Pacific Odyssey - Leg 2

It is 2300hrs and I just left the group sitting on deck since 2000hrs, taking the time to remember each other one at a time.  We have done a few similar things during the course of this trip, and once again I am amazed and inspired by how honest the trainees are, how much they respect and love each other.  It shows in an exercise such as this how well they know each other and how much fun they have had.  Today was a very hot day, fortunately no one suffered from sun stroke.  Jordan´s elbow is  healing slowly; he is still on medication and wears a sling for support.  He continues to do his job as bosun while at the same time looking after himself; he was on deck for most of the day, overseeing what needed doing.  Jamie is another of our troopers, she´s still dealing with cold symptoms she´s had for a week now.  She was up on deck helping along with everyone else, when I´m sure a rest would have felt good.  On Monday she spent the day with Karen, Jose, Jeremy and Chase beach and pool hopping.  While the boys kept busy, moving from one activity to the next, she and Karen had a very calm, quiet day reading and smiling in acknowledgement on the nature of boys which inevitably led to their ´being ousted´ from one of the pools.  The boat looks amazing.  With 30 people working 8 hours for 2 days, we´ve been able to get a lot done.  The cooks were able to clean the entire galley, all the woodwork with its grooves and shelves, the floor with it´s tendency to collect spills, the freezer was emptied, wiped and restocked, and Adam cleaned the entire stove front and interior; it looks new. Thank you.  Gillian bought some more food today and it, along with some of the food from yesterday, all found a home.  They are happy.  The mast crew, Darcy, Rob and James did an amazing job.  They began yesterday, in their bosuns chairs, by scraping the masts. They were being raised and lowered by other trainees and crew on the deck. Today they applied two coats of oil and one good layer of grease.  The masts are tall and there is no shade up there; this is a huge job.  The wood on the masts looks new again.  The gaffs received another few layers of oil and when they were no longer tacky, had their sails relaced.  Jacob did the foresail.  Noah hung out all day with the rigging crew and was just as black as the rest of them. He sanded and oiled various parts of the boat, and painted some black bits on the bowsprit.  Jose took him to the ´trucks´ for ice cream as thanks.  The iron work and the hause hole were wire brushed or sanded, rubbed down with paint thinner, and then painted black (red for the hause holes). The hull crew worked hard and were the blackest of everyone.  It took them a good 45 minutes with every cleaner we could find to get some of the black paint off their bodies and out of their hair.  The rest will come off over time.  They had a riot though; we could hear them laughing, singing . . . They started by sanding the hull yesterday. Today they gave the entire hull a paint thinner wipe-down to clear off the film of old paint. We then applied primer where the wood was showing through.  The paint goes on next with a roller, followed by feathering with a paint brush to get the roller marks off. They had to tape off the top coloured stripes so as not to cover them in black paint.  At 1530, Sara went to the only two stores that were open and bought 38 cold drinks.  Today is a holiday here, everything is closed.  Gillian put out apples as well, and everyone stopped to rest and sit in the shade.  It was a hot, hot day.  Tristan and Jen spent most of yesterday and today sewing sail patches on small rents in the mainsail.  Around lunch time, Jordan Antony, Caroline, and Arielle´s friends from the weekend arrived.  One of the fellows that took the entire ship on as "mes amis a moi,´ is a mechanic. He came down yesterday to help us with a propeller piece (there´s probably a more bosun-like term, I just don´t know it) and took it with him to see what he could do.  He returned today with everything working, new seals . . . a clean bill of health for this particular piece. Jordan and Skipper are pleased and he would not let us pay.  He and his extended family came on the boat for some lunch and a tour through the boat, especially, of course, the engine room.  He even brought a friend who speaks excellent english as interpreter, just so he would be able to ask questions and understand the answers completely.  Another good visit, another positive contact.  Tomorrow will be another busy day, it´s the day of our final dinner, where the crew put on a meal and serve the trainees. Everyone dresses up and we all sit around a tableclothed table together.  I will give the details of these transformations tomorrow, or possibly the following day, if the evening goes late.  There will be an awards ceremonies, where everyone wins and Jose and Jeremy will put on a slide show with images from this leg.  It is always a lot of fun.  Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.