Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

The boat was quiet today except for at breakfast and at supper when we
celebrated Karen´s 26th and Scott´s 24th birthdays.  Scott chose scrambled
eggs, bacon and hash browns for breakfast, while Karen chose spaghetti with
meat sauce (no tomato chunks) and salad for supper. Arwen made a delicious
chocolate birthday cake and Katie and her made cream cheese icing to go wit=
h
it.  The cake was well lit with enough candles that they could not all be
blown out.  Elske, Sara R., and Becca created a poem for Scott entitled =B3Th=
e
Adventures of Scotty the Hotty=B2 which they read out loud on deck just befor=
e
breakfast; it was very funny.  Gillian, Katie, and Sarah B. wrote new words
for the ´Farewell´ song from the musical =B3The Sound of Music,=B2 and made the=
m
correspond with Karen´s time aboard and our farewell wish for her.  The cre=
w
sang the new rendition at breakfast with their very early morning voices.
Karen loved it and everyone laughed.  Nearly all of the trainees left the
ship for the day, enjoying some final activities together in Osaka.  Jordan
and Jose started their days off this morning.  All crew members have 2 days
off between legs; a chance to rest up and be away from ship and watch
responsibility.  A few of the crew went to the bathhouse tonight, there was
SCRABBLE with Karen in the after cabin, journal writing and cards in the
hold, and a late trip to the ice cream store, plus a whole lot of other
things I don´t know about yet, as trainees are still out.  The weather toda=
y
was spectacular; one of the clearest days so far.  The sun shone and the sk=
y
was blue, although the air temperature was quite cool. Mid-day we had a few
hours to sit on deck and enjoy the warmth of the sun.  Antony and Sarah B.
spent a few hours finishing odd jobs on the ship, while Skipper tried to
arrange a trip to Morioka, Victoria´s sister city in Japan.  Gillian and
Katie spent most of the day storing a delivery of canned goods that came
today. They were ordered from a ship chandlery and the fellow doing the
delivering and arranging has been very friendly and helpful.  He delivered =
a
bagful of fanny pouches today for the crew and yesterday he sent along 2
flats of free soft drinks for everyone.  Greg stayed on the boat today and
was a big help to anyone needing help. He helped sort garbage with Karen,
flattened and tied up all the cardboard boxes that the food came in, and
helped Simon with a broken pop machine.  He also spent a few hours playing
with the 3 Anderson boys on the dock and joined Tony, Bo, and the boys for
an hour walk just before supper, chatting intensely with Simon and Noah.  M=
y
boys loved it.  I am always thankful for trainees that enjoy the boys
company and remember what it was like to be small themselves and thus have =
a
better understanding of where they´re coming from.  Tomorrow should be
another quiet day; we are slowly preparing for our final dinner March 18th.
Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.(EL