Ai, yai , yai. You all just think you are jealous. Jeez Louise I am tired. So, yeah, this morning we thought we would be leaving tomorrow.. So lots to get done. Had major rain overnight, so my bucket for laundry had lots of water. My catchment system is a joyous feat of engineering thought up by Josh. Yeah an umbrella on its side facing the wind concave side draining into the bucket. I will have to take a picture cuz hey it works. And since Dennis had done a thorough cleaning of the dinghy, the water in it was fair game for laundry as well. I did linen in the dinghy, then 2 loads of clothes from the big bucket and it was so hot it was a warm water wash and rinse. Everything dried pretty well, even with the small second rinse from the rain this afternoon.
In between all that, Dennis changed the oil in the generator, and did routine maintenance on the main engine (gotta take care of her, she has been taking good care of us - she deserves some tlc). Josh filled the steering fluid, moved the dive tanks to a better position, helped me tie down the hard dinghy and retie the diesel jerry jugs up front. Oh yeah and he rigged a clothes line for me. Lots of little things to be done - stowing the snorkel masks securely in the deck box, putting away the folding chairs, re tying the weather cloth/pocket for stowage on the port aft deck rails, putting away the oil/antifreeze (twice), dishes, lunch, dishes.... folding laundry. Did I mention all that laundry is done by hand in buckets (or the dinghy)? Wringing that is a PITA and my hands and arms. Better watch out for my right hook.
We also had to go to shore to check out of the Island. First to immigration - hand fill out the form twice , one for them one for us. Who needs a copier? Interesting to note that immigration shares an office with the chief of police and the jail. The jail had two customers - locked in and handcuffed to the bars, on pallets on the floor. I am not sure what would have been a better picture - the face of the woman who I asked "Were you a bad girl?'' or Dennis' face when I asked her. He had been pointedly ignoring the two people in the cells, so I am pretty sure he was mortified when I not only spoke to them, but teased them as well. "Time out?" Hey the woman laughed. The skinny guy in the other cell, just kinda looked at me and the police chief laughed as well. During his conversation with the police chief, Dennis found out that there was someone who did hand crafted "knives" out of shark's teeth and fish bones. So, after customs the police chief went off on his motor bike to get the goods. They were pretty cool, so we bought one for Josh. Will be a good souvenir of Fanning. After all that we walked around a little bit - saw where the grow/harvest seaweed (something they export) and the ponds where the mosquitos propagate. Needs a good dose of DDT! No wonder they can find their way out to the boats.
After the check out run, it was back to the boat for lunch and more chores. The Kwai left today around 1800. But, they still put in a full day. One of the last things they off loaded was a huge generator - the kind that looks like a trailer. Good thing the barge is like a shore landing craft - the nose end fold down, so they just pulled it off. Was also interesting to watch the Kwai put itself back together. Definitely an order to things. We hadn't realized, but the aluminum fishing boat was/is theirs. They hoisted it on deck motor and all and covered it with a tarp. The very last thing was to bring on board their passengers and hoist up the inflatable dinghy. They are off to Washington Island about 90 miles NW of here, pretty sure they will come back here, pick up some passengers then head back to Christmas Island.
At the end of the day we decided to go with Doug and Carla to say good bye to Bruno and Tabita and the fishermen (Fred and Mike). It was threatening rain, so we had to close up - the boat is hot now. We were there longer than I expected, but they are all nice people and made the visit here enjoyable. On the way we decided to spend one more day here. We can't go ashore after 1130 as that is when we theoretically have to be gone by, but will be nice to have a rest day. Josh has started back with school, so we need to get that more situated as well. He is reading a WWII book about the war in the Pacific, and read some sociology. Dennis will work with him on geometry tomorrow and he will write for me. Hopefully I will have something of his to post to the blog.
So, another day in the glamorous life of cruising ends. Trying to dredge up enough energy to hose myself down - the humidity here is pretty over the top, and dang the water is still salty........
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