i changed my t-shirt the other day. yeah, i know, my last one was pretty stinky, it was definitely time for a change.
i have now been wearing my favorite Thailand cliche' t-shirt with the saying on the front, "same same", and on the back, "but different"...all of you globetrotters who have been to Thailand know it well.
but i like it, with it's message meaning everything and nothing at the same time. it's pretty much fitting for our last few days on this boat.
so, in the theme of the t-shirt, some thoughts:
SAME SAME: dark gray skies have once again decided to descend upon our world. squalls blow through from time to time bringing buckets of rain and erratic wind. when the squalls leave, so does the wind. we continue to roll back and forth with the seas and our faithful diesel propels us westward. our sail continues to slam from side to side...bam...bam...bam...
SAME SAME: we still have a current against us. not nice. the ocean currents this season don't seem to be doing what they're supposed to, at least not for us anyways. global warming? la nina? not sure...
SAME SAME: how do we continue to spend our time, you may ask? same same...staring at the mighty sea for hours on end. attempting to find comfort in the rolling boat wedging 3 or 4 small cockpit pillows into the cockpit corner for a semi-ergonomic position. read read read (i think nic and i have both finished about 12 books now). turn on the ipod and escape to some music or more podcast stories about life outside of our floating bubble. sleep. eat. sleep some more. eat some more. and, once in a while, we escape into the laptop, nestled in the seabirth while we sweat and enjoy a dvd movie.
SAME SAME: another pod of dolphins just came to visit. always a good thing...Nic usually has a perma-grin for at least an hour after she sees them. these ones were dark gray and big, possibly "rough-tooth" or maybe "common Atlantic". they swam with DK for 1/2 hour or so and were clicking away to each other the whole time. one of them, the Alpha we presume, was huge, maybe 8-10 feet long, and dominated the best position to ride our bow-wave almost the whole time. they would roll on their side and look up at us.
SAME SAME: we still have some carrots, but they're growing hair.
SAME SAME: we have a few apples, but they're mealy and will be saved for a cobbler.
SAME SAME: we are still in the fresh air, but all we can smell is diesel exhaust.
********
BUT DIFFERENT: Land Ho! yes, we are currently sailing 5 miles past the northern tip of Barbados. the low-lying island is completely covered in gray clouds as the rain and tropical squalls are omnipresent lately. regardless, it's great to get a glimpse of an island and our first of the Caribbean. we wish we had time to stop everywhere, Barbados is supposedly pretty cool, but, alas, we have a deadline to meet family in Bonaire on January 8th...so only 9 days or so in the Caribbean before another 350 mile passage west. the Caribbean adventures will be short, but hopefully sweet.
BUT DIFFERENT: i took my head wound steri-strips off today. healing. yeah, i know, us Taurus bulls never learn. at least no stitches this time.
BUT DIFFERENT: ok, i need to clarify nic's update the other day. when she said it was 85 degrees and hot, she meant to add it was this hot "in our cabin". sure we have these tiny little DC fans that help...but let's just say it's easy to lose some pounds of sweat inside on those days. outside it was probably 95 degrees F. in the sun. today, cloudy and cooler. respite.
BUT DIFFERENT: with all this motoring, we have had plenty of energy to run our watermaker. which means, plenty of water and plenty of showers. in the last few days we have been showering off on deck 3-4 times in the day. of course, once you shower off you immediately start sweating again. we are definitely back in the tropics!
BUT DIFFERENT: a bobbing coconut just floated past
BUT DIFFERENT: our cruising friends on the boat, Magnum, dropped their hook on the island of St.Lucia last night. they sounded elated on the radio last evening as they have had some boat issues, including the latest a few days back when their watermaker quit working. their fix-it list is long, but they are finally across the pond and can have a merry xmas and forget about all the boat stuff for a while. Kara is thrilled to be there so Santa can find her for Xmas morning.
Congratulations Anne, Uwe, and Kara!
And there you have it, me hearties, 92 miles to go for DK and her salty crew.
We will definitely be celebrating Xmas 2010 with the closure of this long sailing passage and tonight we will keep a good lookout for Santa and his reindeer as he does the present delivery to all the kiddos in the Caribbean.
Thanks to everyone who has been writing for your thoughtful and caring emails.
Merry Xmas Eve and much love to you all!!
No comments:
Post a Comment