Spring Cleaning in Paradise.

Greetings,

A quick note as I hope you are spending all your time looking at the pictures Max posted on our blog. Our (paid) wifi hasn't worked here in two days, so I thought I would send a note the old-fashioned HF way :)

All of a sudden it is Saturday night! The week has disappeared quickly in a flurry of prep-for-the-bug-guy, wait-for-the-bug-treatment, and clean-up-after-the-bugs. Our grandmothers had it right with a spring cleaning of all their cupboards each year, but it is a big job! It is so very tiring to be surrounded by all your stuff (and children) trying to make it fit back neatly into its spaces, while making sure that your baby doesn't get into the cleaning bucket and your older kids do not drive each other crazy! It seems like the treatment was successful; we are finding many more dead than alive, and our man came over today to give us the various potions that he used so we can nip them in the bud if they come again. We will show no mercy if there is a next time!

In the meantime, Max has been chipping away at some of the boat jobs, especially the rudder/boot - near where he put epoxy in the last anchorage to keep the bolts from rattling themselves out of their holes, today he dove and put some more epoxy near where that "boot" mates onto the skeg to minimize the movement. Our hope is that this arrangement will stay in place until NZ, then we will haul the boat and do a more permanent fix [turns out the neighbouring Stevens 47 has greater play in their skeg than we do so perhaps overkill on my part but nice have everything solid]. He has also been doing some electrical work in the cockpit: our AIS is back in business, and he reconnected our fishfinder. It was originally installed by a professional electrician, whom we met in Seattle, but he didn't protect the wires sufficiently from moisture, so they corroded away completely. Now it is snugly wrapped in both heat shrink and electrical tape, ready to face the elements. [Also took the opportunity to catch up on oil, oil filter and fuel filter changes as well as get one of the winches that was suddenly a bit stiff fixed. Also fixed by diving BC and worked with Hans from Nautilus to fix one of my leaky dive tanks.]

We had a fun evening tonight: there is another Stevens 47 in the anchorage, so they came by for a drink earlier in the week, and then invited us for dinner aboard their boat tonight. It was surreal to be in a space that is totally different and yet completely the same. This couple has been cruising for 18 years, so we had a lot to learn from them.

Our plan from here ... it will take a few more days to clean/stow/provision for the next three months, the we will go to Morea (next island over) for a few days before heading to Bora Bora and its neighbours.

Love to all,
Elizabeth
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At 7/29/2014 12:06 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 17°35.17'S 149°36.99'W
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At 7/29/2014 12:06 AM (utc) Fluenta's position was 17°35.17'S 149°36.99'W

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