Pacific Odyssey - Leg 2

It is very late but I want to leave you with something to read with your coffee in the morning!  We picked up Stephen Duff from the airport late this evening, surprising him. It´s great to see him and he´s happy to be here. Quite a few of the trainees have sailed with him in the past.  Today was the first workday.  The weather was perfect for bright work until mid-day when the rain started, making sanding and oiling difficult. Trainees chose which of the three work groups they wanted to be a part of, rigging, food stowage and galley clean-up, or bright work on deck.  For a good part of the day, Jeremy was astride the fender, in the water, sanding the hull with a palm sander.  He also tried suspending himself in the water by wearing 3 lifejackets ´diaper style´ (his legs through the armholes), and sanding. Elske, Mary, Bec and Tavish moved around the hull in the zodiac, several holding the boat in place, while one of them palm sanded the hull. We make them wear protective eye gear and a mask, but still, it´s a very messy job. Fine, black paint dust descends on everyone, and when it rains they look like rained on chimney sweeps. Deck work included sanding the main and fore gaffs as well as scraping the two masts.  Rob and Darcy were harnessed into the masts on bosuns´ swings, doing the scraping; another difficult and long job.  The galley crew went shopping together, creating a line of 7 or 8 full carts of food.  Once the food is on the boat, the cardboard is removed, food is sorted, packaged and stowed.  First, all the left over food is removed from its lodgings and the area is cleaned. Another big job.  Work stopped at 1700 hrs and we had a mass shower on the dock with the hose.  When I returned with the kids, I saw Chase enjoying his shower with 7 gorgeous women, a huge smile on his face.  When the guys had a go at getting clean, there were the beginnings of a water fight.  Tonight all the watches went out for supper, each to a different place.  Jose´s watch just recently returned, adding an ice cream from the ´trucks´ and a walk to their time together.  Jose chose one of his many beautiful photos for each of his trainees, making a print for each of them. On a separate sheet of paper, they exchanged written comments supporting each other, things they learned and appreciated about each other etc. and these will be returned to them via mail at the end of offshore. When we returned from the airport, there was a good-sized group of people playing Apples to Apples on deck, laughing hysterically.  I went for a walk with the kids today and came across a Mono´I Festival.  There were booths arranged with products and information about the cosmetics produced from coconut oil and oil from the ´tiare´ flower. We were given samples of soap which smell beautiful. Tomorrow we continue on our workday, hoping to paint the hull and get some more coats of oil on the gaffs and masts. We are all very happy, with so much talking still happening. Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.