09-23T17:15:35.929-06:00Hemispheric Travelers By MichaelVITI LEVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf5y7rwf7bGRwBAQeUO06AgaYL2ir50myUpw0EMEd90ND0ShP_N9Xc7ioeoOVqNNPddoUMtJWeN6kO0Lf82WmF53po7n4YkLX6UIom_WOzXzl5cbBLk4esu2OPCd4lahjYm2e2w_6Tyw/s1600/DSC_0793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="996" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf5y7rwf7bGRwBAQeUO06AgaYL2ir50myUpw0EMEd90ND0ShP_N9Xc7ioeoOVqNNPddoUMtJWeN6kO0Lf82WmF53po7n4YkLX6UIom_WOzXzl5cbBLk4esu2OPCd4lahjYm2e2w_6Tyw/s640/DSC_0793.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at <i>Del Viento</i> from ashore.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
we got our window and made our short passage north, from Savusavu, Fiji, to
Futuna, the smaller of the main islands that comprise Wallis & Futuna, the
simply-named French protectorate out in vast Pacific Ocean.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
was sort of like returning to the Marquesas. Granted, everything is in French
(though the 4,500 people on the island speak their own Polynesian language,
Futunan, at home—and just them! The 9,500 people on Wallis speak Wallisian,
blows my mind.) and the small <i>supermarchés</i> were filled with duck <i>pâtés</i>
and cheeses and bread (bread that was much better than anything we ever got in
all of French Polynesia), but what I'm talking about is the dense, green,
rugged hillsides punctuated with dramatic sheer cliffs. "It reminds me of
the Marquesas," is what we kept saying to each other after dropping the
anchor.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">All
of this was unexpected. I'd focused solely on the understandable admonitions about Futuna, same as the widespread advice offered to us before we sailed to Pago Pago, American Samoa: "get in and quickly get out." I didn't expect else but the roadstead anchorage and the dinghy-killing pier. Following is the soundtrack aboard <i>Del Viento</i> en route:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Girls,
you know we're seriously only going to be here for the time it takes to drop
anchor, check in, and check out—maybe as short as a couple hours." </span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Seriously?!
But we can't be stuck on a passage for two days and then not even spend the
night."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJS6JouBzMQdtCOlwGHSWqdEwhRLFu7Nv5kFmkZZ_JD8vXsdwYisSHpb32b1XTPsCc9TwE89jbveJCla8R7J9Bx4uSos3nZy4GWbR7kIupsXQulzWAkGsBjNtJ4UkOIoSV269KwRflwo/s1600/DSC_0800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="925" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJS6JouBzMQdtCOlwGHSWqdEwhRLFu7Nv5kFmkZZ_JD8vXsdwYisSHpb32b1XTPsCc9TwE89jbveJCla8R7J9Bx4uSos3nZy4GWbR7kIupsXQulzWAkGsBjNtJ4UkOIoSV269KwRflwo/s640/DSC_0800.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only place we found to get internet<br />
on-island, outside the closed Gendarmerie.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Guys,
this is the whole point of this trip, to check in and check out and get back to
Fiji. Besides, the anchorage is a shallow indentation and our weather window is
closing—we can't be in this anchorage when our weather window closes and the wind comes up."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
arrived on a Saturday, early morning. We hit the beach running.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
Gendarmerie gave us the bad news: "You can check in and check out in this
office today, but you must also go see the port captain for your zarpe and he
won't be in-office before Monday."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Crap. We were told in Fiji we could do our check in and check out on a Saturday.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Fortunately,
a quick check of the GRIBs showed that our weather window had accommodated us,
expanding to give us the two placid days we needed.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Life
is like that sometimes.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
didn't rock and roll in the roadstead anchorage, instead we sat peacefully for
two days in a lovely, lovely setting, enjoying an unexpected Futuna experience.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Life
is also like that sometimes.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our
sail home was as pleasant as our sail there. Both ways we crossed the antimeridian,
exactly halfway around the world from Greenwich, England, and meaning that in
our short trip we traveled east from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western
Hemisphere and then back to the Eastern Hemisphere. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kMu-bVIS95ThghleRAVLhEIXCb3qzcW1A_NZhrgy1tPvWNE5vMiiZu4ueWJwZbligFuZO-7iBvek_EfyK9Rz-VWWi48eykztLRA1X9qlp8hU-KHpa41BJ7qCrJjzIVEyve4L4481DIc/s1600/DSC_0761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kMu-bVIS95ThghleRAVLhEIXCb3qzcW1A_NZhrgy1tPvWNE5vMiiZu4ueWJwZbligFuZO-7iBvek_EfyK9Rz-VWWi48eykztLRA1X9qlp8hU-KHpa41BJ7qCrJjzIVEyve4L4481DIc/s640/DSC_0761.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving Futuna.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPigWyJdidtFwWX0w5OCjSK-9Lz56j1rbd-tAD2AAUgXO52PoZGUw_RjTUvWQxNspsEf93YbamKE_irZAwkHBtK1m3T56qiGTJlIqSVrSK3DfedRtgHHyexphxnqzwuMPU-N8c62dcjs/s1600/DSC_0785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="917" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioPigWyJdidtFwWX0w5OCjSK-9Lz56j1rbd-tAD2AAUgXO52PoZGUw_RjTUvWQxNspsEf93YbamKE_irZAwkHBtK1m3T56qiGTJlIqSVrSK3DfedRtgHHyexphxnqzwuMPU-N8c62dcjs/s640/DSC_0785.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Futuna streets.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3R0N8WRWgmba8unGZKJR0Lgv2R6i_ldWWx9-hJ2vIWT-omS4uQJ-pnLP-bEPgSfzqn2caBSwaLnhvY_RQfiux0KIk2EMfFLOzqEWsSd9gkj5JQdtxH8X0xVUfw_0Hg83ebZVadSTqY2U/s1600/DSC_0788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3R0N8WRWgmba8unGZKJR0Lgv2R6i_ldWWx9-hJ2vIWT-omS4uQJ-pnLP-bEPgSfzqn2caBSwaLnhvY_RQfiux0KIk2EMfFLOzqEWsSd9gkj5JQdtxH8X0xVUfw_0Hg83ebZVadSTqY2U/s640/DSC_0788.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could be a Marquesan street for sure.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBKcUAGakc7CUU-3d9BEZ1q0cnsWblchnkWId0VpCk9RQivv3w6nhb_QsOmGC9j_-I499A-rfsfoZW0yJSYnjc0TCfZ50DjcuV34nkiYL9Itogh_P3MnomKXJk9LU7qKAbFrs2HXdICk/s1600/DSC_0822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="1600" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBKcUAGakc7CUU-3d9BEZ1q0cnsWblchnkWId0VpCk9RQivv3w6nhb_QsOmGC9j_-I499A-rfsfoZW0yJSYnjc0TCfZ50DjcuV34nkiYL9Itogh_P3MnomKXJk9LU7qKAbFrs2HXdICk/s640/DSC_0822.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what the sail back to Fiji looked like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW9FFog76KFepQQoyVHn1yXyE6rSgrM-m4acGNo-b2ZkABIVJ55Pqkk5tOLqrBTHE_95EN0a1DIx5Z4cO2W-tyj-vtKT9TnLPDfNNE2WVxK65N3LXFkoCeN9af2pHvNLUNJppVPXp0VY/s1600/DSC_0825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW9FFog76KFepQQoyVHn1yXyE6rSgrM-m4acGNo-b2ZkABIVJ55Pqkk5tOLqrBTHE_95EN0a1DIx5Z4cO2W-tyj-vtKT9TnLPDfNNE2WVxK65N3LXFkoCeN9af2pHvNLUNJppVPXp0VY/s640/DSC_0825.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Del Viento</i> back on a Waitui mooring in Savusavu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXTyflIgRi_7ZjFN1NIy4LzSzCAiffaZD4-_RyUHKLaKiTAIu5aZNEBzysCXjWHvAzJte6biyeXnvTwo9ENsDqnVMxxmLyKJhSeoSfTQvAQzCDdu-zKrKOmynpzUoZdDvHuHF__58Qng/s1600/DSC_0832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXTyflIgRi_7ZjFN1NIy4LzSzCAiffaZD4-_RyUHKLaKiTAIu5aZNEBzysCXjWHvAzJte6biyeXnvTwo9ENsDqnVMxxmLyKJhSeoSfTQvAQzCDdu-zKrKOmynpzUoZdDvHuHF__58Qng/s640/DSC_0832.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First thing we did upon returning was get together<br />
with our friends Robin and Fiona from <i>MonArk</i>.<br />
The couple are <i>Good Old Boat</i> contributing editors who<br />
also run a site that encourages younger folks to get into<br />
sailing and cruising. Check it out: <a href="http://www.youngandsalty.com/" target="_blank">youngandsalty.com</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-90824586983071656182017-09-16T17:43:00.002-06:002017-09-16T17:43:41.035-06:00Dreary Paradise By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEJJiaa3tkI13ZXppg3EDKYSZXEvvV5J874dLERlO7eOBrPzg9pTkGxICKt8o8LiRRXQ_zvVIEYY72lHUwgOuOeXpcTgR21egUTiAzbnJZ4RLj70nZrfvbthKtc1zkBlFUkVtFwT4BEE/s1600/DSC_0454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEJJiaa3tkI13ZXppg3EDKYSZXEvvV5J874dLERlO7eOBrPzg9pTkGxICKt8o8LiRRXQ_zvVIEYY72lHUwgOuOeXpcTgR21egUTiAzbnJZ4RLj70nZrfvbthKtc1zkBlFUkVtFwT4BEE/s640/DSC_0454.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances with a roadside vendor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We've
not enjoyed a lot of sunshine this month. Lots of drizzle—not a good thing.
Drizzle is for San Francisco. Precipitation in Fiji is usually the warm,
Tropical-rain kind, the kind that allows us to collect water in the tanks and
bathe on the foredeck with a smile on our face. This is cool drizzle that turns
dust to mud streaks. This drizzle is off-and-on and sends us opening and
closing our hatches like jack-in-the-boxes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It's
where we are, Savusavu. It's got its own little wet climate, a result of the
moisture-condensing mountains around us. There's a rain forest a few miles from
our mooring.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">All
of that wouldn't be so dreary if I didn't feel stuck. The clock is ticking on <i>Del
Viento</i>'s time in Fiji. We've been trying to get her out-of-country since I
arrived back from the July I spent in the States—a 2-day passage to
Wallis-Futuna and two days back—but the weather hasn't cooperated. Not the
drizzle this time, but the contrary winds that make that trip notorious. We're
just looking for a break.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Is
that all? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">No.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I've
got the job of my dreams, editor of a great sailing magazine. I can work from
Fiji and anywhere, it's a dream job that allows us to cruise indefinitely.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But
what does that look like?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmgAQsitxiDT1oSYjgPn83CvUi42injG2dp3JciJKNJ-rors9CTdWz5CELsrDJk3DuVFSIwGxNWaHW3cRJaK9SbBGTGc_MxCfCuIjsKBjOiG6ifTWcBFLFJNJ6eLxdhXlarvEXlAQFXo/s1600/DSC_0559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="934" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmgAQsitxiDT1oSYjgPn83CvUi42injG2dp3JciJKNJ-rors9CTdWz5CELsrDJk3DuVFSIwGxNWaHW3cRJaK9SbBGTGc_MxCfCuIjsKBjOiG6ifTWcBFLFJNJ6eLxdhXlarvEXlAQFXo/s640/DSC_0559.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crab Eleanor found.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I'm
working more than 40 hours a week. I'll remind you that this cruising life is
work in and of itself. Getting water, fuel, groceries, and sundries, and disposing
of trash, and doing laundry, and repairing and maintaining the boat, is nearly a
full-time job. The cruising life is best when the cruisers are unencumbered to
tend to the demands of self-sufficiency, like we were for the first five years
of this adventure. Cruising doesn't easily accommodate full-time workers. It
doesn't feel like we're cruising anymore.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
while working full-time in paradise is still more appealing than a conventional
land-based life in the States, there's more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our
kids are turning teen (Eleanor turns 14 next month!). This means we're
confronting the characteristic needs for social lives that involve a more constant presence of other young
adults. I cannot relate, but I cannot ignore.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Added
into our life stew are aging parents; my mom in particular isn't doing well.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We've
met cruising teens who pine for richer social lives. We've met
cruisers who need to spend time caring for aging parents. But these were other
people, these were their stories. We never saw our story the same way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We're
not throwing in the towel, this isn't my farewell post. I don't know what our
cruising life holds. We're actively trying to figure that out. We're a family
accustomed to an uncertain future, we just need to find the best way to make
that future the best it can be.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Maybe
when the drizzle clears.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMIiavB2FjnRQTcKHerLRiT-dISAYg9CwCc6N1XfFLK9zje7AKgYyDHvQc_lRtj3c4lkWE4IgvDOmvIqQ2q4kGaP-M_61VXFT4WUjK2EoyYoD0H8_lD4X4VIIUeNEZkl33FRFfGG5SVs/s1600/DSC_0432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMIiavB2FjnRQTcKHerLRiT-dISAYg9CwCc6N1XfFLK9zje7AKgYyDHvQc_lRtj3c4lkWE4IgvDOmvIqQ2q4kGaP-M_61VXFT4WUjK2EoyYoD0H8_lD4X4VIIUeNEZkl33FRFfGG5SVs/s640/DSC_0432.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances was keen on having a spa day aboard <i>Del Viento</i> and sold<br />Windy and Eleanor on the idea. This is what it looked like and on the<br /> girls' faces is Frances's own oatmeal concoction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXkNJjqIDNIUZ_te0Tmik4t3Rq6p8xNNI3iUb4OiR26TaGVjUoPKcA5nIQVjgRsQSF9cX3nejVMfenTR1oQQnpHDY-ey_LuoMQkiG1xjDDilWX40k2NQo-aYbKdkhwKrDygXd3icam1Y/s1600/DSC_0487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXkNJjqIDNIUZ_te0Tmik4t3Rq6p8xNNI3iUb4OiR26TaGVjUoPKcA5nIQVjgRsQSF9cX3nejVMfenTR1oQQnpHDY-ey_LuoMQkiG1xjDDilWX40k2NQo-aYbKdkhwKrDygXd3icam1Y/s640/DSC_0487.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the nearby Waisali Rainforest Preserve.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOQMzK-_Du3Vrmld6HVmUinvB9DV4u3L739V_8vy-80mDdc6V_Fuf_-OSKQhib_WWc2NUlG6qZnlzf2IprG-T_rbdtYpZBqLuJQnQdeog4Dd12KYAuDzRUu5R4lkE77icWkKTETYo0ek/s1600/DSC_0514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1600" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOQMzK-_Du3Vrmld6HVmUinvB9DV4u3L739V_8vy-80mDdc6V_Fuf_-OSKQhib_WWc2NUlG6qZnlzf2IprG-T_rbdtYpZBqLuJQnQdeog4Dd12KYAuDzRUu5R4lkE77icWkKTETYo0ek/s640/DSC_0514.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Fijian village near a stream. Note the women doing laundry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyW9CATsa4IE_tGWgWRVUKeqmKH2sAxSLZC9xtAmWVYwVw4ZZcmSolIKud-3B_3rGFxrjHJ5sc_390wprOv6N0AfDswVwlYaWRJ5btJeYjAimnW2LVcfY9DguSmHcqro0RnwRGw4lDVk/s1600/DSC_0544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyW9CATsa4IE_tGWgWRVUKeqmKH2sAxSLZC9xtAmWVYwVw4ZZcmSolIKud-3B_3rGFxrjHJ5sc_390wprOv6N0AfDswVwlYaWRJ5btJeYjAimnW2LVcfY9DguSmHcqro0RnwRGw4lDVk/s640/DSC_0544.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A deserted beach we found--I love this little motu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDALpSrzUrDqZGB5CatKLc-q1a5voW0_Z-8OAQ5K6YDdu6_nVcWV0D7fmeVf3vmVTM_8UFOM37nfpxsBObsgLOfEL87zwK16e6_1780LmVye_wkEo9EKUfU4AlYhfpgHzYVNVFYU-t4Ak/s1600/DSC_0585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDALpSrzUrDqZGB5CatKLc-q1a5voW0_Z-8OAQ5K6YDdu6_nVcWV0D7fmeVf3vmVTM_8UFOM37nfpxsBObsgLOfEL87zwK16e6_1780LmVye_wkEo9EKUfU4AlYhfpgHzYVNVFYU-t4Ak/s640/DSC_0585.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dock and a few moorings comprise the Savusavu Marina<br />where we've spent a lot of time, and where we plan to again leave<br /><i>Del Viento</i> (on a mooring) over the cyclone season.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-22364636761245142292017-09-05T23:13:00.000-06:002017-09-05T23:13:58.249-06:00In the Front Door By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RBfh6iM1kvXtrWek2y_ZeoiPdWDm0z7xofrYWbE_zGHBJU85xrwt2e2pWo_qbkBnolClXrHIZJO-7zPB2jRuQST-zh32aixaMD5P7S3Rt9CB0MHom1eyZm1UvSW2QTlHxAfEPIGe1qk/s1600/DSC_0320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="942" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RBfh6iM1kvXtrWek2y_ZeoiPdWDm0z7xofrYWbE_zGHBJU85xrwt2e2pWo_qbkBnolClXrHIZJO-7zPB2jRuQST-zh32aixaMD5P7S3Rt9CB0MHom1eyZm1UvSW2QTlHxAfEPIGe1qk/s640/DSC_0320.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances was obsessed with me<br />capturing this photo. I think this<br />is take number 17.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
wrote a while back about how the cruising life has given us unique access to many
fancy resorts. There's a symbiotic relationship between snazzy beachfront resorts
and cruising boats (seen as yachts by resort managers and guests alike) anchored
off the beach. Anchored yachts make a snazzy place seem snazzier. The hick-up
to this symbiosis is that there is an unalienable third party to this
relationship, the unbathed, poorly dressed cruisers aboard these anchored
yachts. While there may be a fortress-like guarded gate at the land entrance to
these places, the beach is a wide open path to a snazzy pool and other
amenities. Resorts usually either welcome us or they just tolerate us. We've seen it
both ways, we don't care.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
other day was another such occasion, only this time we were invited to drive in
the front entrance, of La Dolce Vita Holiday Villas here on Venua Levu.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Thanks
Susan and Jeff.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPjy6JcD9W3FmWOF152dYoO64FxtF9EFa27spilIlxwXtCErIkSTIA2YcNEzR76YmrXqDn-8TjG_iHUS-p9Jk0uuKcuJRK6iQbVR1_1rcP9By68dnRlb06xOd5P6N6NAeJOXew-zRppw/s1600/DSC_0262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPjy6JcD9W3FmWOF152dYoO64FxtF9EFa27spilIlxwXtCErIkSTIA2YcNEzR76YmrXqDn-8TjG_iHUS-p9Jk0uuKcuJRK6iQbVR1_1rcP9By68dnRlb06xOd5P6N6NAeJOXew-zRppw/s640/DSC_0262.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This floor mural is made of countless tiny<br />tiles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6pJUwfTkUhHsGbzZYjw9EeqJLSkzTmMPBBqo1xj9gEwDitRXb6Wk1BWmlPhiXtfhwhoNiOSOAg7NOhml0p-n59o23U1jLwsi03RyED0BuJPwKEEIG63Z9gA0sKPz1yMXT-kIP89S0pw/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6pJUwfTkUhHsGbzZYjw9EeqJLSkzTmMPBBqo1xj9gEwDitRXb6Wk1BWmlPhiXtfhwhoNiOSOAg7NOhml0p-n59o23U1jLwsi03RyED0BuJPwKEEIG63Z9gA0sKPz1yMXT-kIP89S0pw/s640/DSC_0263.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Another tiled mural. The detail was exquisite.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiouIlnNDwXVIg0qTxLzYsdGp_6wWt5ZjzoWvB_GH4MrbHZHBVQKOQpmCPbGyjacWgEthR5522LD9yi5XHfuz6tE3C8Lx_sxvIFURn38RtKbQ4eXrMbOdrtOsF45HlDdbomhek0y0oto/s1600/DSC_0263_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="658" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiouIlnNDwXVIg0qTxLzYsdGp_6wWt5ZjzoWvB_GH4MrbHZHBVQKOQpmCPbGyjacWgEthR5522LD9yi5XHfuz6tE3C8Lx_sxvIFURn38RtKbQ4eXrMbOdrtOsF45HlDdbomhek0y0oto/s640/DSC_0263_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? These are people in one of those arches.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJOJYwd-1JTY7jngHBLIopSiM_pEd0JyjYFc5XWOYvjXB1XLgUS4sD3Hh012fQaqHLZR6g7JWv2KQYVn1s2GHXzGIpVd7BKD04r-Yu8hOEoZ_l0uy2kq2H-XJMLDz181Vp6k3qoJkiKg/s1600/DSC_0265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJOJYwd-1JTY7jngHBLIopSiM_pEd0JyjYFc5XWOYvjXB1XLgUS4sD3Hh012fQaqHLZR6g7JWv2KQYVn1s2GHXzGIpVd7BKD04r-Yu8hOEoZ_l0uy2kq2H-XJMLDz181Vp6k3qoJkiKg/s640/DSC_0265.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another tiled mural. If you're noticing an Italian theme, the place is<br />owned and built by Margaret and Luigi. We ate great pizza from one<br />of two huge wood-fired ovens on the property.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kn7lYvqpMSZPpnBM_6rbAzdl4yl6eZuGI_rhcT79k4pJ66P0oRKw8sZvEAlVXodlwt26XVWk2_QPbzKp3p2CHflPqAkk7dOg5hRbR8BZN1lk6EFkbMOGi4rQfoV6-60b3XXQGvUiuj8/s1600/DSC_0269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kn7lYvqpMSZPpnBM_6rbAzdl4yl6eZuGI_rhcT79k4pJ66P0oRKw8sZvEAlVXodlwt26XVWk2_QPbzKp3p2CHflPqAkk7dOg5hRbR8BZN1lk6EFkbMOGi4rQfoV6-60b3XXQGvUiuj8/s640/DSC_0269.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances looking out at the saltwater play lagoon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYihbbuKiR-8QGa8ONxYDfCIhaEQgpLq4sCSQ3_CQPxFnvGCZvxD5HJxdlKCI7cWx9jp9Iee81Bht7gdRpiLI9GaTSnX4GY4_8w1tz7KTm75UEdlY0yFhQE75CiTlA3Vza6VN5mg9UGPM/s1600/DSC_0270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1414" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYihbbuKiR-8QGa8ONxYDfCIhaEQgpLq4sCSQ3_CQPxFnvGCZvxD5HJxdlKCI7cWx9jp9Iee81Bht7gdRpiLI9GaTSnX4GY4_8w1tz7KTm75UEdlY0yFhQE75CiTlA3Vza6VN5mg9UGPM/s640/DSC_0270.jpg" width="564" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many Fijian totems we saw here and many places in Fiji.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglORa4xd7tRxafTgFP5qUX6esU-h7QhyphenhyphenBzM8g2drpxHaXni5qE79VPKw1Vp8MznVIA8S_y8AaelG1jbTC6QCJSSrXWkO7DbqkpMijD8fe42dWU950jezq8SCciepayztjwdrSwoXgf-v4/s1600/DSC_0271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglORa4xd7tRxafTgFP5qUX6esU-h7QhyphenhyphenBzM8g2drpxHaXni5qE79VPKw1Vp8MznVIA8S_y8AaelG1jbTC6QCJSSrXWkO7DbqkpMijD8fe42dWU950jezq8SCciepayztjwdrSwoXgf-v4/s640/DSC_0271.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Windy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRntH2HIqdjovaLw3aW9Haa0HEY69zueBEIJcKxYwI_qG6Pt1mv1IMhHdPDBsRqtmb7OkfeOr84w5hKt61cwu-4_3MuAOV2tP6l6-mpccwLdoM_s6RQ9KPxQeuliSyGOXEHtsr1iNdVA/s1600/DSC_0350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1308" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRntH2HIqdjovaLw3aW9Haa0HEY69zueBEIJcKxYwI_qG6Pt1mv1IMhHdPDBsRqtmb7OkfeOr84w5hKt61cwu-4_3MuAOV2tP6l6-mpccwLdoM_s6RQ9KPxQeuliSyGOXEHtsr1iNdVA/s640/DSC_0350.jpg" width="522" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Frances.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEndWN1vqnrEcT6PjZjpTvnEJeApNxNlWwaCOzciQIts4GJL7hjzIz8Crp6iDiw4j7uganlekHP-ufhqeYETy7YChjPEdafDFOeG5MN6jihdG-OI38CqFJoaQftiH-WcYpy2dJuzCiNes/s1600/DSC_0365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEndWN1vqnrEcT6PjZjpTvnEJeApNxNlWwaCOzciQIts4GJL7hjzIz8Crp6iDiw4j7uganlekHP-ufhqeYETy7YChjPEdafDFOeG5MN6jihdG-OI38CqFJoaQftiH-WcYpy2dJuzCiNes/s640/DSC_0365.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing Windy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1ImerR4INEPT70VsrS0wY_HpIpLQySnciY8_qIOwu02HXdi6MZwvjA0fvKxHEQgtPKChB-uNToMnGe9OMqnBXj6dXAgpC3iiUKOLpB8URwBAuk-Xy2p4IhWqgvvqlhIh2JoDr0OjSf4/s1600/DSC_0370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1ImerR4INEPT70VsrS0wY_HpIpLQySnciY8_qIOwu02HXdi6MZwvjA0fvKxHEQgtPKChB-uNToMnGe9OMqnBXj6dXAgpC3iiUKOLpB8URwBAuk-Xy2p4IhWqgvvqlhIh2JoDr0OjSf4/s640/DSC_0370.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictures to Windy's left are two of the guest villas. As you can see,<br />the place was empty, we had it to ourselves all day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-73394979917277436722017-08-28T02:35:00.000-06:002017-08-28T02:35:02.398-06:00Small World, Great Game By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8q3aKJRbcL3Vc9b3WzPJK-_Ikkwt3bpbIJBH8AvDotM9IK8gDIVBCeUN6ArU8-si3sCjEDuxBzHpvkyOliCMJyX5gKkp88R6tggYte7ztFbaevD91aP5-JvIWO1FIAjf0F2q8ZMgpsw/s1600/DSC_0381+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8q3aKJRbcL3Vc9b3WzPJK-_Ikkwt3bpbIJBH8AvDotM9IK8gDIVBCeUN6ArU8-si3sCjEDuxBzHpvkyOliCMJyX5gKkp88R6tggYte7ztFbaevD91aP5-JvIWO1FIAjf0F2q8ZMgpsw/s640/DSC_0381+2.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fair winds Meri and Jim, we'll see you in Ajo!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
we got an email late last year, from a young cruising couple we'd never met.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We are currently in Tonga headed to Fiji probably this week. Hopefully our
paths will cross and we can meet." Amy continued, "In it's-a-small-world
news, my uncle is friends with a couple named Mary Kate and Rick who worked
with Windy in Washington, D.C."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Well well,
MK and Rick aren't just former co-workers, they're dear friends, and about as
far removed from the sailing life as any two people we know. It really is a
small world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As
it turned out, Amy and David ended up spending the cyclone season in Tonga, so
we didn't see them then. But they sailed into Savusavu aboard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://outchasingstars.com/" target="_blank">Starry Horizons</a></i> a few weeks ago and we got together soon after. It
was a pleasure and on a subsequent get-together aboard their boat, they introduced us to a game,
the perfect cruisers' game.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It's
an old parlor game called Fictionary, like what they play on the NPR quiz show,
"Says You!" We used no board or dice or cards or anything, just
scraps of paper, some pens, and a dictionary.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
here's the deal.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">One
person looks for a word in the dictionary that they think nobody else will
know. They poll the players, "Does anyone know the word bibble?"</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If
anyone knows the word, the dictionary holder goes back to the dictionary in search of another. But ideally,
everyone stares back blankly.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now round one can start.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
player holding the dictionary does not share the definition of bibble with
anyone. Rather, they write it down, paraphrasing colloquially, on their scrap of
paper before folding it in half so that the definition is not visible. Meanwhile, each
of the other players comes up with an imagined definition of bibble, writes it
on their scrap of paper along with their initials, folds it in half, and passes
it to the dictionary holder.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">At
this point, the dictionary holder should have a bunch of folded scraps of paper
before them, equal to the number of players, including themselves. Nobody at
the table should have any idea what is written on any scrap of paper except
what they wrote on their own.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
the dictionary holder takes up all the scraps of paper, reviews them to be sure
the writing is legible and that they'll be able to read each one as seamlessly
as their own, and then begins reading them aloud, in random order.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As
they do so, one of the players, the score keeper, transcribes the definitions,
as multiple readings will likely be necessary.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
rest of the players listen, with the goal of choosing the actual definition.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
is surprisingly difficult. I secretly figured I came into the game with an unfair advantage as surely I'd be able to identify and exclude my daughters' attempts at a made-up definition, but I couldn't. It was great.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The game is surprisingly fun as each player (except the
dictionary holder) weighs in with their guess and the score keeper records the
guesses.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Scoring:</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If nobody guesses the actual definition, the dictionary holder earns 5 points. This is huge.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If a player guesses a player's made-up definition as the actual definition, the author of the made-up definition earns a point (one for each player who falls prey to that definition).</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Any player who guesses the actual definition, earns a point (and dashes the dictionary holder's only chance at earning any points).</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That's
it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then
the dictionary holder passes the dictionary clockwise and round two can begin.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
played with Amy and David (6 people total) and one game took a while, and we
enjoyed every minute.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">More
recently, we played with the crew of two other boats, 8 people total, and it
was just as fun, and took even longer.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Oh,
and bibble—v. <span style="color: #777777; margin: 0px;">to drink often; to eat and/or drink
noisily</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
I'll note that one of the other crews we played with was Meri, Jim, and Caroline of <i>Hotspur</i>.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
said goodbye to them yesterday, shortly before they boarded a ferry for Suva, a
bus to Nadi, and a plane back to the States. They're not coming back. It looks
like they've found a buyer for <i>Hotspur</i> and they're shopping for an RV trailer to
tow behind the truck they just bought. They're going to cruise the U.S., for now,
as empty nesters.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Savusavu
already feels empty without them.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv58Kd7fDfJKSBfVsbLg48x3eh7dleb3qfpT6YqgGZG2oC4jq-mzAuKKckP_oC3bb3YrCrGx5Z5c39cd9Umzge1MvkJ5SZkE8I3t6-9x_b8ft5zTSKM94waSaku59vYI4a8ohkKpIW4og/s1600/DSC_0372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv58Kd7fDfJKSBfVsbLg48x3eh7dleb3qfpT6YqgGZG2oC4jq-mzAuKKckP_oC3bb3YrCrGx5Z5c39cd9Umzge1MvkJ5SZkE8I3t6-9x_b8ft5zTSKM94waSaku59vYI4a8ohkKpIW4og/s640/DSC_0372.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caroline and Eleanor fictionalizing aboard <i>Del Viento</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Vx5FV-WOb-w-U4H29qs0xfQbyilBk6X7p4VfnymZLSIkyXJeEtvO6nT14dYlVGOFXvj58NECHPaBQfN5wNXoFr5kjQnnDopnsQknEF0iC43WjylUYINANfO2JTjaOPXQRBZ1pUki2Ls/s1600/IMG_2163%255B83198%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1145" data-original-width="1600" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Vx5FV-WOb-w-U4H29qs0xfQbyilBk6X7p4VfnymZLSIkyXJeEtvO6nT14dYlVGOFXvj58NECHPaBQfN5wNXoFr5kjQnnDopnsQknEF0iC43WjylUYINANfO2JTjaOPXQRBZ1pUki2Ls/s640/IMG_2163%255B83198%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David and Amy of <i><a href="http://outchasingstars.com/" target="_blank">Starry Horizons</a></i> with us at<br />Lia Café in Savusavu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-10919574515144720932017-08-23T05:25:00.000-06:002017-08-23T05:25:14.342-06:00Slow Travel Tidbits By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXb0K5Jw4wlW-7wrXllQXNuKcI0q91jH5YELQX-xjHSY1Wk4TrR_yljige5oDwYmXVu46-a_Vgcwp3Y4BfzNDPdkhIoqbIX1CGub9Z4cPDDWFM1AteuKAwvjCvl3462yC3YJVrX1H4Hs/s1600/DSC_0080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="950" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXb0K5Jw4wlW-7wrXllQXNuKcI0q91jH5YELQX-xjHSY1Wk4TrR_yljige5oDwYmXVu46-a_Vgcwp3Y4BfzNDPdkhIoqbIX1CGub9Z4cPDDWFM1AteuKAwvjCvl3462yC3YJVrX1H4Hs/s640/DSC_0080.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's good to be back home with Windy<br />and the girls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Just
last month I stepped up to the counter at a Bank of America in Camarillo,
California.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Hi,
I just want to cash this check I received." I pushed the Bank of
America-drawn personal check and my ID to the teller.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Okay,
are you a Bank of America customer?"</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"No."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Okay,
that's not a problem." She tapped on her keyboard and looked down at my
driver's license. Then she tapped some more and looked down at my driver's
license. "Hold on one second, I'm going to have to get a supervisor."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She
walked over to where a supervisor seemed to be helping another teller. She
waited and waited. Finally she gave up and came back to me. After more tapping
and looking, she furrowed her brow, "I just don't see any licenses that
match yours," she said, swinging her monitor around so I could see.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Oh,
those pictures are all examples of Washington state IDs, my driver's license is
from Washington, DC."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She
stared back at me blankly. And here I have to say, having lived a decade in the
District, I'm no longer surprised by when I come across people who have no idea
that Washington, D.C. is not a city in any of the 50 states and who can't even
say what D.C. stands for. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"The
District of Columbia," I added.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Colombia?"
she asked.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She
was clearly a Latina and she pronounced the word like the South American
country, with two long Os.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Habla
Espanol?" I asked.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Si…"
she answered, curious.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I went
out on a limb, taking a chance she was Mexican. </span><span lang="ES-MX" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"El District of Columbia en Los Estados Unidos es como DF." </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I knew a Mexican
would immediately get the DF reference.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Her
face lit up, we were on the same page. She and I spent a few minutes talking
(in English) about D.C., about how small it is, how it's home to the White
House and Congress and many incredible museums, and how so few people live
there that here in California, she is unlikely to ever see another D.C. ID.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She
seemed appreciative.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
this is one reason why I love our nomadic life. Not sharing information, but
acquiring it myself, in a way that our unique lives make possible. I could have
traveled to Mexico a dozen times for vacation and never have learned that
Mexicans refer to their seat of government, and usually Mexico City itself, as
DF (pronounced "day effay"), that there is not a Mexican alive who
doesn't instantly know what someone means when they hear those two letters. I
know this only because our cruising life has allowed us to spend a lot of time
in Mexico, and like the time we spend in every place we visit, it’s filled with
the sundry tasks of laundry and shopping and doctor's visits and more that give
us insights and knowledge we'd not gain traveling another way. It makes my
experience, and my life, richer.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In
the month I spent in the States, I mentioned Fiji to a ton of people. Many have
seen the water bottle, many associate the name with an exotic vacation
destination. Few know that it's a country, where it is on the planet, what the
population looks like, what the greetings are, what the shopping malls in
downtown Suva are like, what sevusevu with a village chief entails, and a
million other things. And I don't report that as a slight—I know just as little
about the hundreds of countries I've not visited.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But my
point is that I want to visit all of them because of what I feel I've gained in
perspective from the few I have visited. Knowing that many shop keepers in
Tonga use Chinese calculators that feature a little speaker that shouts out the
keypad numerals in Chinese as they're pressed, is a tidbit that means
absolutely nothing, but that I cherish. Knowing the two-letter abbreviation that
Mexicans use to refer to their capital won't make me rich, doesn't prepare me
to write a book on Mexico, and doesn't make me any smarter than the bank teller
and anyone else who doesn't share this knowledge. But these things, combined
with all the hundreds of thousands of arcane bits of info I've acquired about
the people and places we've been fortunate to visit over the past seven years, make
me happy. These are miniscule pieces to life's puzzle, a puzzle that none of us
can ever fully assemble, but which we're all lucky to spend time working on.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
of course, picking up knowledge—some of it useful, much of it meaningless—is
something that happens to all of us as we age. And maybe the way in which it
shapes perspective is what we refer to as wisdom. But a diversity of that
knowledge is something that comes from slow travel. It's what I'm happiest
about when I think of the benefits my family realizes from our nomadic life.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y_XDFLayre1BuYTVuuK5tO003xtxzRNSMkNdGg-DC5fGwXrLbOY8os5u5WkGSdSGOFyn3MGv6kDs8CpFwg64QTzGHU6-dBhLAZ1lfBXnYw4FyJ5UI6XinNf6Icyx6KOAOawZkft90GM/s1600/DSC_0245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="1569" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y_XDFLayre1BuYTVuuK5tO003xtxzRNSMkNdGg-DC5fGwXrLbOY8os5u5WkGSdSGOFyn3MGv6kDs8CpFwg64QTzGHU6-dBhLAZ1lfBXnYw4FyJ5UI6XinNf6Icyx6KOAOawZkft90GM/s640/DSC_0245.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A near-daily trek into town from our Savusavu Marina mooring.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEo53HRmELvM49IhP1xqPAwoIfLmTPBoQixmkwxSlgS9x_GaWuyYz3LEn_JQDGHNsUDiZUatzw1B_VkpXIGPAgAL3okULm7dXFZYbU3xP8p4y0PrMKMzAUn-TtbnzRbJ8CrpSQMCeVYE/s1600/DSC_0259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1600" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEo53HRmELvM49IhP1xqPAwoIfLmTPBoQixmkwxSlgS9x_GaWuyYz3LEn_JQDGHNsUDiZUatzw1B_VkpXIGPAgAL3okULm7dXFZYbU3xP8p4y0PrMKMzAUn-TtbnzRbJ8CrpSQMCeVYE/s640/DSC_0259.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crossroads in downtown Savusavu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-22384969283421443992017-08-12T18:07:00.000-06:002017-08-12T18:07:21.476-06:00Pennies on the Dollar By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i6urg5HBCC9styjUg5W8UCZNQntihSU4oFB36rQe-JNM62_nNqCfSA7JbG-x7T2tV-baXm9r8pPPVm_bgp5cTHbrI1nW04CzbSck1Rjnh2H-Zat2r6vDoS9Pw52rSS1KEio4-RsR9e0/s1600/cabin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i6urg5HBCC9styjUg5W8UCZNQntihSU4oFB36rQe-JNM62_nNqCfSA7JbG-x7T2tV-baXm9r8pPPVm_bgp5cTHbrI1nW04CzbSck1Rjnh2H-Zat2r6vDoS9Pw52rSS1KEio4-RsR9e0/s640/cabin.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hotspur</i> has a very unique layout, with this aft<br />22-foot "great room."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Good old boats. Classic plastics. Call the older fiberglass monohull cruising boats what you will, they're plentiful and not going anywhere and growing in number. Whereas most of the wood-hulled cruising boats of yesteryear long ago wasted away to nothing, 40- and 50-year-old fiberglass good old boats are completing circumnavigations. In a world where a quarter-million dollars is close to the minimum cost of a new family-sized cruising boat, older fiberglass monohulls are an outstanding value.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And the market for vintage, offshore, world-cruising boats has only gotten more buyer-friendly, perhaps for these few reasons:</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Older, heavy, long-keeled and full-keeled cruising boats really cannot hold a candle to newer boats in terms of performance and sail-handling ease.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A huge swath of the cruising boat market has drifted over to multi-hulls.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The traditional M.O. of buying a boat outright and saving up a cruising kitty before casting off has waned as more and more couples and families cast off for a 2- to 3-year cruising sabbatical aboard a shiny, sleek new boat purchased with a mortgage and a plan to sell at the end of the road.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The decline in the value of these boats is not all bad (except for sellers of vintage cruising boats). We could not have embarked when we did on this cruising life had we not been able to find our then-33-year-old S&S-designed Fuji 40 for $64,000. We've gotten to know 20-somethings who have sailed across the Pacific in their own yachts. I'm not talking about trust-fund kids, but hard-working young people who have shunned the trappings their peers could not and have saved a chunk of change, found a bargain, invested a lot of sweat equity, and cast off. These old fiberglass boats make stories like this possible for the first time in human history. Imagine that!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And the impetus for this post is a 41-foot, offshore-ready classic plastic for sale just a few hundred yards from where I'm writing in Savusavu, Fiji. My friends Meri and Jim and their kids were blogosphere inspirations to us before we began cruising and now they've reached the end of their cruising road. Their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hotspur</i>, a 1976 S&S-designed Tartan T.O.C.K (Tartan offshore cruising ketch) has carried them from Mexico to Fiji and everywhere in between. They've made numerous upgrades. They just last week returned to Fiji from a sail to the French protectorates of Wallis and Futuna. <i>Hotspur</i> is well-equipped and <a href="http://botgator.com/boat/" target="_blank">for sale</a> for $29,000! Jim and Meri want to move on and understand the cost of leaving a boat sitting in the Tropics waiting to fetch top dollar. They've priced her to sell immediately. That's an amazing opportunity for the right buyer, a dream launched for pennies on the dollar. Just check out this video from their <a href="http://botgator.com/boat/" target="_blank">sale site</a>. Can your $29K SUV offer anything close?</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br />
</span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqVOSlycm50" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I'll add that Jim and Meri are good people with a strong positive reputation in the cruising community.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-62262129401189336732017-07-26T12:00:00.000-06:002017-07-27T12:02:57.171-06:00A Helpful Voyage By WindySAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4eRGrQ5vTHuPr-CJ_6WsGiiRY1ygK_hZOojKbPorXcpZfL36Wtwno_5ZV_5vAxRsaDA3yzhL2oraD4-acCQMXvi1sgNkoXiksfBvi4MlDzmkwEMWIknhTL8WKJ06KdikyDTKEZ0aK3U/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1057" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4eRGrQ5vTHuPr-CJ_6WsGiiRY1ygK_hZOojKbPorXcpZfL36Wtwno_5ZV_5vAxRsaDA3yzhL2oraD4-acCQMXvi1sgNkoXiksfBvi4MlDzmkwEMWIknhTL8WKJ06KdikyDTKEZ0aK3U/s640/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls searching for whales aboard <i>Caro Vita</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Last week the girls and I had the
good fortune to meet a guy named Don who invited us on an overnight trip out to
Koro Island on his beautiful, spacious sailboat, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Caro Vita</i>. There couldn't have been a better weather window. The
passage, normally a nauseating slog to windward, was on calm and sparkling seas
beneath a blue sky. On the way, Frances spotted two humpbacks in the distance
and we diverted to get a closer look. When we arrived roughly where the whales
had been, all was quiet until we heard an exhale nearby and there they were,
mom and babe, surfacing parallel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Caro
Vita</i>. A little later, we heard the fishing line zing and reeled in a
mahi-mahi (which Don later prepared as sashimi, with filets for dinner). As we
neared Koro Island we took a detour, nosing through a pass in a ring of
brilliant turquoise coral. We anchored and jumped into the clear water of a
protected offshore lagoon for a refreshing swim and an unanticipated reminder
of why we were there.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Through my dive mask I saw a reef that
was a leveled field of gray, pulverized, rubble strewn with the toppled
carcasses of mushroom corals the size of cars. I kicked toward the few bright
sprouts of newly grown coral and their company of tiny multi-colored fish. We
were swimming off the village of Nabuna, one of the villages devastated by
cyclone Winston last year when it hit Koro Island head on.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cyclone Winston is the most powerful
and devastating storm ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere with wind speeds
nearing 200 miles per hour that powered massive storm waves. From my parents'
home in California we watched as Winston zigged and zagged across the Pacific.
At one point the storm headed directly toward <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Del Viento</i> (then floating on a mooring in Tonga) but then it
veered, hair-pinned, and intensified to a Category 5 cyclone as it bore down on
Fiji, hitting Koro Island directly and at its peak intensity. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Del Viento</i> was spared, Fiji was not.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On Koro, villages are squeezed in
between steep mountains and the sea, many homes sit just meters from the
water's edge. Winston flattened whole villages, toppling sea walls and bringing
down substantial concrete structures that had been used as cyclone shelters for
decades. Of the 70 people killed by Winston, 35 died on sparsely populated Koro
Island.</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNWY1S1jvDEL7F28hDE9IZJXHKyUie7DGM-OfforWS2HqAIxBlcUQroijPgx4sg9ZD90dEOTv3thW8Anu9xXpuzEqq9FVbxqlB45VM62Dt0M7uQjRdt17PtbZOhlJzAR2Yy8wANCou4k/s1600/IMG_1529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="967" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNWY1S1jvDEL7F28hDE9IZJXHKyUie7DGM-OfforWS2HqAIxBlcUQroijPgx4sg9ZD90dEOTv3thW8Anu9xXpuzEqq9FVbxqlB45VM62Dt0M7uQjRdt17PtbZOhlJzAR2Yy8wANCou4k/s640/IMG_1529.JPG" width="386" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leone, a new friend and Koro island resident.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Last year, in the aftermath of
cyclone Winston, our host, Don Salthouse, arrived in Savusavu from New Zealand
wanting to help. He went to Jolene (the lovely soon-to-be-ex-manager of Waitui
Marina, who knows everything and everyone) and asked her where help was needed
most. When Don arrived at Koro the people were just beginning to rebuild and
were simultaneously devastated and overwhelmed by the enormity of the task
ahead. Don has a no-nonsense way about him and an ability to get to the core of
things. He asked people what they needed. He learned that aid was coming in but
that efforts to build were hampered. Key things were missing, like strapping to
hold the structures together and tools to build with. Skilled carpenters were
spread thin, but essential to train builders and to ensure that new homes were
strongly built. So Don set out to fill in the gaps. He purchased power tools,
generators, and materials off-island, and even found a carpenter willing to
travel to Koro. He anchored his boat off villages and brought supplies in by
dinghy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On our trip to Koro we visited two
villages, Nabuna and Navaga. Don delivered a chainsaw, fuel, some plastic bins,
and other various small bits. With a gaggle of adorable kids in tow, all eager
to hold our hands, we were given tours.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It has been over a year now since
cyclone Winston hit and though there is still work to do, there is a justified
feeling of pride and accomplishment in the villages. Through hard work,
cooperation, and a bit of help from the outside, the people of Koro Island have
been rebuilding their communities. All around us we saw brightly colored new
homes, sprouting up like the colorful patches of new coral on the nearby reef.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to help Don in his
successful efforts to help the villagers of Koro Island to rebuild their homes
you can donate through our Paypal account (</i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.paypal.me/delviento?ppid=PPC000628&cnac=US&rsta=en_US(en_US)&cust=EP2KCXLFAQSP4&unptid=b6618c96-729b-11e7-88dd-441ea14e757c&t=&cal=339f535e699f6&calc=339f535e699f6&calf=339f535e699f6&unp_tpcid=ppme-social-user-profile-created&page=main:email&pgrp=main:email&e=op&mchn=em&s=ci&mail=sys" target="_BLANKǤ"><span style="color: #0079c1; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none;">PayPal.Me/delviento</span></a></span><i>) and we will
make sure all money gets to Don. Any amount helps and 100% will be used for
tools and materials for Koro Island--more than 100% actually, as Don pays out
of pocket for related expenses, taxes, and is not above leaning on businesses
to get good deals on supplies. Add a note to your remittance that the money is for
Koro, not that we regularly get unsolicited funds sent to us via PayPal.</i> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
--WR</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwUloxJe4qMzzclOsTmjYjxyw9pXqmBLTGQmWVmIDjiKlyuxe_tIKnCgjiWc4DlnhpSi5huyzz6H3FEhXEVW2FecwzJelGMIqfVBRcpDQ3z9Zf2qhvnQUVJdT0q8oAEcO0bQavKOtpJE/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwUloxJe4qMzzclOsTmjYjxyw9pXqmBLTGQmWVmIDjiKlyuxe_tIKnCgjiWc4DlnhpSi5huyzz6H3FEhXEVW2FecwzJelGMIqfVBRcpDQ3z9Zf2qhvnQUVJdT0q8oAEcO0bQavKOtpJE/s640/image1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyclone Winston, 2016--that's Koro at the eye. For<br />
reference, Savusavu is almost due north of the eye,<br />
on Vanua Levu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW5TmQE9CjUZsI-P2HJHNBWrMpWOq-IBHNXckFbHpuGvkok1x1eYg_t2gub7AB4TK107b-iRdeE45fL7lmQT0qG8nWOzsKicaWKcc4VUTSn6xkSnJ5A8s_xC7jMpN8EhdNPAYzGmMV2M/s1600/IMG_1455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJW5TmQE9CjUZsI-P2HJHNBWrMpWOq-IBHNXckFbHpuGvkok1x1eYg_t2gub7AB4TK107b-iRdeE45fL7lmQT0qG8nWOzsKicaWKcc4VUTSn6xkSnJ5A8s_xC7jMpN8EhdNPAYzGmMV2M/s640/IMG_1455.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don and Frances in Savusavu.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXQyVDYOJ6xUT-m0IuzK5ahDgQpPOwXbjTa7DT0QCMaExomWTLsmXBHU7uoWo3Td6xB-u_7-dWnFJTTryctfUMDmXoTdgZFL6HlX3D4U7zPNA6_uMXeHvFady6mqPydl9-Cuvp6KmvfE/s1600/IMG_1552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXQyVDYOJ6xUT-m0IuzK5ahDgQpPOwXbjTa7DT0QCMaExomWTLsmXBHU7uoWo3Td6xB-u_7-dWnFJTTryctfUMDmXoTdgZFL6HlX3D4U7zPNA6_uMXeHvFady6mqPydl9-Cuvp6KmvfE/s640/IMG_1552.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasty treats from the Koro islanders.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzhlkAIsgPZxDtmYhodcURt0wRNxYnoTNnqjHH7ZJVYa2Nfq7Bsi2CWgwTTVhKZUbwTzn_DZuAvT-W8AfXgL1KUOv1VqHmmd1J0xLTWDbptXcncYSQae2djhxkB5WfNG2cF1LmVZEATg/s1600/IMG_1559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzhlkAIsgPZxDtmYhodcURt0wRNxYnoTNnqjHH7ZJVYa2Nfq7Bsi2CWgwTTVhKZUbwTzn_DZuAvT-W8AfXgL1KUOv1VqHmmd1J0xLTWDbptXcncYSQae2djhxkB5WfNG2cF1LmVZEATg/s640/IMG_1559.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On Koro, new homes in the background.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVlTDAARmycAjK5wMq86q92zL84Z6_Yg3tranrxqr7lAJy5C0v855DjBtwK4mSb527OAsfQqLcySPchchSagbmZ1ynN9L2HEFZtW8k-XTs48L7QCENGks3RlvbwkC2csDr-UeaY7ljKg/s1600/IMG_1561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVlTDAARmycAjK5wMq86q92zL84Z6_Yg3tranrxqr7lAJy5C0v855DjBtwK4mSb527OAsfQqLcySPchchSagbmZ1ynN9L2HEFZtW8k-XTs48L7QCENGks3RlvbwkC2csDr-UeaY7ljKg/s640/IMG_1561.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broken concrete is what remains of the church where residents<br />
sought shelter during Winston, and from where many just escaped before it collapsed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh499zE7tJZnJBhFG31uFuXv1bHNhDkHXa64enAYgIVTBAuGtE8n8PsWacoDUJrhFQijDCXvYKHhw7lO7g4Jd4iSP2lFpnsW57s3fZxAI9uoqntivj7-EjfXly5JdaXbpdERN1axwOyrf0/s1600/IMG_1564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh499zE7tJZnJBhFG31uFuXv1bHNhDkHXa64enAYgIVTBAuGtE8n8PsWacoDUJrhFQijDCXvYKHhw7lO7g4Jd4iSP2lFpnsW57s3fZxAI9uoqntivj7-EjfXly5JdaXbpdERN1axwOyrf0/s640/IMG_1564.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windy, Frances, and Koro kids.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iuTc93g3Pjjp6vkF1vudd0SXoaew8mvJVe5Ox1Pq3-MFZylmdhwk4OTu6-zBNy-5drKILdLTi_QpDoiPUEnyuhwUaYsAiImlmdpiY9qe8TlY3DJlFnTezcwRsA7E8WgbMLqMPn1snm4/s1600/IMG_1569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iuTc93g3Pjjp6vkF1vudd0SXoaew8mvJVe5Ox1Pq3-MFZylmdhwk4OTu6-zBNy-5drKILdLTi_QpDoiPUEnyuhwUaYsAiImlmdpiY9qe8TlY3DJlFnTezcwRsA7E8WgbMLqMPn1snm4/s640/IMG_1569.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3DPRCWrSoFk1SQH7OWblHG1wrK5NoyPd-gn_DD9z8QQyK3wgefZ8iR4OBtXhlOC_iZJBNjoxYNPpgp_y22xfU7g3CinmgQ-Zmo2diuz3qpOIzGAl16zS1P6qNkmCBSHUNGZMLR72Vn78/s1600/IMG_1573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3DPRCWrSoFk1SQH7OWblHG1wrK5NoyPd-gn_DD9z8QQyK3wgefZ8iR4OBtXhlOC_iZJBNjoxYNPpgp_y22xfU7g3CinmgQ-Zmo2diuz3qpOIzGAl16zS1P6qNkmCBSHUNGZMLR72Vn78/s640/IMG_1573.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor in a play circle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-12228571145389688132017-07-24T12:55:00.000-06:002017-07-24T12:55:44.560-06:00Big Boom and Departure By MichaelTEMPLETON, CA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgBP-mzUEMfYD1gkIA3nrvlsNDhsk42mdyAdj92V-ZcQ9BS23CvAR9flfciqzOH5qbJm3i8zxCe57MJnepnF17nqDxLYutepRdNK_mMKCiDHz8F1e2iHKP9sKOPrvjhRQlN16yryeQns/s1600/DSC_0150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgBP-mzUEMfYD1gkIA3nrvlsNDhsk42mdyAdj92V-ZcQ9BS23CvAR9flfciqzOH5qbJm3i8zxCe57MJnepnF17nqDxLYutepRdNK_mMKCiDHz8F1e2iHKP9sKOPrvjhRQlN16yryeQns/s640/DSC_0150.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It wasn't <i>this</i> dramatic, the camera is playing tricks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
didn't know anybody at the party, but there were lots of interesting people to
talk to. There were Pinto and Lara, our gracious and charismatic hosts and
long-term Fiji residents famous for their 4<sup>th</sup> of July parties on their
sprawling property fronting a windward Fijian beach. There were the visiting
South Africans who willingly gave me their own take on the state of race
relations at the tip of the African continent. There was the American
couple—ex-pats like Pinto and Lara—who both descended from scientists who
worked at Los Alamos during development of the atomic bomb. She was a precision
welder before retiring and a total science nerd. "Richard Feynman is my
hero too!"</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Fortunately,
it was towards the end of the evening, while the live band played, that Windy
and I sat across the yard, farther than anyone from where guests launched the
excitingly close fireworks show. As they exploded overhead we compared notes
about the new people we'd met that night, about our time back on the boat in
Fiji, and about our unhappy plans for the coming days.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then
Windy leapt up and began purposefully, desperately pouring what was left of the
40-ounce beer we were sharing into her ear.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Are
you okay?!" Another shower of sparks had just exploded our way following a
boom across the yard.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"I
need to get inside, I'm burned."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA2HnSCv0a6lwIuDrirzij-LzcGhqzSeIYhRZ3O5NDDiaCcy01zQ1WQRKlzsju6ySTOhnOruLYmtvBTsudkC1Stq5t73DTEMuSDNWz1S6c5JlcSbsG57GtlknflCAmWx2Ma-4EMQUEE8/s1600/DSC_0100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJA2HnSCv0a6lwIuDrirzij-LzcGhqzSeIYhRZ3O5NDDiaCcy01zQ1WQRKlzsju6ySTOhnOruLYmtvBTsudkC1Stq5t73DTEMuSDNWz1S6c5JlcSbsG57GtlknflCAmWx2Ma-4EMQUEE8/s640/DSC_0100.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are waiting to check in our bags in<br />the hold of the overnight ferry we took last month from<br />Suva to Savusavu. Interestingly, the <i>M/V </i><i>Lomaiviti Princess</i><br />was formerly <i>M/V Queen of Prince Rupert</i>, one of the <br />many heavily used BC ferry boats. She was built in 1966<br />and left BC for Fiji in July 2011. She's not doing well.<br /> Too much deferred maintenance means that rails are<br />rusting away and the public toilets back up and<br />flood the carpeted interior walkways. It ain't pretty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For
45 minutes she kept her head under the flow of cool water from the kitchen
sink. The inside of her ear was badly blistered and the skin had already
sloughed off. She was in a lot of pain. I fended off a parade of inebriated
well-intentioned advice givers. She did willingly pause from the water flow to
allow a couple of the four veterinarians in attendance (one Scottish, one English)
to take a look and offer reasoned assurances and care instructions.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We
left when she was ready, a potted aloe plant under one arm, courtesy of Pinto
and Lara.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
next day I was able to swab all of the powder residue out of her ear with a
Q-tip saturated with burn gel. Apparently, a burning piece of firework had
found its target in one of the little crooks in the inside of her outer ear.
"I could hear it hissing as I extinguished it with the beer." She
told me.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
was a couple weeks ago. She is healing. The pain is gone.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
following day I was gone, the unhappy plan in action.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We've
long heard countless stories from cruisers older than we about the need to
return home to care for parents, since our first cruising spell in the
mid-1990s. Now I guess we are older. I left Windy and the girls in Fiji the
afternoon of July 5 to return to the States to help care for my mom, to take
some of the load off my dad and sisters. Fortunately, this will not be a
long-term, cruise-ending event as it is for so many. I plan to return to Fiji
to rejoin my family in early August. Unfortunately, we're all booked on a
flight back to the States again in late September. So this sojourn interrupts
an already brief Fiji cruise. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But
that's life.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
overall, life is good. My job, the job of all of us, is to enjoy every bit of
it to the extent we're able. For ourselves, for our kids.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Fortunately,
Windy and the girls are able to do just that in my absence. Hopefully she'll
soon report here from the islands. Stay tuned.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gBFnGj36XYQntE8u-3Q2L-SRR-cHA-xHi3a7fMf6RtLkKmdtJNnXc91kMvWm78VIZGJUkboejOAGhvp_aZdbtaIHAunknofp4B2Ep1Q12MwuJU2c3STM5PmpWw7EbnQ7bURav_ZMI90/s1600/DSC_0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gBFnGj36XYQntE8u-3Q2L-SRR-cHA-xHi3a7fMf6RtLkKmdtJNnXc91kMvWm78VIZGJUkboejOAGhvp_aZdbtaIHAunknofp4B2Ep1Q12MwuJU2c3STM5PmpWw7EbnQ7bURav_ZMI90/s640/DSC_0091.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene from a bus we took from the hills above Suva down to<br />the city center. We love Suva, something about it, nice vibe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><br /></b>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-75224621828866949532017-06-30T19:19:00.001-06:002017-06-30T19:19:11.966-06:00Our Mold Hell By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vi1KaeZfIUDG-azDvy3wIkzcRRRIPn9eUVJXTHOyVcIN1TvxcJVwFKrWUMZb1U7sk53bwZLwFeABaFfDn9eFtpwl0wlrCXVZVNoBX-QsutFBHElNji9y2nfwE0WD8_9ZPdDdepWq6H0/s1600/DSC_0113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="979" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vi1KaeZfIUDG-azDvy3wIkzcRRRIPn9eUVJXTHOyVcIN1TvxcJVwFKrWUMZb1U7sk53bwZLwFeABaFfDn9eFtpwl0wlrCXVZVNoBX-QsutFBHElNji9y2nfwE0WD8_9ZPdDdepWq6H0/s640/DSC_0113.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
So check out this dorade vent,<br />
shiny white before we left.<br />
Out in the sun the whole time.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Last year we flew back to the States and left <i>Del Viento</i> afloat in Tonga, for 3 months. When we returned, she looked surprisingly similar to how we'd left her. That experience set our expectations for our recent return to <i>Del Viento</i> in Fiji, after what turned into an 8-month absence. Disappointment is a product of expectations. We arrived back to <i>Del Viento</i> disappointed.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We shouldn't have been, we should have known better.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Things turned out so well in Tonga that we got complacent. We didn't have a regular minder this time, to open the boat weekly and check on the batteries. We smugly assumed we'd left a leak-free boat behind. We hadn't. That latter fact made all the difference in the world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Photos tell the story best, so I'll use them to do so.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The silver lining is that we had a great dinner ashore the other night with Meri, Jim, and Carolyne of <i><a href="http://hotspur41.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Hotspur</a></i>. (They're housesitting in a hillside home with a million-dollar view and a killer porch to enjoy it from. All isn't roses with regard to that situation, but the downsides only add fuel to the great stories Meri has to share.) Well, the silver lining I'm talking about isn't the dinner, but the story idea that came out of our mold hell. Meri and I are going to co-write a magazine article about it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br />
</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZli8w2gqz7jQWya9fIN7IVcCItTAMDEAIBZDpXCtoXpN26rC2o7UpM5mcMn60IfbRaKdBTlDxkNMAFkCJ6i_7bLKEvToocqngLo7LfbtMJviXvfaai2QOPsFEYlMCrLBcSIki8cepY5g/s1600/DSC_0120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZli8w2gqz7jQWya9fIN7IVcCItTAMDEAIBZDpXCtoXpN26rC2o7UpM5mcMn60IfbRaKdBTlDxkNMAFkCJ6i_7bLKEvToocqngLo7LfbtMJviXvfaai2QOPsFEYlMCrLBcSIki8cepY5g/s640/DSC_0120.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So check this out, upon dinghying up to the boat for the first time,<br />
I saw these blisters--never had them before--all over the hull. I<br />
know our gelcoat is shot and we've plans to paint, someday, but<br />
above-the-waterline blisters is something I don't want to deal with.<br />
Turns out they are all spider webs, and I had to touch one before<br />
I was sure, bullet dodged!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9tmcMZ8mFuOfIb88hnXLw_uZgvMbbuNYhV97ePusUSUvTAGm3ZTD8bqO7y_NteKPgWUnN1WPzxPmzWhm3V9i6uD1gMAlqHnovAIfol2BNn07oioO75t7x6NFLMZhJ0cPlxWj1r_HEqQQ/s1600/DSC_0117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9tmcMZ8mFuOfIb88hnXLw_uZgvMbbuNYhV97ePusUSUvTAGm3ZTD8bqO7y_NteKPgWUnN1WPzxPmzWhm3V9i6uD1gMAlqHnovAIfol2BNn07oioO75t7x6NFLMZhJ0cPlxWj1r_HEqQQ/s640/DSC_0117.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This looks bad, but cleans up super easily, it's already done.<br />
This ain't mold hell, just what we expected.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69CrenGKPEiGK6UHxAfwPYMhsDaMMJhyphenhyphenhpJnrrlGxjRPyQHQhSdJBDHfn_l9gqb5TRajxdnQ9a8rl-l2hqloCU4PcWNDqbbLqSm4Jt_aLBvnWGNQxtNM76XIaxAjOovEr20bPDIsyW2w/s1600/DSC_0109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69CrenGKPEiGK6UHxAfwPYMhsDaMMJhyphenhyphenhpJnrrlGxjRPyQHQhSdJBDHfn_l9gqb5TRajxdnQ9a8rl-l2hqloCU4PcWNDqbbLqSm4Jt_aLBvnWGNQxtNM76XIaxAjOovEr20bPDIsyW2w/s640/DSC_0109.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of mold hell. The cushion that sat here, beneath a drip,<br />
we didn't know about, is in awful shape.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkct9RzYfTCnlizMnt5Zfzj80KbX0YxWR4T7fMvTRKy7UPAGbzYy1YskItL_dmwDkuh5dK-qtgsWmCOIIb2hXNEkuGdieNyrhzvgisuUyY_zH5QTwuPRdfc8DLt6NmKFB9LChhvwnGZM/s1600/DSC_0121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkct9RzYfTCnlizMnt5Zfzj80KbX0YxWR4T7fMvTRKy7UPAGbzYy1YskItL_dmwDkuh5dK-qtgsWmCOIIb2hXNEkuGdieNyrhzvgisuUyY_zH5QTwuPRdfc8DLt6NmKFB9LChhvwnGZM/s640/DSC_0121.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances cleaning out the fridge. Interestingly, there was<br />
no mold in there--we'd cleaned it thoroughly before leaving<br />
and we'd left the hatch propped open. Yet it obviously served<br />
as a cockroach meeting place because there were dead bodies<br />
in there and it was streaked with crap. Ugh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B9xUKYyQKmNeME4jKocyr7dO8Y9GBR338vTlJv5DijLXrPH-uiG5L_MgbfrjS3_RKN6dRP3c9smdn3auidVGD3Vnv5K7nubi7NzFc_V0uZCjk_UUJyjjZUWXZ7H7gK-xtFMoAIBua4Y/s1600/DSC_0108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="1600" height="610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B9xUKYyQKmNeME4jKocyr7dO8Y9GBR338vTlJv5DijLXrPH-uiG5L_MgbfrjS3_RKN6dRP3c9smdn3auidVGD3Vnv5K7nubi7NzFc_V0uZCjk_UUJyjjZUWXZ7H7gK-xtFMoAIBua4Y/s640/DSC_0108.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So the Force 10 stove grate is rusting away and this teapot<br />
kind of highlights the general state of things. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fGgI_cMOXbxGPjbALtfuxrt-fssS83Fcx7nlAdNgme2_6zl7uuYsBwQhp45GPkvni4i35Ddnb9i_l1RGXAahT-88m56Ah6o-wCCCTa7FQh3Bt5BqTVnShkr4T7wE7y-QXnu0sH0kzi4/s1600/DSC_0105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fGgI_cMOXbxGPjbALtfuxrt-fssS83Fcx7nlAdNgme2_6zl7uuYsBwQhp45GPkvni4i35Ddnb9i_l1RGXAahT-88m56Ah6o-wCCCTa7FQh3Bt5BqTVnShkr4T7wE7y-QXnu0sH0kzi4/s640/DSC_0105.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
This is the depth of mold hell. These painted fiberglass surfaces were shiny<br />
white when we left. I sanded and painted them all with Interlux one-part<br />
polyurethane in 2015. They were gorgeous. It's a hard shiny surface<br />
on which I would not have expected mold. And there is not a speck of mold in those books<br />
below. Doesn't jive. I'd have thought it easy to clean mold from these hard, shiny surfaces.<br />
It's not. Vinegar and hydrogen peroxide and scrubbing failed. Then, literally minutes<br />
after handing this blog post over to Windy to review, I tried a Kiwi solution<br />
I bought in town, Exit Mould. It's a miracle product.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQi8BNBymjQC00hzi_kXzh_28ZiVUS8721GgqPzdc8mtUX77hn01XNfYyhnPeXXHh1vDTDw07xPgLOL29koU_vYZ-onRuEPWfJMJdqnNzWdVo9zM4UofItK6rQf0sEB3mJZx7yMiHH8o/s1600/DSC_0124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQi8BNBymjQC00hzi_kXzh_28ZiVUS8721GgqPzdc8mtUX77hn01XNfYyhnPeXXHh1vDTDw07xPgLOL29koU_vYZ-onRuEPWfJMJdqnNzWdVo9zM4UofItK6rQf0sEB3mJZx7yMiHH8o/s640/DSC_0124.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But really, This is the view ashore. This is where we get to clean<br />
mold. We returned to a boat still afloat. I'm not complaining.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-736186461205544232017-06-23T02:13:00.000-06:002017-06-23T16:42:30.221-06:00A Day In School By MichaelSAVUSAVU, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Thanuja graciously extended an offer for the girls to attend Arindie's school for the day. "I even have extra uniforms the girls can wear."<br />
<br />
We woke early for the Robertsons, scarfed down breakfast, and arrived in Lautoka by 8:30. The girls quickly changed into school uniforms and we got back in our rental car for the 5-minute trip to Arindie's school. <br />
<br />
The entire student body was seated in a small quad, a concrete island surrounded by classrooms. As we exited the car on the road in front of the school, we could hear the headmaster wrapping up his morning briefing.<br />
<br />
Then he saw us approach.<br />
<br />
"Wait! Wait students. Sit back down."<br />
<br />
Now at this point in the story, I'll tell you that the girls were eager to check out Arindie's school, but also a bit nervous.<br />
<br />
Neither girl expected the ebullient welcome they received upon arrival. It was a blast for this parent to watch. I got the video rolling as quickly as I could:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FrPap_NvXaA" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
One thing that isn't easy to see in the video, but which was totally apparent in person, is the reaction of the two classes when the principal announced the girls would sit in with the 5th and 7th grades. Each distinct group of 30 or so kids exploded in cheers and high-fives like they'd won the lottery. It was pretty cool.<br />
<br />
At the end of the day we picked the girls up and they were comfortable and beaming. It was a good day.<br />
<br />
--MR</div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-81738087730580971982017-06-13T15:25:00.001-06:002017-06-13T15:25:27.327-06:00Day One in Fiji: A Wedding By MichaelNADI, FIJI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZd6EouJ_3tAH78hYiSwOUxEqmxqLx5rraUa5P26Hs7sn-7WXIKsJHymjd1KlvoBOmsob8qUlpluWjyRVzz2zssnKJASjXjTbtXWzR5HCEY6_XXuXnFYuMps9tDRg8oxO6LtGbd_qNyU/s1600/DSC_0050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="906" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZd6EouJ_3tAH78hYiSwOUxEqmxqLx5rraUa5P26Hs7sn-7WXIKsJHymjd1KlvoBOmsob8qUlpluWjyRVzz2zssnKJASjXjTbtXWzR5HCEY6_XXuXnFYuMps9tDRg8oxO6LtGbd_qNyU/s640/DSC_0050.jpg" width="362" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances, Arindie, and Eleanor, in<br />wedding attire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZd6EouJ_3tAH78hYiSwOUxEqmxqLx5rraUa5P26Hs7sn-7WXIKsJHymjd1KlvoBOmsob8qUlpluWjyRVzz2zssnKJASjXjTbtXWzR5HCEY6_XXuXnFYuMps9tDRg8oxO6LtGbd_qNyU/s1600/DSC_0050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Yesterday
I was behind the wheel of a rented Nissan Tiida driving down a narrow,
pot-holed highway headed out of the city. On the phone and in the passenger
seat next to me was a Sri Lankan judge contracted by the Fijian government to preside
over rape and murder cases for the nation's highest court. We were lost.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
judge hung up, "I'm sorry, turn around, he says it's back by the
crematorium we passed a while ago."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">72
hours earlier, shortly after Windy, the girls, and I landed tired and jetlagged
in Fiji, I emailed the judge to let him know we'd arrived. We were eager to
finally meet. We'd been in contact since last fall, when my good friend Manjula
put us in touch. "Aruna and Thanuja and their kids are family." He explained that they are in
Fiji for three years and that we should look them up when we go back."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Aruna,
the judge, responded to my arrival email right away. He asked if we wanted to get together that
evening, offering to let us accompany him and his family to an Indian wedding.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Wow,
that would be a very cool experience, but there's no way. We all can hardly
keep our eyes open and besides, our tattered clothing isn't
wedding-appropriate."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">At
6:30 the next morning, I got Aruna's emailed response. "If you're really
interested in attending a traditional Indian wedding, get dressed, eat
breakfast, and start driving towards Lautoka. We'll meet you at the University
of Fiji and escort you to the Lomolomo Village."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After
a couple more hurried email exchanges and a frantic visit to our hotel's gift
shop to buy something more appropriate than our cruisers' clothes, we raced down
the dock, took the shuttle boat across the isthmus to our rental car, and sped
away. Aruna and his family were waiting for us in the university parking lot.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After
quick introductions and hugs, we learned that Indian weddings last for 4 days
and that our hosts were taking a break this day, sending us instead with their
12-year-old daughter, whom we'd known for 40 seconds.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYS_cscY3jnciQaAn5FjeGcRoG0yRtYxUSitZ2481_uwOBGjXeL_8GrtzKRwdPrfUpg12P5_DMj3_9oOOrp62fPv_0eMn61WZTBhENY6i6naBuDy4thpcRr3JjuKEGp-Ok_RvVQvojmk/s1600/DSC_0065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1078" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYS_cscY3jnciQaAn5FjeGcRoG0yRtYxUSitZ2481_uwOBGjXeL_8GrtzKRwdPrfUpg12P5_DMj3_9oOOrp62fPv_0eMn61WZTBhENY6i6naBuDy4thpcRr3JjuKEGp-Ok_RvVQvojmk/s640/DSC_0065.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought puffer fish were poison, served only<br />in select Japanese restaurants where patrons<br />put their lives in the hands of an expert chef.<br />Yet, we see them for sale everywhere.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"Arindie
will show you the way. Stay as long as you want. She'll direct you back to our
house when you're done and we'll have a traditional Sri Lankan dinner ready for
you."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
wedding was indeed interesting. We were there for the final ceremony, before
the reception the following day (though we did enjoy a wonderful buffet lunch
following the ceremony; it's difficult to imagine the scale of the official
reception). Everything was in Hindi, and went on for hours, but it passed
quickly, a feast for the ears and eyes.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For
the next couple of days, Aruna and Thanuja and their two kids made us feel like
honored guests in Fiji. Their generosity and hospitality was remarkable. They
welcomed us into their home, introduced us to their friends, and showed us more of Lautoka than we'd have seen
on our own.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On
our last evening together, I drove Aruna out of town in search of the auto
repair shop where their vehicle was waiting to be picked up.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"I'm
sorry we're lost, that I'm taking your time," he told me.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I
looked at the tall, jagged peaks on the horizon and at the fields of dense
sugar cane that surrounded us. At the people on the side of the road sitting
behind neat piles of live crabs wrapped in banana leaves they hoped to sell. At
the smiles on the faces that looked down at me from the windows of a passing
bus. At the High Court judge in the passenger seat next to me who had just taught me about the 1956 catalyst for the Tamil
uprising in his native Sri Lanka.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">"No,
don't be sorry, Aruna. There's really no place I'd rather be."</span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw3ozUUq5K9R1O63YbTes_RQ7cTSF7hfXXR7SxwcoJMY111sK5WYhpoFVIad-2GQZXKouoenkHnaUV53v2hZLkbO0ieFtMjpRcZUd410OhKxFC8gSYWwd9P8VXFggkn8dA4pSTEzIcYk/s1600/DSC_0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw3ozUUq5K9R1O63YbTes_RQ7cTSF7hfXXR7SxwcoJMY111sK5WYhpoFVIad-2GQZXKouoenkHnaUV53v2hZLkbO0ieFtMjpRcZUd410OhKxFC8gSYWwd9P8VXFggkn8dA4pSTEzIcYk/s640/DSC_0053.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring First Landing after the wedding.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vk4Q3FEHYhNu5O60JFWtbfuUO2ftxcS8ULqqaIIBG38U3EU_esRYbErplb2Yw3mKnyeVSbob0baIQnzPaxEZeXqMqnnI_iRaB_OKIZQgpQ6dxx4u_2P_vjGhzxP0Xsjvgo9b9JEURSk/s1600/DSC_0058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="1600" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vk4Q3FEHYhNu5O60JFWtbfuUO2ftxcS8ULqqaIIBG38U3EU_esRYbErplb2Yw3mKnyeVSbob0baIQnzPaxEZeXqMqnnI_iRaB_OKIZQgpQ6dxx4u_2P_vjGhzxP0Xsjvgo9b9JEURSk/s640/DSC_0058.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Robertsons and our new Sri Lankan friends. Missing from the photo<br />is Asel, Arindie's little brother. Also missing are the friends and neighbors<br />that Aruna and Thanuja introduced us to: Sanath and Ranga.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUf8B3JCPiuRvj58bFzY9c0MyyLkV0bgQTOJUnSEMNiMNzjmqpvM0SeaI5ZikK98fr6oBC5ezAme-fhLcclYsaHMLi9Lt8KJTlUptXqxTiwo85F51OdDt5vCiIz21DwBbb4YWDgYh_YtY/s1600/DSC_0061_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUf8B3JCPiuRvj58bFzY9c0MyyLkV0bgQTOJUnSEMNiMNzjmqpvM0SeaI5ZikK98fr6oBC5ezAme-fhLcclYsaHMLi9Lt8KJTlUptXqxTiwo85F51OdDt5vCiIz21DwBbb4YWDgYh_YtY/s640/DSC_0061_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Loutoka market is a feast for the eyes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBKo4qjIelslYRvxmGoxb0z88IL3g8RseSUrO7_8Z3omS5xyLcNCobFkA7vcIuxnh6LCd362GQKo9Bc7xrbUyCqIvNB92gtF1x42AGHCDstY5JDM4-UY-mgJA-R-LpyZbAn1MMLf1wFU/s1600/DSC_0073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1600" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBKo4qjIelslYRvxmGoxb0z88IL3g8RseSUrO7_8Z3omS5xyLcNCobFkA7vcIuxnh6LCd362GQKo9Bc7xrbUyCqIvNB92gtF1x42AGHCDstY5JDM4-UY-mgJA-R-LpyZbAn1MMLf1wFU/s640/DSC_0073.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls on a Loutoka carnival ride.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-86212318860739754892017-05-28T14:41:00.000-06:002017-05-28T23:47:50.210-06:00Everything Left to Lose By MichaelAJO, ARIZONA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9j15Qe6dqifarNml3_I-thrzsg67O8T5s5RkblMJZ6zjvn8vtScbQ7j6-ibhWcyKJ_TzlzRVwv8XX7Npe2UaSWGECnR4wvQbshKTWaip_faCAw4Bp1Jhc-aBMQ9xBCnSfEVwHz_l__A/s1600/DSC_0831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1018" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9j15Qe6dqifarNml3_I-thrzsg67O8T5s5RkblMJZ6zjvn8vtScbQ7j6-ibhWcyKJ_TzlzRVwv8XX7Npe2UaSWGECnR4wvQbshKTWaip_faCAw4Bp1Jhc-aBMQ9xBCnSfEVwHz_l__A/s640/DSC_0831.jpg" width="406" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Me and Old Frances. This is my 95 1/2-year-old<br />
grandma we just visited in Nebraska. She still<br />
lives alone and drives. And I just noticed that's <br />
also me in her acrylic tissue box.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It seems
like three years ago that we were in Tonga. Yet it was only 12 months ago that
we were in Tonga’s Ha’apai group aboard <i>Del Viento</i>, arrived from Vava’u. Then back to Vava’u en
route to American Samoa to visit old friends, east to Samoa for the first time,
and then southwest to Fiji. That’s where we decided to buy a house in Arizona,
sight unseen, and managed the whole transaction from Fiji. In October we
buttoned up the boat and flew to Washington, D.C. via a 4-day layover in Australia.
Then on to California to visit family and buy a truck before driving to Arizona
to start work on the house. Here we’ve introduced a number of new friends into
our lives over bonfires and dinners and hikes. We’ve vacationed in Mexico and
attended a gay-pride parade in Phoenix. The girls have enjoyed their first real
stretch in public school and emerged unscathed. We’ve spent time with family in
Nebraska and California and Washington state.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It’s
been a very full year.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We’re
lucky to have had it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We’ve
been able to have it because we’ve broken free. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
is probably the single biggest benefit of this cruising life we’ve chosen,
freedom. And the freedom we’ve gained from changing our lives up wasn’t even
the reason we left to go cruising, it’s an unexpected benefit. And I’m not talking
about win-the-lottery-and-quit-your-job kind of freedom, but something different.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Making
the decision to leave our careers behind and sell nearly everything except what
would fit on the boat meant breaking free, free of all the trappings and
obligations of lives that would have made a year like the past year impossible.</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX3jaE_cvea6Zli_YUtLl5NVNMdQvOE0DTJLRZqgeYCZOG9t5OKVaQcFanwJRmR2uJqWGfDymETNS5SLgjSI1nY0J1DLRdidrJr1zE4uQY2qaKYDvxdQivq00_6useIMC3fxcWHfDZ-fs/s1600/DSC_0772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="847" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX3jaE_cvea6Zli_YUtLl5NVNMdQvOE0DTJLRZqgeYCZOG9t5OKVaQcFanwJRmR2uJqWGfDymETNS5SLgjSI1nY0J1DLRdidrJr1zE4uQY2qaKYDvxdQivq00_6useIMC3fxcWHfDZ-fs/s640/DSC_0772.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Frances dolled up and<br />
being silly ahead of a school<br />
performance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’ve
fretted since we took off about what our end game would look like. Most
families don’t cruise forever, and most don’t want to. (We probably won’t.) We didn’t
leave a house rented that we could slip back into, resuming careers put on
hold. When our savings ran out and we had to sell the boat and stop, we could
land literally anywhere and start new lives. But where?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">While
in Alaska we seriously considered making that our future home (we still talk
about it today). While in San Diego we realized that would be an easy place to
live aboard and work, barely getting rooted so that once we’d saved enough we
could make a quick escape. (We paid $75 to get our names on a waiting list for
a mooring.) In La Paz, Mexico, we peeked into the courtyards of homes for sale.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“But
where would we work if we lived in Mexico?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Before
crossing the Pacific two years ago, our bank statements were flashing red
warning lights when we opened the envelope. We cast feelers far and wide for
work. I networked through IT contacts about cleared jobs on <span style="color: windowtext; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Kwajalein Atoll and uncleared work in the Marshall Islands</span>. I
pestered Meri on <i><a href="http://hotspur41.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Hotspur</a></i> about what we were qualified to do in American Samoa.
We envied the French cruisers who could work at will in French Polynesia. We
listened to the stories of Kiwi expats who’d started successful businesses in
Tonga and wondered if that was for us. We didn’t want to give up our freedom,
but our savings were running on fumes. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then
fortune smiled on us. I got an email out of the blue from Karen Larson over at
<i><a href="http://www.goodoldboat.com/" target="_blank">Good Old Boat</a></i> magazine. She’d read my book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B0AY5FO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01B0AY5FO&linkCode=as2&tag=loofdevi-20&linkId=XH6Y72J2KFNFJE77" target="_blank">Selling Your Writing to the Boating Magazines</a></i>, and I’d sold her stories and cover photos over the years and she now
wanted to know whether I’d be interested in interviewing for a managing editor
position at her magazine.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“But
you know I’m cruising, I live on a boat, currently in Tonga, yeah?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“Do
they have internet in Tonga?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“Yeah.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“Well,
that wouldn’t disqualify you. All of the staff works from home, wherever home
is.”</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-njYuPlGSJmwIBIhOiXjE1EWXKRUeIcIPvBzM0GSUIvKf8vEo7MCnHa_Y66t5teYFg5KGkT6TlpcND12_p_e6GXKZaHkRXG6zURhKbka0RkHS4_LJehXtimgrLsl2jFOEcWVAR46vgW4/s1600/DSC_0472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-njYuPlGSJmwIBIhOiXjE1EWXKRUeIcIPvBzM0GSUIvKf8vEo7MCnHa_Y66t5teYFg5KGkT6TlpcND12_p_e6GXKZaHkRXG6zURhKbka0RkHS4_LJehXtimgrLsl2jFOEcWVAR46vgW4/s640/DSC_0472.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pretty view of Ajo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
was just over a year ago.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
anxiety I’d felt over determining our end game vanished. All the writing I’d
done since we started cruising, the magazine articles and the two books, had
paid off. We didn’t have to give up our freedom just yet.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’m
now a member of this new class of mobile worker. My work is what I do, not
where I live. I don’t earn as much money as I did in D.C., but our cost of
living isn’t tied to D.C. We can continue setting sail, reefing sails, and
plotting courses for all kinds of places, or settle down and live wherever we
like. We’re free in a way that we never were. We have talked about renting a
place in Japan for a while to see what that’s like. Of following in the
footsteps of our friends on <i>Hotspur</i> and doing the same thing in Vietnam or
Mexico.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
it’s all possible because we took the leap into the unknown to head down a road
that extended only as far as our savings. When we left, we could see the length
of that finite road and there was absolutely nothing at the end, except the
good fortune to able to return to the lives we left behind, albeit a few steps
behind our peers who didn’t take a five-year sabbatical and blow through their
savings.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That’s
the view that keeps many people who are otherwise interested in cutting the
dock lines, close to shore. We’re a society that celebrates the risk taker, but
few take big risks. Few should. I don’t begrudge the risk-averse. I don’t
pretend that the decisions we’ve made are appropriate for everyone, nor that
they’re prudent. I just know that they’re right for us. I look forward to
another year that I can’t see from here.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29KyKGVHY8FBM-AmE7q8oMCACMlUFP7Rsg8Y5myWgI6VCGKWxOEeiCozw2ntZpFdKm2y-s7Mf89Tr82LckprN3qylTblzcQYgznOt7bfHXxYcNCIP-xtjcTGbo4vlMJz4tCaF1ORiuX0/s1600/DSC_0040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1072" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29KyKGVHY8FBM-AmE7q8oMCACMlUFP7Rsg8Y5myWgI6VCGKWxOEeiCozw2ntZpFdKm2y-s7Mf89Tr82LckprN3qylTblzcQYgznOt7bfHXxYcNCIP-xtjcTGbo4vlMJz4tCaF1ORiuX0/s640/DSC_0040.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Windy with Frances, working on one of the windows in our house.<br />
Okay, just kidding, this is an abandoned place we found hiking<br />
in the desert near our house, but its not much better than our house.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBakfkEUrt2GZqEXlOZcVIBrz7CojtuS8u_PSrYBtc8cGpT8tuDGN1Lkm9StnZLEWVuxUj667JZlMAZkP5cWjvRsFSxVgVkq8hoO00wBQ6A1aQmTKVCDs8JWdeEzMjwOAbywkLR87YfEs/s1600/DSC_0788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBakfkEUrt2GZqEXlOZcVIBrz7CojtuS8u_PSrYBtc8cGpT8tuDGN1Lkm9StnZLEWVuxUj667JZlMAZkP5cWjvRsFSxVgVkq8hoO00wBQ6A1aQmTKVCDs8JWdeEzMjwOAbywkLR87YfEs/s640/DSC_0788.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor trying to beat Old Frances at cards, big mistake showing<br />
her hand when she scoots in for this picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oGmSs1uCqZIT4YP5qEwbHQ5noqXa4bl2c3xAXMNXJuG-OxOy5RMfhSywnedMzmluqd7JEYNFAutfG7QQ4RAaby6bO7xBOiBhLCLrCgOv7UmHN0lWvVk_W8cPlTC02lHv1FUd9O3JzT8/s1600/DSC_0847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2oGmSs1uCqZIT4YP5qEwbHQ5noqXa4bl2c3xAXMNXJuG-OxOy5RMfhSywnedMzmluqd7JEYNFAutfG7QQ4RAaby6bO7xBOiBhLCLrCgOv7UmHN0lWvVk_W8cPlTC02lHv1FUd9O3JzT8/s640/DSC_0847.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls with one of the replica prairie schooners on display<br />
in Scottsbluff. This bluff was a major landmark in the<br />
big westward migration, part of the Oregon Trail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE4bkjLNrh0lsMyPvk-1DM0H-Gwm8ljlWGMwUIQ0kDgS1tWhpSymb5wfxxGjKBoypPTyftjh-hvgEOf9Nn82SBhA57QsWcXngcc5mXkk3p0mfFEnYOscrVPL_Ne2MpnTRrVKnnHHdBng/s1600/DSC_0853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE4bkjLNrh0lsMyPvk-1DM0H-Gwm8ljlWGMwUIQ0kDgS1tWhpSymb5wfxxGjKBoypPTyftjh-hvgEOf9Nn82SBhA57QsWcXngcc5mXkk3p0mfFEnYOscrVPL_Ne2MpnTRrVKnnHHdBng/s640/DSC_0853.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
So on the way back to Denver airport, we pulled off the road and hiked <br />
to the base of one of those turbine wind generators so I could show the<br />
girls just how massive they are, the huge blades rotating above our heads with<br />
a colossal whoosh. So just before we reached the turbine, Eleanor grabs<br />
onto be and tries to stop me and push me aside. I saw this big guy right after<br />
exclaiming, "What the heck are you doing?!" She enjoyed a few hours in the<br />
limelight after claiming credit for saving my life, but then I looked this guy up and<br />
he's just a harmless bull snake. </div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-9926068459380689962017-04-19T22:32:00.000-06:002017-04-19T22:32:17.425-06:00Night of the Lepus By Michael & WindyAJO, AZ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4t9_rDgSYCHCqS19cP7rI63lNQMSTRhOBTaOtB4Zs2G1V0XHyZOSiIYgvna6zmTvfaq9yYpVHBZLVT3GY2cUGzhHqkAStsBw7cILr2n1RszzDLL6OmiJQqYBRsBkspg4p5S8eFa_LDG0/s1600/bunny+cactus.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4t9_rDgSYCHCqS19cP7rI63lNQMSTRhOBTaOtB4Zs2G1V0XHyZOSiIYgvna6zmTvfaq9yYpVHBZLVT3GY2cUGzhHqkAStsBw7cILr2n1RszzDLL6OmiJQqYBRsBkspg4p5S8eFa_LDG0/s640/bunny+cactus.png" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our own bunny cactus in our yard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Just when you thought you were safe... They come out of the desert at night: flesh eating bunnies.</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> Just in time for Easter, the Movie Channel broadcast a cult-horror classic famous for its awfulness. <i>Night of the Lepus</i> features a town under siege from adorable bloodthirsty bunnies the size of grizzly bears. MGM shot the movie in Ajo, Arizona in 1972.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For the giant killer rabbit shots, they used regular rabbits stampeding through a model town (no CGI back then) and slowed the film speed to give the bunnies a seeming heft. It was a good idea, but the end result looked like giant friendly bunnies juxtaposed with the terrified faces of men, women, and children.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">At some point in post-production, the studio heads realized the problem and addressed it with a marketing plan. They stripped all rabbit references from the trailer and posters and title (lepus is Latin for rabbit). They built hype by keeping the source of terror a mystery (“Buy a ticket for the big reveal.”)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I don’t think it was effective. Even the all-star cast was lampooned for their performances.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And like all good (?) stories it’s based on a kernel of truth. Ajo is overrun by bunnies. They are adorable and plush and have the cutest white puffy tails. They do come out at night (and during the day). In fact, at any given moment, you can look around and spot at least one. They’re regular-sized and they don't eat humans, but they do eat gardens, especially savoring tender new shoots as they eke out a life in this harsh environment. Each one looks like Peter Rabbit, and so we share our garden with them.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This is why Ajo is a good place to celebrate Easter.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR & WR</span><br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeam-_1wtTQA5FUrjWuqVQfNsWnJX3lxLRz4vcr7EcpJ6NoqnKDtO5wpzQgL_8t0JmDEW8Ag94AFxSnh5URJJK9bf1Ay0fcbFXNv-wMh06xzXw9bmcWn0oFH-pV0Tq27NgyHXKx4KoY8/s1600/lepus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeam-_1wtTQA5FUrjWuqVQfNsWnJX3lxLRz4vcr7EcpJ6NoqnKDtO5wpzQgL_8t0JmDEW8Ag94AFxSnh5URJJK9bf1Ay0fcbFXNv-wMh06xzXw9bmcWn0oFH-pV0Tq27NgyHXKx4KoY8/s640/lepus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many murals of Ajo. The rabbits in this<br />mural look silly, but they're much more terrifying than<br />those in the movie.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0DKTM41r1s" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
The official trailer.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1NPvXMoVCV8" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Here's a clip to give you an idea of what the movie looks like.<br />
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-75616634037033879902017-04-13T22:45:00.000-06:002017-04-13T22:45:31.970-06:00Back to Mexico By MichaelAJO, AZ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxhDCA76Qtb3Mgwpw-K5STzgnLylin9koLoTboWag5drB8vgETH3ufUg1nJlfADOKlejWE2t9YVx-AZn5KfZQXBK7SNG-xN61kHHBN-aC4Sk6HmjYsqVoNr2GZs9olysfbwPaUwd2YLw/s1600/IMG_8773%255B71969%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxhDCA76Qtb3Mgwpw-K5STzgnLylin9koLoTboWag5drB8vgETH3ufUg1nJlfADOKlejWE2t9YVx-AZn5KfZQXBK7SNG-xN61kHHBN-aC4Sk6HmjYsqVoNr2GZs9olysfbwPaUwd2YLw/s640/IMG_8773%255B71969%255D.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The FAA doesn't allow passenger rides<br />in ultralights in the United States. In fact<br />the only approved use of a 2-person <br />ultralight in the U.S. is certified instruction.<br />But, as though we needed to be reminded,<br />Mexico is not the U.S. That's me in the <br />red shirt, about 45 seconds prior to take-off.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It’s
frustrating living in our shell of a house, with six weeks still remaining before we
batten the hatches and head back to Fiji. I mean, I don’t mind being here, I
really like Ajo and I often enjoy doing this work we chose to do, but it’s hard
being away from home, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Del Viento</i>.
It’s especially hard when I’m in regular contact with friends and others
casting off and heading across the Pacific for the first time. I know what
awaits them, I can feel it like it was yesterday, the anticipation before the
crossing, the exhilaration that comes a few days out when you’re in the groove
and you realize you’ve made enough miles that the air temperature has gone up. There’s
nothing like it. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Manakai</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MonArc</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrapin</i> and others are all feeling it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
they’re all leaving from Mexico too, where we left from. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
we’re so close to Mexico.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And
a family friend was visiting.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
we battened the hatches for a few days and went to drink some cold Tecate on
the shores of the Sea of Cortez. After all, it's the reason we bought a house in Ajo.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
helped, a lot.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKF228GHsyhxDR9OmpvKMIOa_KbS1PMFdRhOeAFKBI846pVl4uRYLfUdMN8WGVywia1kM_d8UI6qw3zMykHFkAMknf-J9oEVWYVye0d1k4n6G68sUIeT-Y1dC_W0WOu-ukyKxVEeMRlg/s1600/IMG_8780%255B71977%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKF228GHsyhxDR9OmpvKMIOa_KbS1PMFdRhOeAFKBI846pVl4uRYLfUdMN8WGVywia1kM_d8UI6qw3zMykHFkAMknf-J9oEVWYVye0d1k4n6G68sUIeT-Y1dC_W0WOu-ukyKxVEeMRlg/s640/IMG_8780%255B71977%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full power and we were off the ground in about 30 feet,<br />and our ground speed was super slow, headed directly<br />into the afternoon onshore flow from the Sea.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOKF228GHsyhxDR9OmpvKMIOa_KbS1PMFdRhOeAFKBI846pVl4uRYLfUdMN8WGVywia1kM_d8UI6qw3zMykHFkAMknf-J9oEVWYVye0d1k4n6G68sUIeT-Y1dC_W0WOu-ukyKxVEeMRlg/s1600/IMG_8780%255B71977%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxZ8IdbtgybBh79T__0l-USaAljCaHiknnDeL32dvv1r36-pF8xQyZeqjy5nfEiAIZ4fn3d7x4O9euUVVSazLTWsGTWDjikyDweWbbmzGEJOPRQjR1aZQmmVoNMHbCFY5YYGZSBppv3s/s1600/DSC_0561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxZ8IdbtgybBh79T__0l-USaAljCaHiknnDeL32dvv1r36-pF8xQyZeqjy5nfEiAIZ4fn3d7x4O9euUVVSazLTWsGTWDjikyDweWbbmzGEJOPRQjR1aZQmmVoNMHbCFY5YYGZSBppv3s/s640/DSC_0561.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
I got a bird's eye view of the harbor at Puerto Penasco.<br />This whole place is like Cabo in the 1980s. Five</div>
<div>
years from now this view will be utterly different.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR64Tx6GzFdOKmNMruEA-H4TVLKapzQNSelv4f6qJR3KE2MjOzDTEHay7N_BdM4H31l7FvsxBtNjzxLTcEgT718q3-SbR88u-0E66ZwYDy_XikKuTBK4Ik9B4p-wSzOjRq8plFET6ASY/s1600/DSC_0507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR64Tx6GzFdOKmNMruEA-H4TVLKapzQNSelv4f6qJR3KE2MjOzDTEHay7N_BdM4H31l7FvsxBtNjzxLTcEgT718q3-SbR88u-0E66ZwYDy_XikKuTBK4Ik9B4p-wSzOjRq8plFET6ASY/s640/DSC_0507.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkeys.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4Ubvv3fK6jQJk1qTPKn3XKGN4h9zzApCvxCAvXevh3EZDcfR26YJ1OYlGHGKZvi4faU7jsKVPkxTwPImXgRXDITkXG-hreslasrmLRfF6-7-JTTD7R9idYEzg6-hT5uLo66tfnpq2m0/s1600/DSC_0520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4Ubvv3fK6jQJk1qTPKn3XKGN4h9zzApCvxCAvXevh3EZDcfR26YJ1OYlGHGKZvi4faU7jsKVPkxTwPImXgRXDITkXG-hreslasrmLRfF6-7-JTTD7R9idYEzg6-hT5uLo66tfnpq2m0/s640/DSC_0520.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd love to know how they came to have a twin-Beech in their backyard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwE_0TUD-guHfWbE7lVi4wOQqj5J9dVsh0oz8cd13vnK1TFH7zZF6g-MVtYmBlojgmFCQHqw6spSe2CisU_t4uW10YqV7KrcpRToOzBLmu2QrL2X2b70t2sh7E5dHWhfGPI7gdv0lBc28/s1600/DSC_0538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwE_0TUD-guHfWbE7lVi4wOQqj5J9dVsh0oz8cd13vnK1TFH7zZF6g-MVtYmBlojgmFCQHqw6spSe2CisU_t4uW10YqV7KrcpRToOzBLmu2QrL2X2b70t2sh7E5dHWhfGPI7gdv0lBc28/s640/DSC_0538.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"But you got to ride in the ultralight, Dad."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57Sv-fX05HVjYapqYHFPAcbBCvyJTIqhIS_0hBMqkj5sT4Vq5ScaVyDEaMBdeXBwTmAuczUGbDe8nGweCOBA0t5FEUeGx1cK0D9ATT1m3jjW7oJ9408J9abujkvNlXNLHpGd8ej-letc/s1600/DSC_0543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57Sv-fX05HVjYapqYHFPAcbBCvyJTIqhIS_0hBMqkj5sT4Vq5ScaVyDEaMBdeXBwTmAuczUGbDe8nGweCOBA0t5FEUeGx1cK0D9ATT1m3jjW7oJ9408J9abujkvNlXNLHpGd8ej-letc/s640/DSC_0543.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My woman in her element: a drink<br />in each hand and close to the water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXCJX32YaLon3pdWBcqHn2paxw0nySARmEs2FxOEaSU_KxRCFfm56hPphvkbrMaO4TfbNzqJeNUNp6earVo-1OMMP_lMgTl4aW8LZVFSCj5DuteMjLxhPk0IGxJ5vGXlpcuOoBWZopEY/s1600/DSC_0546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXCJX32YaLon3pdWBcqHn2paxw0nySARmEs2FxOEaSU_KxRCFfm56hPphvkbrMaO4TfbNzqJeNUNp6earVo-1OMMP_lMgTl4aW8LZVFSCj5DuteMjLxhPk0IGxJ5vGXlpcuOoBWZopEY/s640/DSC_0546.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These beautiful Katrinas were ceramic, the larger ones<br />about 3 feet tall.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuSzqv1a3kaeOm9LqR2DZ6XaRbEqVpqNLK3tLXFS4OEcNQHTIaUeyOvbregJLEBwcO8qSinLZ9gPfwGWENb3_btqAo66uzQ6QPe8eLNkfPDR391BeCvvwABBWrLH3CrLZeINe1uwdFGE/s1600/DSC_0553a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuSzqv1a3kaeOm9LqR2DZ6XaRbEqVpqNLK3tLXFS4OEcNQHTIaUeyOvbregJLEBwcO8qSinLZ9gPfwGWENb3_btqAo66uzQ6QPe8eLNkfPDR391BeCvvwABBWrLH3CrLZeINe1uwdFGE/s640/DSC_0553a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ally, Frances, and Eleanor on ground level, same harbor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPlLXgEUmYG5FiNbc7_q77O7m8f27j3ms-C5oQqfndsSX4WrFnQIdT8O8TBfU9VMPjDJLaaTalK6mCbjdXsl5Fy1ogIlYuie6Z_YRlhdVvz4yGV1Ml9j3TO6HLE01WKdcTMq8hoY4peE/s1600/DSC_0577.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPlLXgEUmYG5FiNbc7_q77O7m8f27j3ms-C5oQqfndsSX4WrFnQIdT8O8TBfU9VMPjDJLaaTalK6mCbjdXsl5Fy1ogIlYuie6Z_YRlhdVvz4yGV1Ml9j3TO6HLE01WKdcTMq8hoY4peE/s640/DSC_0577.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An excellent taco meal, I'm up playing soccer with the owner's kid.<br />He didn't stand a chance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUEUQAwwl08Wfmdb3TBRCfQTjov-MRVdlzjek2xY82zpT2ldITA_vUwxEzxyhgJN9E-1aKpQZOcKZQMhhb5hqWvBbuUFv61w5oTXPCIPUnWBRmZorGTCXV9-OBqcf4SbpHAZ1wg8zPnY/s1600/DSC_0595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUEUQAwwl08Wfmdb3TBRCfQTjov-MRVdlzjek2xY82zpT2ldITA_vUwxEzxyhgJN9E-1aKpQZOcKZQMhhb5hqWvBbuUFv61w5oTXPCIPUnWBRmZorGTCXV9-OBqcf4SbpHAZ1wg8zPnY/s640/DSC_0595.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor, our dear friend Ally, and Frances.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LU_E5_EmC4C7yQB1HOyOgVavcC7SHJNpDr3qMyGO5xU7g1SXuXoUoOhtxsajBKVCLTKC1qKQ0WV7iqN_WixmsfRfALjcj_aHIxHib_9GJ4NTTQachmzL5lwMV-vx4d8SgrKnqmll0UI/s1600/DSC_0612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LU_E5_EmC4C7yQB1HOyOgVavcC7SHJNpDr3qMyGO5xU7g1SXuXoUoOhtxsajBKVCLTKC1qKQ0WV7iqN_WixmsfRfALjcj_aHIxHib_9GJ4NTTQachmzL5lwMV-vx4d8SgrKnqmll0UI/s640/DSC_0612.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ocotillos were in full bloom, throughout the <br />Sonoran desert, but especially on the Mexico side.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-73789844391633905122017-04-06T22:34:00.001-06:002017-04-06T22:34:40.539-06:00Twists and Turns By MichaelAJO, AZ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm788-05MEYRc63KAM-hiicfvC6TKuJ32v_TRCNqYwau9UYBiNIqDY6HC5XtVsCpLvJHGKBcFN-9tNAaNqWxVA1Raiop7Uxium26SrIJTU0r4NEYvRANfNigVrP6YBx25UaNBb61EWSOk/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm788-05MEYRc63KAM-hiicfvC6TKuJ32v_TRCNqYwau9UYBiNIqDY6HC5XtVsCpLvJHGKBcFN-9tNAaNqWxVA1Raiop7Uxium26SrIJTU0r4NEYvRANfNigVrP6YBx25UaNBb61EWSOk/s640/IMG_0037.JPG" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A is for Ajo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There
is no way we’re going to complete this house on schedule—on schedule meaning
before we return to Fiji and <i>Del Viento</i> in early June. Part of the reason things are taking so long is that the house needs much more work than we anticipated. It’s
going to be a gem when we’re done, but it’s gonna take longer than we planned.
The other part of the reason for the slowdown is work related, like
work-for-money-work related.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’ve
been freelance writing since we began cruising. It’s not paid the bills, but
it’s certainly slowed down the burn rate (and it’s been a lot of fun). Then,
just over a year ago, while in Tonga, I assumed the role of managing editor at
<i><a href="http://www.goodoldboat.com/" target="_blank">Good Old Boat</a></i> magazine. This job has demanded a bit more of my time, but it’s
paid the bills and it’s been interesting and pretty easy to do, about a 20-hours-per-week
commitment. It’s not really slowed us down.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now,
I’ve taken on the role of editor at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good
Old Boat</i> and it’s a great pleasure and excellent opportunity, but it’s a
full-time job. Windy and I considered the offer carefully for about two weeks
before I committed to it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This
house was my full-time job. Now I’ve got two full-time jobs.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In
short, we’re making slow progress on the house, but I’m mostly spending my days
learning my new magazine job.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’ll
be able to work just as easily from Fiji as I do from Ajo, thankfully, but I’m
realizing that very long passages are not in our future. We could spend the
rest of our lives living and working in Fiji, exploring her 300 islands and maybe even making passages to
Vanuatu or the Solomons or New Zealand or Australia, but we’d long planned to
head north to Japan and those plans are off the table. This is a huge blow to
Eleanor, especially, who’s been teaching herself Japanese for the past 18
months. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our
plan now is to return to Fiji in June, swim and dive and sail and explore and
assess and evaluate our lives as a family for a few months, and then return to
the U.S. in October to attend the Annapolis sailboat show and finish this house.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We’re
all still enjoying this unscripted path our lives are on. It’s with wonder that
I recall where we were six years ago, on the precipice of jumping into the
cruising life. Even then I could not have guessed at how things would have
unfolded. And it’s still unfolding. And I don’t yet regret a single twist in our
path.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--MR</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwohS8CvGC7O8GguCzofK5da-Qo5CL6F71aBgh3nAtie2OrDND1ye874VBg1NfVWFfsgrlZa82bVMpz0p6PKxaA9n4Bdda_sxp6fbTV1jaiay6sYAYq1af1WWoC1B2rzetARq_MXzL0XA/s1600/DSC_0500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwohS8CvGC7O8GguCzofK5da-Qo5CL6F71aBgh3nAtie2OrDND1ye874VBg1NfVWFfsgrlZa82bVMpz0p6PKxaA9n4Bdda_sxp6fbTV1jaiay6sYAYq1af1WWoC1B2rzetARq_MXzL0XA/s640/DSC_0500.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We've been to four or five of these <br />bonfire potlucks in the desert near our home. It's <br />no different than cruising to look at a photo like <br />this from a couple weeks ago, and see a group of<br />people I know and call friends, none of whom I knew <br />just a couple weeks before this was taken.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5571147692199175550.post-35636373055945155112017-03-06T13:40:00.000-07:002017-03-07T21:48:52.236-07:00Back to School Days By WindyAJO, AZ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzP2hSNvS7nh1UtO85giDQwiauB7X1Xzoac4sbByixo8hdo4NiWnpd3BDqFSJp_IamEXJjSsM2wdRhKTdP_i1-DxP0h-SzPXpEpXrqtGkPFtb7pBwtKlgZRYLXRYrAu_KjY2o3I0j_NQ/s1600/DSC_0461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzP2hSNvS7nh1UtO85giDQwiauB7X1Xzoac4sbByixo8hdo4NiWnpd3BDqFSJp_IamEXJjSsM2wdRhKTdP_i1-DxP0h-SzPXpEpXrqtGkPFtb7pBwtKlgZRYLXRYrAu_KjY2o3I0j_NQ/s640/DSC_0461.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Frances just celebrated her 11th<br />
birthday. One thing about this cruising<br />
adventure we embarked on is that<br />
it marked time like nothing else,<br />
there's our lives before cruising and<br />
our lives after cruising, nothing else is <br />
like that. So the span of Frances's life <br />
from the 5-year-old we sailed away with<br />
to the 11-year-old we've got today is<br />
clear as a bell, and I've enjoyed it<br />
very much.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Having
made the choice to raise our kids outside of the traditional school/home
environment, cruising parents expose their families to an unusual level of
scrutiny. We get kudos from fellow cruisers who perceive the education our kids
receive while cruising to be ideal: "Cruising kids are so way ahead of
their peers." And non-cruisers' perceptions, positive or negative,
typically are a product of their ideas about homeschooling: Grandparents worry
the grandkids will fall behind academically, family friends give pop quizzes
mining for gaps, and total strangers take note when our kids make or do not
make eye contact. And we, the cruising families, we are the harshest critics,
or the staunchest advocates, or somewhere in between; sometimes it depends on
the day.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
litmus test is re-entry. What happens when boat kids finally start or return to
school? Are they socially awkward? Are they behind? Do they excel? Are they
overwhelmed? Competent? Resilient? Bullied? Bored? Confident? Disorganized?
Different?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Well,
we now can speak from experience and the answer to all of those questions is: Yes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Our
kids started school three months ago in Ajo, Arizona. Prior to attending, Eleanor
(13) had completed half a year of kindergarten and Frances (11) had never
attended school. For the last 7 or so years we have homeschooled or boatschooled.
We have not followed a set curriculum. We have not followed U.S. Common Core
grade standards. Our kids have not taken standardized tests. We have provided
support and materials according to their interests (art) and encouraged them to
build skills at their own pace (writing). They have been expected to progress
in certain subjects they might not love (math). And of course they are cruising
kids and have benefited from a diversity of experiences that, when I look back
over the years, is incredible.</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonZ-yx_yHpcWiPc7wpOiquvzqci2DGp4eM7FIJAJgcZH9GbhHhh52ecZHZHNMkbwmJG5p7UcRyq8TuseJV-iC6tOVx6ZVGbJCgCyxYXUczXss31OFzp21l31VyU81CpO0Vpgk9Z8BgtY/s1600/DSC_0396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonZ-yx_yHpcWiPc7wpOiquvzqci2DGp4eM7FIJAJgcZH9GbhHhh52ecZHZHNMkbwmJG5p7UcRyq8TuseJV-iC6tOVx6ZVGbJCgCyxYXUczXss31OFzp21l31VyU81CpO0Vpgk9Z8BgtY/s640/DSC_0396.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances getting an academic<br />
award from the principal and<br />
superintendent.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So,
based on our sample of two, I am going to make some generalizations about what happens
when cruising kids attend school. Many of these observations may apply to
long-term homeschoolers entering a classroom.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">First,
if your kid is disorganized in the cruising life, she will be disorganized in
regular life. If your kid typically forgets her sun hat, she
will forget her backpack when leaving for school. Seems obvious, but people are
who they are, cruising doesn't change that.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Boat
kids spend a lot of time with adults. They have adult friends. So the
teacher/student hierarchy typical in classrooms is more blurry to them. For
better or for worse, cruising kids are not reluctant to engage teachers.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cruising
kids are accustomed to mostly respectful interactions between and among adults
and kids, and so the behavior they sometimes witness in the classroom will be shocking at
first: teachers pushed to despair, kids treated like toddlers, bullying, profanity,
cheating. That said, it will be shocking and it will be interesting. (To be fair, these are exceptions, their school here is great.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cruising
kids, especially those whose families lean toward unschooling, will be out-of-sync
academically. They have had more time to pursue their interests, and so will be
ahead of their peers in the subjects close to their hearts (we are an arts and
humanities family, all the way), and they might be behind in other
subjects. But to a degree, that's all kids, right?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cruising
kids (particularly those who started young) will suck at team sports. Just
yesterday Eleanor asked, "What's softball?"</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Sometimes
cruising kids will appear stupid to their fellow students. They will sit in the
wrong seat. They will not respond to bells. They will not know the Pledge of
Allegiance. They will turn in work they shouldn't, and their name will not be on
it. They will ask what a "homeroom" is. They will ask if a 'B' is
good, and what will happen to them if they get an 'F.'</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumbLWzoRcjMVNYgGgAOKCAxYvt9Arc-SNbqRqNTVyisSSV40H4nlWL8OGXcBwQWQg4DihPdvd_nFEr-_vUCZjp5UcAmrtUOkGgH9zhWRBaVsoi40egk2JUJk6LYwEqnjcoMk3rnqGnLU/s1600/DSC_0148_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumbLWzoRcjMVNYgGgAOKCAxYvt9Arc-SNbqRqNTVyisSSV40H4nlWL8OGXcBwQWQg4DihPdvd_nFEr-_vUCZjp5UcAmrtUOkGgH9zhWRBaVsoi40egk2JUJk6LYwEqnjcoMk3rnqGnLU/s640/DSC_0148_.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls releasing one of <br />
several pack rats we've caught<br />
around the house.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Cruising
kids will be surprised at how much of their day is eaten up by school and
homework. Some kids will be so heartsick over their loss of free time that they
will want to quit school. They will stick it out because their parents
encourage them to give it a chance and ultimately they will come to a certain
peace, but they will long for the hours spent in their berth buried in stacks
of comics and sketchpads. Just saying.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So
what happened when our boat kids went to school? A lot of different things. At
the very beginning one of the girls experienced some trauma, some tears. The
other was gleeful and fascinated from the start. Their response to the
transition had everything to do with their individual personalities and very
little to do with cruising or homeschooling. Academics have not been a big
deal. They've either jumped right in, or they've learned what they need to know
to be where they need to be. They've caught on to the ins and outs of school,
classroom etiquette, schedules, and homework. They are different than their
peers. They dress differently and they speak differently. They can't swing a
baseball bat, but they can pick up a mooring ball. They have hiked to Trapper's
Cabin, swum with sharks, and run from a hurricane. They have known the
isolation of long ocean passages, and said goodbye to friends again and again. It
all seems to have prepared them pretty well for school.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--WR</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfVD4pZrWgFK7NYXxQ0LT4OPH8PWEihWtqlJnSKNKqGFbywgbtj-blsM6BaMJSCGNVOLAqNLTbUXvhi-1Z1YP5oW98oCWH0a2BGMzleCapeIkS4spdAcQuSDXiDKgUiPOefAVXfcVAII/s1600/DSC_0372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfVD4pZrWgFK7NYXxQ0LT4OPH8PWEihWtqlJnSKNKqGFbywgbtj-blsM6BaMJSCGNVOLAqNLTbUXvhi-1Z1YP5oW98oCWH0a2BGMzleCapeIkS4spdAcQuSDXiDKgUiPOefAVXfcVAII/s640/DSC_0372.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frances with the Kindle reader she was awarded<br />
by the Ajo librarian for the bookmark contest she won.<br />
In the display to the left is Frances's bookmark,<br />
featuring a picture she drew of Charlotte and Wilbur.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3iY5H5Mjvuqfvm2YoXfu3lXaTjbpe0xrgRe_YydSnL5A0FQdYwTgtl-re27zPYMckUsp4_HrhHNQw8qCsiZjUj8pN7RiF_RiCgq1kj90P0mUyO83Uludy6TWB12bDqOBgCsNVJ2SeUY/s1600/DSC_0139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3iY5H5Mjvuqfvm2YoXfu3lXaTjbpe0xrgRe_YydSnL5A0FQdYwTgtl-re27zPYMckUsp4_HrhHNQw8qCsiZjUj8pN7RiF_RiCgq1kj90P0mUyO83Uludy6TWB12bDqOBgCsNVJ2SeUY/s640/DSC_0139.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the girls with another pack rat. I think they'd<br />
have liked to keep each one we've caught. "Eye<br />
on the prize, girls, no pets, we're headed back to <i>Del Viento</i>."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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Michael Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15359487055197866481noreply@blogger.com20