Dry Land
With 3800 miles and some 28 days behind us(including a short stop at the Galapagos), we finally arrived in the Marquesas! That was one long boat ride, but all-in-all it was a pretty uneventful trip. We split watches up so each had four hours on eight hours off. Some how I ended up with the 11pm to 3am shift (Oh Joy!)
The first four days I was condemned to listening to the boom of the diesel engine two feet from my bunk as we motored across what looked like a sheet of glass (No wind).
Once the wind picked up we had 72 hour of rain! On one of my watches it poured buckets for four straight hours. I sat there soaked to the bone asking myself why I wanted to do this. Once the rain stopped a school of pilot whales followed us for about a 1/2 hour. They were about 25 feet long and would swim right up to the boat before backing off and surfacing for air.
We caught allot of fish (mostly Tuna, Dolphin, and Bonito), but missed more.
Midway through the trip we came up on a Korean drift net with satellite transmitter. Ben and Rob decided they wanted to go dive on it. I thought it wiser to observe it from the boat and let them be one with the ocean!
The nights were amazing. The stars lit up the sky. This is something I don't see much in Overtown!
The rest of the time was spent fixing things(bilge pumps, hydraulic pumps, and exhaust pipes) and breaking more things. I read 5 books and listen to 30GB of Music. Here's the critique, If you care!
Books:
The Voyage of the Liberdade- Great story. I was born too late. Times seemed so much simpler then.
1421- This book gives compelling evidence that the Chinese discovered every continent on earth during the years 1421-23. Their goal was to establish trading with other civilizations, and to treat others with dignity and respect (Imagine if we did that today?). They integrated with many cultures before Columbus set sail for the new world.. He even had the Chinese map! No wonder I hated history in High School, the teacher had it all wrong!
3 Travis McGee Novels-In the last novel Travis got back from Ceadar Key with his new found love, and the Then she was murdered. Thats as far as I got. ( I wonder what she did to piss him off?)
Top 5 Played song according to the IPOD Doo Dad.
#1 In a Dis a Time- The Itals
#2 The Israelites-Desmond Decker
#3 Shattered- The Rolling Stones
#4 Shakin the Tree-Peter Gabriel
#5 Far Side of the World- Jimmy Buffet
Group dynamics when living in confined spaces for a long time is interesting. Before leaving Panama it was decided to provision the boat with 9 months of food since it can be difficult to get in the islands. As most of you would have guessed, I can't cook, nor do I enjoy anything having to do with kitchens.
We were putting the provision list together and I assumed 98% of the food would be canned. The response from the others was "We are not eating canned food for 9 months, We need to eat well!". I was quickly out voted and gladly let them do the shopping. After three days and 2 dozen cab rides to the store, 2000Lbs of flour, corn meal,sugar, yeast, beans, rice and pasta were laying all over the cabin. My first thought was that this stuff isn't food, this what you make food with! I figured a Period Table of Elements was needed to identify all this stuff. I resigned to the fact that my share of the kitchen duties would have to consist of clean up. The only job I hate more than cooking.
After the 28 days I'll have to say these guys do eat well, and I've gained a new appreciation for for the art of cooking. So much so that I am working on a meal rating rating system. This rating system will not be based on taste, presentation or any of the standard criteria. This system will be based on the number of frickin pots and pans it takes to prepare and serve a meal! Example:
Canned Beef stew=1 pan+three spoons Rating A
Cornmeal battered blackened fried fish with rice, beans, plantains, homemade bread and brownies=17 Pans
Rating F
Neil young sings a song " A Man Needs a Maid" He must have went on this trip with similar folks.
Another "only Mike" Story:
When you sail for long periods you need to conserve fresh water. Showering is done with seawater and is a sophisticated process. First you lower the bucket into the water, dump it on yourself, lather up and repeat for the rinse cycle. I got quite used to this until the second week into the trip. I was on a rinse cycle when tears of pain can to my eyes caused by intense burning close to some personal parts. When I looked down awash by my feet in the rinse water was a small but no less intense man-o-war jelly fish. Of all the trillions of buckets of water in the Pacific, I landed the one with the jellyfish and proceeded to pour it over my head.
At first glance the Marquesas look beautiful (any land would look pretty good right now). Our first Island stop is Hiva Oa. Hiva Oa means "Long Boat Ride is Over" in Polynesian" I'm also told it means Triple Cheeseburger Island. Woman in grass skirts come out to the beach and bring platters of Cheeseburgers baby back ribs and T-Bone Steaks( only kidding Kitty). Kitty will be joining us for her Spring Break. What's next? See the next posting. hope all is well! The picture is of Hiva Oa as we were coming in.
posted by Mike @ 5:44 PM
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