Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

Today is the first of 3 workdays.  The purpose of these days is to
prepare the ship for the following leg.  It happens at the end of every leg.
Trainees work alongside the crew choosing one of 3 groups; the rigging crew
tightens the rig and wire brushes and paints the iron work, the deck crew
sands and repaints the hull, and sands and oils or varnishes the woodwork on
deck, the galley crew goes under all the bunks, except fuel and water tank
bunks, emptying them of ´stuff,´ and then wiping and vaccuuming them out.
Gillian and Katie have started buying the next leg´s food and their crew
helps stow it all.  A lot of work was done today.  The ship is beginning to
look good.  The day started out cloudy but early in the afternoon became
very hot and the sun came out; there are quite a few sunburns despite
frequent application of sunscreen.  After a wonderful dock shower most crew
and trainees went into town to enjoy a movie, some food, a walk on the
beach, or just a change in scenery.  Skipper and Jacob made a shower
yesterday with a stand-up pole and shower head; it works well.  They are
hoping to get some PVC piping to make a curtain for private showering . . .
possibly even without bathing suits on!   Last night Jordan and Raven headed
up the team that created an incredible meal for everyone.  Many trainees
helped out along the way doing dishes, serving, dealing with ´slop,´
carrying bags from SAFEWAY etc.  Molly, Sophie, Ian, Blake, Keira, Liam,
Elske and more were part of the team.  Blake wore his ditty bag upside down
on his head as a chef´s hat, serving all of us diligently and proudly; we
called it his ´ditty hat.´  There were several courses; brushetta with a
tomato, fresh herb, and melted cheese topping, mixed green salad with pine
nuts and an amazing dressing, meat cannelloni´s with cheese, fresh spinach,
cottage cheese, meat, and fresh herbs, Turkish coffee and chocolate, and
finally a rolled flakey pastry with almonds and walnuts rolled up inside . .
. it was all amazingly tasty.  Jocelyn and Kerry, our friends, and Barry
from Midway were our honored guests.  The meal lasted several hours.  At
1945 hrs I started pulling clean pillow slips, t-shirts etc. out of my
laundry bag to begin getting the boys ready for bed while we waited for the
dessert, when Blake came below to the after cabin with a Turkish coffee and
some chocolate for me, very thoughtful.  Everyone who was involved with the
meal had a fun time.  Jordan and Raven were even starting to envisage
opening up a restaurant, partnerships . . .  Tomorrow we move into day 2 of
the workdays.  Our shipping agent is trying to return us to our previous
dock; that would be nice.  We are now at Pier 31, a commercial dock for
very, very large freighters unloading and loading their cargo i.e. hundreds
of new cars were unloaded this morning next to us and 2 other freighters,
loaded with containers, are waiting for their turn.  There are massive
cranes that drive up and down the dock to help in the unloading; the
magnitude of what happens here boggles our minds; where does all this stuff
go . . . ?  More family and friends are starting to arrive tonight.  Sara R.
is expecting her dad and there are some surprise visits happening as well
(can´t say anything yet).   It will be wonderful, we are all excited; anyone´s
family is automatically all of our family.  Good-night, Bonice.