8º 49.388s 140º 03.839w
Wed May 22 2019
The
typical day for us involves several things:
·
One or more tasks
·
Delicious meals
·
A nap (optional, but recommended and usually desired)
·
One or more adventures
Today
is a typical day in our lives. Up around 0600 and sucking down some coffee
while enjoying emails from friends and status updates from other boats on
the cruisersat.net puddle
jump site. How’s the weather going to impact our funny little lives? Download 5
days of local area forecast to discover we might have a Northeasterly that
could help us sail to Fatu Hiva! That’s new and wonderful!
Inspecting
the main sail batten cars reveals 2 couplers with failing lock rings – so spend
an hour or so sorting that out. What’s next? Time to go up to the mast head and
inspect all the rigging, clean everything possible with vinegar and renew our
confidence in our rig. I ride the bosun’s chair while Isabel controls my
destiny with the main halyard on the electric winch. This is no time to be
anything but sweetness and light. . .
Next
up – drain the water (and drink it of course) from the dry coconut we purchased
for 100 CFP, bust it up and peel the woody bit off, then add a bit to the
kitchari Isabel is preparing in the pressure cooker. That done, remove the
eaten up zincs from our Gori folding props and polish them up in preparation
for new zinc installation. Isabel hands me parts while I snorkel up and down,
installing a screw at a time, hammering on the zincs when they don’t quite fit,
and ultimately that task is done! Time to eat!!!
Oh
yeah, the sun is shining with only occasional clouds, and the batteries are at
90% so time to make a couple hundred liters of water. The solar charging system
carries most of the load so the batteries don’t get beaten up too badly, and
soon that’s done.
What’s
for supper? Let’s go ashore to the restaurant and see if they shot a goat! Yep
– so it’s goat / coconut milk curry on the docket for dinner. Are we low on any
fruit or veg? Off I go on a dinghy and hiking expedition to a farm over the
ridgeline while Isabel goes for a snorkel and cleans the scuzz off the hull
above the waterline. No farmer home, so I return with empty bags, and decide
that as it doesn’t seem to want to rain, perhaps a bucket of laundry is a good
idea. Whip out the collapsible bucket and the magic plunger and squish away,
and pretty soon clean clothes are hanging everywhere to dry. Isabel hands me a
“Mexican wine” (tequila, lime, water, ice cubes) and we toast one another to
celebrate another day in paradise. Our cups full of air and the sun has set, so
it’s time to dinghy ashore for the curry.
We’re
the only patrons in modest little beach restaurant, entertained by a couple of
young cats and a 2 year-old who wants to be our friend. The curry is delicious,
the homemade lemonade as well, the local beer as lousy as usual, and the kid
tres photogenique. A pair of geckos crawling on the beam above our head,
whacking bugs at high speed complete the atmosphere.
Now
we’re back on JollyDogs, the dinghy is up in the davits, the laundry is “less
wet”, and we’re tucking in to some good books. What a day – makes me tired just
thinking about it! That goat sure did die a righteous death.
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