Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

It already feels as if we´ve been here longer than just 2 days. By now we have made so many villages our ´home,´ that it doesn´t take long to feel comfortable.  The village here is small and we stand out; people know we are from the big ship and from Canada and continue to smile and wave and try to touch Noah, Simon and Jacob as they walk by.  One small group of children that we see and wave to regularly in front of their home, even snapped a photo on their cell phone as we walked by, one of the kids giving the signal to the ´photographer´ that we were returning by their house again and making the ´hang loose̵´ sign as he hung in the background of the photo; I think they like Tony´s beard . . . We all laughed, us and them.  We feel very safe. The owner of the ´Truk Stop´ hotel welcomed us again to his hotel.  He told us to enjoy the patio, the restaurant, the internet and free wireless, the private dock for snorkeling and swimming off of, and also allowed us use of the fresh water shower that the Dive Organization uses to rinse gear.  Another fellow, Mason, from the Tourism Bureau told us to come to him for anything, he´d help us in anyway he could; yes, we are definitely being blessed, I hope we too offer something in return.  The wind has picked up today and is blowing quite strong off the dock.  A tanker is needing our spot tomorrow morning and we decided to move the boat this evening after supper. We used whoever was on the ship to make a difficult move around the corner of where we were.  As well as crew and trainees on lines and fenders, Noah threw the stern heaving line to Joel on the dock, Jacob was on the wheel, and Arwen was on the depth sounder.  The day started early with 9 people going diving:  Scott, Chase, Sara R., Sean, Jose, Antony, Skipper, Arwen and Drew left at 0700hrs with their dive gear to the hotel to join 2 other divers from Britain for 2 wreck dives.
Truuk is world renowned for it´s wreck dives.  The dives were fantastic, very interesting . . . big ships filled with an overwhelming assortment of military and personal gear, bullets, helmets, guns, aircraft, plates, shoes, crates of SAKI etc.  Jose said it was possibly the most interesting wreck dive so far.  There is another group of 8 trainees heading off tomorrow morning.  There was a variety of activities undertaken today.  Laundry was high on everyone´s list and those who were successful waited for hours in the laundromat waiting for one of the 3 machines. Once they were done and holding their clean laundry, they said it was worth it.  It was a chance to hang out with a good friend, a book, and a cold drink.  Patience is something we´ve learned to have quite a bit of in the South Pacific; it makes most things easier.  Caley, Graham and Robyn went on a hike this afternoon.  They said it was beautiful and very windy at the top of the mountain.  Many trainees were able to connect via computer with friends and family at home.  Mail is ALWAYS wonderful and we all share in each other´s news . . . Please continue to write letters, either via email or on paper.  Addresses for the next few ports are available on the website or at the SALTS office, no excuse. Cold drinks probably top the ´treat´ list with 100% fruit juice or Arizona Green Tea being the most favored.  Jordan had a great =
visit with the fuel man.  He had a chance to chat with him and get to know him and hear about his family.  Often the most simple errand can provide a meaningful exchange with one of the local people, i.e. finding and doing laundry, buying groceries or bosun supplies for the ship, dealing with custom officials, standing in line for the bank etc.  Yesterday I spoke of the nice wind we awoke to and made a mistake calling it the northwest trades . . . that would be the northeast trades, sorry.  Crew on the ship today played a good game of SCRABBLE with Karen continuing to be the strongest player on board.  Kara and Ilya also played a game and are close on the heels of Karen in their SCRABBLE abilities.  Amanda met a wonderful woman named Helen who owns one of the general stores close by.  She was excited to see Amanda and they struck up a conversation that lasted quite a while and allowed them to share a good amount of information and establish a friendship.   Amanda learned about Chuuk and the people that make up some of the population.  The sun was very very hot today and the wind blew dust and sand over everything and everyone; the ship has a fine layer of dirt everywhere . . . this too shall pass, part of life along the dock.  It is a gorgeous night for sleeping on deck and there´s a cooler breeze blowing.  Skipper got word from the office that Scott Baker found what was preventing the logs from getting through to you and you should be receiving them again regularly.  Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.