Monday 6th July
Sunday was party
time on 2XS…At about 10.00 a whole lot of children gathered on a nearby
makeshift raft and then they launched themselves towards us.
I made them
popcorn and put on Manu Chau and the wild rumpus began…
They were full of life
and full of fun and I did enjoy their company.
But I was glad when they had received their photos and eaten their popcorn.
Off they leapt into the sea, with a bit of encouragement.
I went for a bit of a swim and was accosted by a canoeful of cheery newcomers. PHOTO PHOTO! they shouted, hopefully. Oh yes I always have my camera and my printer with me when I am snorkelling…
It wasn’t long before I had got out of the water before two more boatloads of kiddiewinks arrived. First came Yusuf and Rafael, lovely peaceful boys. They wanted a photo of themselves in the boat, and then they settled very contentedly to read Australian magazines…
Next came Melan (short for Melanesya, of course…) with her sister Selcan and Rohit, Kristian and our frequent flyer, Eko, a VERY effervescent six year old.
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| Eko in the background, gesturing |
Eventually she loaded up her little family canoe and left us, with many a backward glance of longing – she knew we had beer in the fridge and was hinting very heavily that she would like some…
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| Selcan Pete Melan |
Some of the rejected boys crept gently up into the cockpit when the original inhabitants had decamped, and they settled in very happily to…read magazines and listen to music…It all gets quite primal, on 2XS!
Warren came over to borrow the generator for the afternoon, so I was able to take a photo of his splendid dinghy. Dinghy?? It is more like a ship, not much smaller than 2XS! It is too big to be stowed on board so it gets towed everywhere. It has been towed across the Indian Ocean! We were awe-struck by this; we don’t even tow the little 2XS dinghy across a glassy sea from one anchorage to another. We have had horrid experiences of having a poor beleaguered dinghy behaving like an unwieldy kite, banging and crashing at the end of a rope. Warren told Pete it was no problem, not at all. But I asked Thuy and she said, “Oh dear, sometimes I feel so sorry for that boat…it bounces and crashes into the sea…”
In the afternoon we visited Four Friends, so I could take some photos. Warren downloaded some more beautiful ones onto a stick for Pete so maybe I will be able to show SV Four Friends in all its glory at a later date.
But it is such a lovely boat. It has beautiful screens from Vietnam
hand-carved cleats in the shape of humpback whales
wooden windows which open to let in a merciful cool tropical breeze.
Everything is made with love and care and with an eye to beauty.
And…it is for sale!!
Thuy was very busy trying to make sure the boat is properly provisioned for 8-10 people for four months – WHAT a task!! I was no help at all; I just sat in a comfy chair in the shade and drank gallons of water…
Warren and Thuy’s son Philip was on board, getting ready for the big voyage around Raja Ampat and down to Auckland. He enthralled us with tales of being in Ao Chalong (Phuket) at Christmas time 2004…when the tsunami came through…He was leading a rally which had come across from Singapore – a whole lot of luxury motorboats… When the tsunami hit ALL of the men were on shore checking in at Customs and Immigration, leaving wives and children moored in the bay. Philip was on board the Grand Banks he was captaining, and he tried desperately to radio all of the other boats. Not a chance; none of them had their radios turned on… One of the Chinese women on a big luxury boat looked out and saw a strange wave. She asked her son if it was a “tiramisu,” and he shrieked, NO, it’s a TSUNAMI!!! All of the rally boats experienced a most dreadful roll, which petrified the women and children but…nobody in that particular group was badly injured. Philip felt so responsible for them all…
We will have one more day anchored near our lovely Doom Island. I think it won’t be party time today; our cheery children will be at school!
BirthdayBoy of the day – Hamish Wakefield!
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| Hamish eyeing his brother Angus with some amusement |
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