29th September - cleaning 2XS - Coron (Busuanga Island)

Monday 29^th September

Seadive Centre at sunset

Another day of odd jobs.  2XS is now much cleaner and tidier than it was when we got up this morning.  Fortunately the water around the mooring is blessedly clean – no floating nastiness, not even a stray plastic bag.  We were therefore able to leap into the water whenever we got too hot, which was often.

But while in the water we did not waste our time!  We swam up and down the hulls with green scouring pads, getting rid of a thick layer of slimy brown and green algae.  Very satisfying!

Pete has a very sore toe so it is good for him to be in the water, where he can’t kick his toe into hard bits of boatfurniture. He said, plaintively, that he never noticed how often he must kick his big toe in the course of his daily activities – and now he is VERY aware of any slight bump or knock.

We were both vey domesticated – Pete made a beautiful load of sourdough bread, and I made lasagna with noodles I made with my own fair hands.  I suddenly realised I do NOT need a pasta maker to do this.  I channeled the archetypal Italian Mama and rolled out my dough (three eggs, a cup of flour, a bit of water,) with – a cold can from the fridge! 

Last night Toby – one of our dive masters, from Seadive – and his Rosie came for a drink on the boat.  Good thing we were all spick and span with space on the table instead of the usual pile of papers and computers.  Rosie was enchanted with the boat.  To her it was like the Tardis – It looks so small from the outside, but inside it is a HOUSE!

She is the resident massage therapist at Seadive, and works in a room with a big fan…no aircon… She says sometimes her heart rate gets up so high she thinks she is going to die, as she pummels away at her clients. 

There are lots of tourists here at the moment.  It still isn’t busy season, but there are Koreans, Chinese, various Europeans, descending on Seadive and going out in group of thirty and more, island hopping, diving, and often shrieking with joy as they chug past 2XS on the sturdy outriggers.