Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

It´s been a good day.  Trainees and crew have had the opportunity to
leave the boat and enjoy a day on the beach, catching up on quiet time and
rest; some have finally been able to make contact with home for the first
time.  The sun shone beautifully; we are all enjoying the heat; the cooler
weather will return soon enough.  Tonight we returned to Pier 11 by the
Aloha Tower; it´s great to be back.  Pier 11 is a complex with 3 levels of
nice shops, cafes and reception room for cruise line passengers.  We really
don´t look anything like cruise line passengers, but we enjoy the facility.
There are tables to sit by in an outdoor but covered courtyard, nice cafes,
internet at some of them, good restaurants, and shops full of beautiful
things you don´t really need but fun to wander through and look at.
Yesterday Leighsa offered to make supper so Katie and Matt could have an
evening together. She made nachos and placed the 3 big cookies sheets side
by side on the counter layering them all up with chips, salsa, cheese,
peppers, onions etc.   When she went to lift up the middle tray to slide it
into the oven she realized there was no cookie sheet under the beautiful
mound of nachos; it was all sitting on bare counter top.  She had
unthinkingly layered and put the middle tray in the oven first on its own
and then continued filling the other two plus the space in between the two.
The edges of the 2 outside trays looked like the edges of the middle tray
and so she didn´t notice there was no tray in the middle.  It was very
funny.  We have been given a garbage skiff and Ian very nearly got dropped
into it. Ian had been on the outhaul, removing tape from the narrow stripes
of new paint on the hull.  Whoever was on the hauling end of the line eithe=
r
had trouble bringing him in or was up for a joke; it was good for a laugh
and a story.  Skipper and Antony worked on the bright work today, trying to
finish off jobs started during the workdays.  The weather is perfect for it=
.
Jordan spent the day with his family; those of us at the ship had a
wonderful moment to chat with his family when they came to pick him up.
Sarah B. and Jose have left for their 2 days off.  Sarah B. is with her 2
sisters and Jose is spending some time with his mom and brother who flew in
today from Winnipeg.  Molly and Keira got tattoos today, black anchors;
don´t worry, they´re supposed to come off in a week.  We are all doing well
and are very happy. There are things to enjoy here and we have the ship to
return to at night or mid-day if we want; it can´t get much better.  We
intend to make the best of our final few days together.  On Monday night we
will have our end of leg dinner, where the crew serve the trainees.  A tabl=
e
is created out of the after house and everyone sits together around
tablecloths and candles, being served, and eating a fantastic meal together=
.
There is usually some form of an ´Awards Night,´ where everyone is
recognized for some funny, heroic, interesting, admirable etc. trait we hav=
e
all grown to know and love in our time together on the ship.  Someone will
hopefully put together a slide show of the leg that allows all of us to
´travel´ together one last time.  It´s always fun.  Until tomorrow,
good-night, Bonice.(