Finally at the Marquesas Islands after 3½ weeks at sea and here’s a catch-up to let you know what we have been up to. We are anchored behind the breakwater at Atuona on the south side of Hiva Oa Island. When we arrived we signed up for wireless internet that is available in the port, but only got access for a few hours and it hasn’t worked since, which will explain our silence on email. So we’ve gone back to daily radio contacts. Andrew also had a long chat yesterday on the radio with an old friend of his dad, Jack ZL1UA in Tauranga, New Zealand.
We were interested of course in the NBA outcome, which has pleased Andrew but didn’t please Lisa. This island is quite mountainous and very beautiful but it has rained quite a lot since arriving and there are not a lot of facilities. There are a couple of supermarkets and a couple of hardware stores but no-one takes credit cards. There is lots of bread available and we get a daily French baguette for about US70c. The croissants are good too. There is good fresh meat, mainly goat, and good local sausages as well, all the rest of the meat is imported from Australia and New Zealand and is much more expensive than what we could get in Mexico, but not unreasonable. Alcohol is really expensive but that’s not an issue as we did stock up on cheap Mexican beer before the trip. There is very little available in the way of vegetables and fruit. Fruit appears quite abundant on trees on private property but no-one seems to sell it.
We are all fit and well. We had no problem walking on land when we arrived as our last 5 days at sea were quite rough, but our leg muscles do hurt somewhat when walking. We have all lost some weight on the trip but with Lisa’s good cooking are putting some back on again, we hope (as there is nothing to weigh ourselves on). We have been pretty lazy for the past 3 days, recuperating and catching up on sleep. The Police checks this morning were quite minimal, we just had to turn up, and there was no inspection of the yacht. We have paid someone to arrange all this for us as it only costs about $300 to do so, whereas if we had arrived unannounced it would cost over US$1200 each in a bond (this is returned when you leave, but you do have to front up with the cash initially). We are not very sure what the situation is with Raleigh at this point, though.
We do have some maintenance to do on the yacht, not a lot but we do have some leaks into the cabin in heavy rain. Some of it is coming down the mast, and we think we’ve solved that one, but the 2 port lights (windows) leak and we need to work out how to seal them somehow. There is also a good crop of mussels on the hull too which we need to clear sometime but probably not in the current harbour as the water is not very clean here.
Our current plan is to probably leave on Friday and go down to the island south of here (Fatu Hiva) for a couple of days and then spend a couple of weeks island hopping north to the largest island, Nuka Hiva. We do have to move the yacht this Thursday though as the large weekly freighter comes in and it needs a lot of room. There are about 11 to 14 yachts currently in harbour all trying to shelter behind the breakwater.
Till next time
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
There we waited broken-hearted, prayed for wind but only far...d!
We had a few bad days where we waited for wind as we entered the doldrums. We used the motor on a number of times to keep up some progress but had to keep our wits about us even when there was no wind, as little local squalls would come through with 30 knot winds, just to make life interesting. As we had not seen any significant rain for the first 2 weeks of the voyage, we also prayed for rain, but we won’t try that again. A few days ago It rained steadily all day and with the temperature in the 90s and the windows closed for the rain, those inside the yacht were in a sauna while those outside were wet and cold. When we did get some wind, it and the seas were coming from all directions and hence can only be described as confused – in fact in those conditions the crew could also be described as confused!
Then we got some wind again so up went the sails and off went the motor. The rain stopped too and we headed due south when the wind allowed to get to the equator and below the doldrums as fast as possible. The past couple of days have been pleasant and fine, although hot and humid, with consistent SE wind and swell, both advantageous for where we are going. We have achieved a good consistent 6 to 7 knots speed, with the odd 8 knots – things get a little interesting at that speed! We are typically doing about 140+ miles (230+ km) daily now which is better than we have achieved for a while.
Yesterday we crossed the equator and as none of the crew had crossed the equator by sea before, King Neptune converted us all from “pollywogs” into “shellbacks”. We actually crossed the equator about 0600hrs UTC at night so we got up and took a few photos and then all went back to bed as everyone was tired. We got up in the morning, slowed the yacht right down and all jumped into the water, including Raleigh. The yacht was still moving slowly at about 1 knot so we were trailing a long rope behind the yacht in case someone didn’t make it back on board. There were no problems. We put goggles on and did a bit of an inspection of the underside of the yacht. There are a few parts that could do with a clean sometime but in general it is in good condition. Lying in the water with goggles on and looking straight down is spectacular as the water is so clean you feel that you can see forever, the green colour and the light go a long way down. It didn’t feel scary just spectacular. Unfortunately we couldn’t take a photo of the ‘Equator’ sign as we passed as we couldn’t find it. We can only assume that the yacht in front of us must have stolen it!!! The crew members then lost various parts of their hair and the beards came off. We opened the champagne we had carried for the occasion and enjoyed a glass of that to finish the celebrations.
We have been asked what we do in our spare time. We are actually quite busy steering, planning, working the sails etc, but do have time for other things. Lisa, Leslie, and Carl read a lot and Lisa is on her 15th book so far. Don and Andy have a number of other daily tasks and Don gave the engine an oil change yesterday. Andrew has difficulty sleeping with all the movement and noise so he takes opportunities to sleep when he can. He recons he has the chance of about 11 hours of sleep a day but only actually sleeps for a small portion of that.
Raleigh is doing fine and has settled down to a routine. He needs company so is generally with Carl or Lisa. He has little booties on his feet which he doesn’t really like but they give him much more grip when he is walking around the deck. He also has dark glasses to shield his eyes from the very strong sun, but he absolutely hates those.
Apart from Andy’s daily radio contacts with his dad we have been successful with other crew members talking to family. Carl has had a good chat twice with Ann and Kyle, and other friends and family in the past few days, and Leslie has also had a long talk with her dad. We have also talked with other yachts ahead of us to check out what their conditions are and with one that has just departed the Marquesas Islands, and got some comments on what to see etc.
Some more Words of Wisdom from the crew:
Lisa - When did my hair get curly? I look like Shirley Bloody Temple!
Leslie – My hair is finally clean
Don - Andy has put his foot down and decided that this will be the last week of the passage
Carl - Lamp restoring is going better than expected
Andy – I will not ask for rain again
Raleigh – You people suck! Get me off this damn boat
To clarify Carl’s comment. There are a lot of old brass lamps on board and many of them quite rusty. Carl has decided that he will restore them all. If he succeeds by the time we reach NZ then he can punch Andy in the stomach, if not he receives the punch!
We are all feeling a bit tired and worn out and looking forward to a good rest in the Marquesas. We expect to get there this coming weekend.
Then we got some wind again so up went the sails and off went the motor. The rain stopped too and we headed due south when the wind allowed to get to the equator and below the doldrums as fast as possible. The past couple of days have been pleasant and fine, although hot and humid, with consistent SE wind and swell, both advantageous for where we are going. We have achieved a good consistent 6 to 7 knots speed, with the odd 8 knots – things get a little interesting at that speed! We are typically doing about 140+ miles (230+ km) daily now which is better than we have achieved for a while.
Yesterday we crossed the equator and as none of the crew had crossed the equator by sea before, King Neptune converted us all from “pollywogs” into “shellbacks”. We actually crossed the equator about 0600hrs UTC at night so we got up and took a few photos and then all went back to bed as everyone was tired. We got up in the morning, slowed the yacht right down and all jumped into the water, including Raleigh. The yacht was still moving slowly at about 1 knot so we were trailing a long rope behind the yacht in case someone didn’t make it back on board. There were no problems. We put goggles on and did a bit of an inspection of the underside of the yacht. There are a few parts that could do with a clean sometime but in general it is in good condition. Lying in the water with goggles on and looking straight down is spectacular as the water is so clean you feel that you can see forever, the green colour and the light go a long way down. It didn’t feel scary just spectacular. Unfortunately we couldn’t take a photo of the ‘Equator’ sign as we passed as we couldn’t find it. We can only assume that the yacht in front of us must have stolen it!!! The crew members then lost various parts of their hair and the beards came off. We opened the champagne we had carried for the occasion and enjoyed a glass of that to finish the celebrations.
We have been asked what we do in our spare time. We are actually quite busy steering, planning, working the sails etc, but do have time for other things. Lisa, Leslie, and Carl read a lot and Lisa is on her 15th book so far. Don and Andy have a number of other daily tasks and Don gave the engine an oil change yesterday. Andrew has difficulty sleeping with all the movement and noise so he takes opportunities to sleep when he can. He recons he has the chance of about 11 hours of sleep a day but only actually sleeps for a small portion of that.
Raleigh is doing fine and has settled down to a routine. He needs company so is generally with Carl or Lisa. He has little booties on his feet which he doesn’t really like but they give him much more grip when he is walking around the deck. He also has dark glasses to shield his eyes from the very strong sun, but he absolutely hates those.
Apart from Andy’s daily radio contacts with his dad we have been successful with other crew members talking to family. Carl has had a good chat twice with Ann and Kyle, and other friends and family in the past few days, and Leslie has also had a long talk with her dad. We have also talked with other yachts ahead of us to check out what their conditions are and with one that has just departed the Marquesas Islands, and got some comments on what to see etc.
Some more Words of Wisdom from the crew:
Lisa - When did my hair get curly? I look like Shirley Bloody Temple!
Leslie – My hair is finally clean
Don - Andy has put his foot down and decided that this will be the last week of the passage
Carl - Lamp restoring is going better than expected
Andy – I will not ask for rain again
Raleigh – You people suck! Get me off this damn boat
To clarify Carl’s comment. There are a lot of old brass lamps on board and many of them quite rusty. Carl has decided that he will restore them all. If he succeeds by the time we reach NZ then he can punch Andy in the stomach, if not he receives the punch!
We are all feeling a bit tired and worn out and looking forward to a good rest in the Marquesas. We expect to get there this coming weekend.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Higher and higher every day, till over the mast at noon….
We are getting very close to the equator and are over halfway to the Marquesas. We expect to get there about 11 or 12 June. The wind is from the NE at 8 Knots and the sea from the NE at 3’, so it is pleasant sailing at the moment. The wind has been reasonably consistent today but it died last night from midnight till about 6am this morning. We still managed to travel 219km (136 miles) in the past 24 hours. The weather has been very hot and relatively calm for the past few days. Lisa woke up this morning all hot and uncomfortable so she immediately put her bathing suit on and got a bucket and sat in the cockpit pouring seawater over herself much to everyone’s amusement. She said it solved the problem.
There is a bird that sits on top of the mast day after day and makes a bit of a mess on the deck below, so Carl had a number of attempts to chase it off today but hasn’t succeeded. We made humus today and Andrew says he really enjoyed his sandwich of fresh bread with humus, tomato and salami. We used olive oil in the oat bread today and feel that it tastes better than the vegetable oil we have been using to date.
Another day:
All the above was yesterday. We’ve had another good day sailing with a NE wind of about 12 knots. We are heading almost due south now to get through the doldrums and over the equator, so are quite happy still having good wind. Our current position is 06 55N, 127 32W and we are managing to travel around 220 km (~140m miles) every day. We are currently travelling at 6 knots with a northerly sea of 4 feet and a 30% cloud cover so sunny again today. We expect to reach and cross the equator in the next two or three days and will probably be at about 128 to 129 Deg latitude when we do.
Our radio is working very well, and we are told we have about the strongest signal here of any of the boats in the seafarers net. Daily contacts with Andy’s dad (and his mum as well sometimes) are very reliable, and we have the opportunity to talk with Ann (Carl’s sister) and parents and his friend Dan, this coming Friday, if conditions are suitable
The refrigerator is working very well and we are really glad we stayed to solve that problem as cold water out of the frig is great in the current heat. All our food has kept really well except the avocados which have all perished. And Carl caught another tuna today, a much bigger one, about 25 lbs, so we filleted it and had seared tuna for dinner on rice cooked with pineapple juice, coconut milk, onions, peppers, and a little wasabe powder. We are eating really well and enjoying our food!. We have enough tuna for tomorrow night as well.
Words of Wisdom from the crew today:
Leslie – I made my second loaf of bread today
Lisa – Too hot for touching
Carl – Why can’t we stop to swim
Don – We are at 100 hours on the engine, time for an oil change in the Doldrums
Andy – We need to get that bloody bird off the top of the mast
Raleigh – I’ve been working on my suntan and its going quite well.
That’s about all our news, not a lot changes out here at the moment.
There is a bird that sits on top of the mast day after day and makes a bit of a mess on the deck below, so Carl had a number of attempts to chase it off today but hasn’t succeeded. We made humus today and Andrew says he really enjoyed his sandwich of fresh bread with humus, tomato and salami. We used olive oil in the oat bread today and feel that it tastes better than the vegetable oil we have been using to date.
Another day:
All the above was yesterday. We’ve had another good day sailing with a NE wind of about 12 knots. We are heading almost due south now to get through the doldrums and over the equator, so are quite happy still having good wind. Our current position is 06 55N, 127 32W and we are managing to travel around 220 km (~140m miles) every day. We are currently travelling at 6 knots with a northerly sea of 4 feet and a 30% cloud cover so sunny again today. We expect to reach and cross the equator in the next two or three days and will probably be at about 128 to 129 Deg latitude when we do.
Our radio is working very well, and we are told we have about the strongest signal here of any of the boats in the seafarers net. Daily contacts with Andy’s dad (and his mum as well sometimes) are very reliable, and we have the opportunity to talk with Ann (Carl’s sister) and parents and his friend Dan, this coming Friday, if conditions are suitable
The refrigerator is working very well and we are really glad we stayed to solve that problem as cold water out of the frig is great in the current heat. All our food has kept really well except the avocados which have all perished. And Carl caught another tuna today, a much bigger one, about 25 lbs, so we filleted it and had seared tuna for dinner on rice cooked with pineapple juice, coconut milk, onions, peppers, and a little wasabe powder. We are eating really well and enjoying our food!. We have enough tuna for tomorrow night as well.
Words of Wisdom from the crew today:
Leslie – I made my second loaf of bread today
Lisa – Too hot for touching
Carl – Why can’t we stop to swim
Don – We are at 100 hours on the engine, time for an oil change in the Doldrums
Andy – We need to get that bloody bird off the top of the mast
Raleigh – I’ve been working on my suntan and its going quite well.
That’s about all our news, not a lot changes out here at the moment.
Monday, May 30, 2011
We can see forever, but all we can see is the sea!
Been at sea now for 10 days and should be halfway to The Marquesas Islands by tomorrow. We have still been getting a lot of confused waves which make it hard to sail the yacht, but the last couple of days we’ve finally seen the sun, getting quite hot too, and the sea has calmed down so we can catch up on some sleep. A few days ago we found that we had to fly the big mainsail to keep the boat moving and stable in the choppy seas and that’s a bit risky at night. When we use a smaller sail the boom keeps banging around and we don’t think that is good for it. The last couple of days we have been able to practise with a smaller sail during the day and we appear to be getting the hang of it!
We are getting close to the equator now and will run into “The Doldrums” shortly, where there is little or no wind. We plan to head due south and use the motor for some of it to speed up getting south to more wind again. We are in radio contact with another yacht (Galactic with 4 crew) that is about 5 days ahead of us (about 600 miles ahead) and it is helpful hearing what their conditions are and how they’re coping with them.
Our gps locator called Spot is now out of range, but another link has been added on the blog to show our daily position and speed etc.
Everyone on board is fine including Raleigh but the comment has been said that ‘this ocean sailing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and we’re almost over it already’. A bit early for that as we haven’t reached half way yet! Carl is the keen fisherman onboard (the only one really) and puts out lures everyday. We think there must be some largish fish getting them as the lures frequently disappear, however 2 days ago Carl caught a yellow fin tuna, not a big one, but plenty for some sashimi each and a good size steak each for dinner. The past 2 nights we have had Vegetable Korma with beans, and tonight a lovely noodle broth with all sorts of things in it, including potato, onions, tomato, peas, beans, herbs, etc. Lisa continues to excel. Lisa and Leslie made two loaves of bread today, the favoured honey oat bread. Breakfast is typically egg sandwiches made with oat bread of course, lunch is variable for everyone, we’ve described dinner, but then Lisa makes up night packs for the night watch, consisting of a sandwich, raisins, granola bar, and some form of candy, to keep us going through the night.
Some more words of wisdom from the crew today:
Leslie - Can't wait to have a washing machine again
Carl – Spinnaker pole, hell yeah!
Don – Leslie made her first loaf of bread today
Lisa – Only wants to sail under a genoa
Andy – I don’t understand what these little birds are doing so far out to sea!
Raleigh – Don’t tell me when I have to pee and poo.
Keep the comments coming on the blog, but how come Raleigh gets all the correspondence!
We are getting close to the equator now and will run into “The Doldrums” shortly, where there is little or no wind. We plan to head due south and use the motor for some of it to speed up getting south to more wind again. We are in radio contact with another yacht (Galactic with 4 crew) that is about 5 days ahead of us (about 600 miles ahead) and it is helpful hearing what their conditions are and how they’re coping with them.
Our gps locator called Spot is now out of range, but another link has been added on the blog to show our daily position and speed etc.
Everyone on board is fine including Raleigh but the comment has been said that ‘this ocean sailing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and we’re almost over it already’. A bit early for that as we haven’t reached half way yet! Carl is the keen fisherman onboard (the only one really) and puts out lures everyday. We think there must be some largish fish getting them as the lures frequently disappear, however 2 days ago Carl caught a yellow fin tuna, not a big one, but plenty for some sashimi each and a good size steak each for dinner. The past 2 nights we have had Vegetable Korma with beans, and tonight a lovely noodle broth with all sorts of things in it, including potato, onions, tomato, peas, beans, herbs, etc. Lisa continues to excel. Lisa and Leslie made two loaves of bread today, the favoured honey oat bread. Breakfast is typically egg sandwiches made with oat bread of course, lunch is variable for everyone, we’ve described dinner, but then Lisa makes up night packs for the night watch, consisting of a sandwich, raisins, granola bar, and some form of candy, to keep us going through the night.
Some more words of wisdom from the crew today:
Leslie - Can't wait to have a washing machine again
Carl – Spinnaker pole, hell yeah!
Don – Leslie made her first loaf of bread today
Lisa – Only wants to sail under a genoa
Andy – I don’t understand what these little birds are doing so far out to sea!
Raleigh – Don’t tell me when I have to pee and poo.
Keep the comments coming on the blog, but how come Raleigh gets all the correspondence!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop….
We have finally given up the good life of La Paz and the wonderful El Pescadero and set sail for Never-Never land (well it feels like that anyway). A couple of days sailing down the coast to San Jose del Cabo where we berthed overnight, topped up the fuel and water and fixed the leak we had in one of the fresh water tanks – actually stayed an extra day as we found that the second main water tank also had a small leak.
Finally got away on the morning of May 20, and this water goes on forever!!
We have had reasonably small seas but very confused ones for the past week with the direction of the waves being very variable making travelling quite rough and unpleasant, particularly at night. Lisa has been cooking great meals although Andy might question that as he couldn’t keep them down for the first few days, and then one evening Lisa threw everyone’s dinner on the floor when a wave surprised her. Actually everyone was feeling a bit squeamish for the first couple of days, but have now settled down. A mixture of being at sea, and the trepidation and fear of what was ahead when we finally set sail. We are enjoying it now.
We have plenty of fresh water on board, with two main tanks in the bottom of the boat and a third one high up on the port side, and that one is driving us nuts as the water in it is slopping and crashing around with the waves so the sooner we empty that one the better.
We’ve had a few issues to deal with. One night the preventer rope, which holds the boom down to the deck and limits its movement, broke, but we had a backup already on it and were able to fix it the next day, and also managed to rip the mainsail, so Leslie and Andy got busy and stitched the rip up that day as well. Small incidents just to keep us all busy!!
We have seen very little sun since leaving Cabo, overcast all the time but no rain. There has been a small amount of sea life around, a couple of dolphins one day, but not a lot else. A lot of birdlife though and one large bird with blue feet (we think it is called a blue foot booby) spent 14 hours perched on the bow overnight yesterday and flew off in the morning.
We talk to Andy’s dad on the radio every day and he keeps us up to date with weather reports, etc
We have now been at sea for 1 week and travelled 1000 miles which is 1/3 of the way to The Marquesas, so we are on schedule.
To finish, here are some words of wisdom from the crew:
Carl – Seems like all I do is helm, eat, and sleep
Don – I didn’t think it was going to take this long
Leslie – Patching sails is easy when Andy is around to help
Lisa – I’d give anyone $50 to bring me a ‘whole-wheat everything’ bagel from Brooklyn Bagels
Andy – This is a long way to go for a croissant of questionable quality
Raleigh - Woof (translated - I'd give my next bone for a run in a park)
Till next time, from our happy crew living life on the ocean wave.
Finally got away on the morning of May 20, and this water goes on forever!!
We have had reasonably small seas but very confused ones for the past week with the direction of the waves being very variable making travelling quite rough and unpleasant, particularly at night. Lisa has been cooking great meals although Andy might question that as he couldn’t keep them down for the first few days, and then one evening Lisa threw everyone’s dinner on the floor when a wave surprised her. Actually everyone was feeling a bit squeamish for the first couple of days, but have now settled down. A mixture of being at sea, and the trepidation and fear of what was ahead when we finally set sail. We are enjoying it now.
We have plenty of fresh water on board, with two main tanks in the bottom of the boat and a third one high up on the port side, and that one is driving us nuts as the water in it is slopping and crashing around with the waves so the sooner we empty that one the better.
We’ve had a few issues to deal with. One night the preventer rope, which holds the boom down to the deck and limits its movement, broke, but we had a backup already on it and were able to fix it the next day, and also managed to rip the mainsail, so Leslie and Andy got busy and stitched the rip up that day as well. Small incidents just to keep us all busy!!
We have seen very little sun since leaving Cabo, overcast all the time but no rain. There has been a small amount of sea life around, a couple of dolphins one day, but not a lot else. A lot of birdlife though and one large bird with blue feet (we think it is called a blue foot booby) spent 14 hours perched on the bow overnight yesterday and flew off in the morning.
We talk to Andy’s dad on the radio every day and he keeps us up to date with weather reports, etc
We have now been at sea for 1 week and travelled 1000 miles which is 1/3 of the way to The Marquesas, so we are on schedule.
To finish, here are some words of wisdom from the crew:
Carl – Seems like all I do is helm, eat, and sleep
Don – I didn’t think it was going to take this long
Leslie – Patching sails is easy when Andy is around to help
Lisa – I’d give anyone $50 to bring me a ‘whole-wheat everything’ bagel from Brooklyn Bagels
Andy – This is a long way to go for a croissant of questionable quality
Raleigh - Woof (translated - I'd give my next bone for a run in a park)
Till next time, from our happy crew living life on the ocean wave.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Worldwild
A quick update before we leave. We have changed our original plan and will be skipping central America entirely. Now our big passage is from cabo to the marquesas. We leave on that one tomorrow. We will be hitting the spot twice a day, but (and this is important) the spot coverage map shows some spottiness in the south pacific so some may not come through. This is only the spot, none of our actual safety equipment has this potential issue. The passage should take anywhere from 18 to 30 days depending on wind. We are expecting 24 and hoping for less. Lisa has done a brilliant job of provisioning and we have packed well over 40 days worth of food on board. With one final topping up of water and fuel in the morning, we'll talk to in a month. The route map has been (quickly) updated, so you can see what is going on.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
"I'm covered in bees!" - Eddie Izzard
Leslie (belated tale from Paradise Village, Puerta Vallarta, Mexico):
...as I was saying, A SWARM OF BEES (!!!) descends upon our radar, and Lisa and I go screaming into the boat, wondering what plague of doom has been sent to punish us for trying to sneak down the alligator slides after 9pm. This is very annoying because Andy has been making snacks and now we have to smuggle them outside to a bee-free trench to enjoy them. After taping up holes in the mast where bees have begun coming in, we manage to scramble out with wine, beers, and a plate of bruschetta, and find refuge at the end of the dock to watch the bees pirate the top of our mast and top of out radar. Passerbys rubberneck and offer advice: "Oh no! I've heard of this happening!" and "If you need a bee guy, I have a guy who took a giant hive of my mast last summer!" Finally, we have a plan of attack! Carl will put on his wetsuit, sailing gloves, cover his face and head with mosquito netting and be hoisted up to the top of the mast by Andy and Don, where he will then enrage the bees with a healthy spray of Raid. I am poised nearby with the hose to protect Don and Andy, but Andy gets stung twice (clearly, I am protecting Don better). Amazingly, it works like a charm, though we are cleaning up dead bees for the next two days, and killing a few refugees here and there. Anyhow, that's an old story.
...as I was saying, A SWARM OF BEES (!!!) descends upon our radar, and Lisa and I go screaming into the boat, wondering what plague of doom has been sent to punish us for trying to sneak down the alligator slides after 9pm. This is very annoying because Andy has been making snacks and now we have to smuggle them outside to a bee-free trench to enjoy them. After taping up holes in the mast where bees have begun coming in, we manage to scramble out with wine, beers, and a plate of bruschetta, and find refuge at the end of the dock to watch the bees pirate the top of our mast and top of out radar. Passerbys rubberneck and offer advice: "Oh no! I've heard of this happening!" and "If you need a bee guy, I have a guy who took a giant hive of my mast last summer!" Finally, we have a plan of attack! Carl will put on his wetsuit, sailing gloves, cover his face and head with mosquito netting and be hoisted up to the top of the mast by Andy and Don, where he will then enrage the bees with a healthy spray of Raid. I am poised nearby with the hose to protect Don and Andy, but Andy gets stung twice (clearly, I am protecting Don better). Amazingly, it works like a charm, though we are cleaning up dead bees for the next two days, and killing a few refugees here and there. Anyhow, that's an old story.
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| Don preparing the warrior. |
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| Full body view. |
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| Lisa and I, laughing with Carl. |
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| Bees swarming the mast (there are more than you see here!) |
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| Lisa offers bee man a snack before battle! |
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| Hoist! |
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| Kill! Kill! |
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| Why Don didn't get stung...why Andy did. |
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| 100 yard stares, battle scarred. |
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| The casualties were far worse than this. |
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| Stung in the forehead. Andy the rhino!
I'm writing from my phone, so I have no more finger strength to tell current events, other than we just returned from Pescadero / Todos Santos, which is, truly, paradise, and we are leaving for the Marquesas hopefully tomorrow. But all this info will come belatedly, so sit tight!
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