Pacific Odyssey - Leg 7

It is late at night; trainees and crew are still singing around a
wonderful campfire on a point of land overlooking the ocean.  I´ve just put
my 3 boys to bed.  We have had 2 amazing and very full days.  Tonight was
the leg end dinner where we have the chance to dress up, sit around a table
together as a group of 37 and enjoy a wonderful meal.   Crew has the chance
to serve the trainees and give them a break from dishes, preparation and
clean up; it´s a lot of fun.  We cover the after cabin with a table cloth,
set up place settings for everyone, decorate with candles and gorgeous
flowers (thanks to Andrea Wickam, Chris´s wife), and Katie and Gillian make
a delicious supper that the crew serve with style.  Benches are made with
either fenders on their side, the dugout canoe turned upside down, or from
two 5 gallon buckets supporting either ends of the fender board.  Altogethe=
r
it creates an elegant enough setting, especially when it gets darker and th=
e
candles and the sunset glows.  Elske, Sarah B, Christina, and Jordan
prepared special awards for everyone.  These awards are presented humoresly
by Jordan; he does a great job and enjoys doing it.  The awards celebrate
something we have all gotten to either know, love, or put up with about eac=
h
individual; they are memorable, funny, admirable . . . they made us laugh.
The past 2 days have been workdays for everyone.  Trainees were divided int=
o
groups led by a watch officer; each group was in charge of oiling, sanding,
wire brushing etc. a certain part of the ship i.e. hull, iron work, boom,
covering boards, rails, etc.  A small group worked below cleaning out every
bunk, moving around supplies in preparation for the summer program, and
doing inventory on the remaining food items and cleaning supplies.  The shi=
p
looks wonderful both below and above decks, as well as from the dock.
Everyone worked hard and attitudes were fantastic.  A strong sense of
ownership develops when everyone looks after the ship together.  Last night
Caley´s parents, Wendy and Dave, invited the entire ship´s complement to
their house on Thetis Island, for a barbecue.  It was a wonderful evening,
with great food, a hot tub, great conversation, and for some, hot showers.
The rest of us showered at the camp, which has generously opened shower
facilities for us.   The camp also allowed us to use the small boats;
lasers, canoes, kayaks and a rowboat. My boys are up first thing in the
morning and play on the water in the boats all day, hardly returning to the
big ship for food.  Trainees have had the chance at lunch or after work to
play with the boats; its relaxing and fun and the cove is a beautiful place
to paddle or sail around in, very protected.  Tonight someone mentioned we
have just ´3 sleeps´ left; we agreed that it doesn´t feel that way, it
doesn´t feel as if our time together will end, our experience continues
every minute and is full to the brim.  It´s a great feeling actually, livin=
g
in the moment.  Steve said perhaps it will hit us when we walk off the ship
. . . who knows, I´m sure we will all try to make it last as long as we can=
.
I would like to wish my mom an absolutely wonderful day tomorrow; it is her
70th birthday on June 12th.  Several of her sisters from Holland have come
over to celebrate the day with her; we will celebrate with her on Sunday.  =
A
very Happy Birthday mom, we sure love you, from Bonice, Tony, Elske, Becca,
Arwen, Jacob, Noah, and Simon. There is still a bit of work to do on the
ship; we hope to leave Thetis Island around noon tomorrow, heading south
towards Victoria.  Until then, good-night, Bonice.(