Happy Thanksgiving from Suwarrow.

Hello!

I wasn't going to write a note tonight (it's already 12:30...) but I realized that I would like to send Happy Thanksgiving greetings!

Saturday was busy for us - Victoria and I were painting a pennant that we will leave in the Suwarrow "Yacht Club" building (here's hoping that acrylic paints on fabric have some longevity in the tropical sun - I figured that it couldn't be any worse than the fading that a sharpie marker would do over time...). We are using a small piece of the sail repair fabric (which comes in a roll that kind of looks like a roll of papertowels - it seems that we have plenty; I hope so!). We also baked a cake for Johnathan's birthday, and he painted his "pinata" (actually an empty coconut that he has hung on a line and put candies inside. A gentle touch will *not* win the day tomorrow...) I finally finished sewing on the 2nd patch on the staysail, and Max fixed the sailbag with tape. This evening, I took advantage of the sewing machine being out in the saloon to start our Nuie flag ... one thing led to another, and I actually finished the sewing! All that is left is to paint some stars on it. Rather than putting grommets in the corners of our flags, I have started sewing loops of line (cheaper & easier) which seems to work well.

Max and Johnathan went ashore with the propane fittings that Max had bought on the last day in Bora Bora - and starting with a pretty empty tank (ie no propane partial pressure) he was able to fill the tank with butane using the hose/fittings and gravity. He also filled the smaller bbq tank, so now we will be "cooking with gas" regardless of where we want to cook :) [Thanks for SV Estrallita for the tutorial o gravity filling of propane tanks]

The salvage crew is here for the yacht that went aground in August. I am not sure which is odder - to see a yacht on the reef behind us, or to imagine looking out soon and not seeing it. Our thoughts are certainly with the couple who lost their boat. Harry and his wife hosted all of us for a potluck this evening. We brought fish to cook in foil and some noodles. I nearly cried with joy when I saw that the salvage crew had brought cole slaw! We haven't seen a raw vegetable in days, and we haven't seen anything but a raw carrot in weeks. We also learned the best way to open a coconut crab - lay it on a rock and bash it with a piece of coral - the shells don't stand a chance! We ate them plain (boiled) but I was told that the really tasty way is to make a sauce of coconut milk, onions and a little lime, then dip the pieces of meat in the sauce. It certainly sounded delicious :)

Anyway - Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian friends and family. We are thinking of you and feeling blessed in so many way. We are also thinking of your turkey dinner, and most especially all the vegetables on your plates.

Love to everyone,

Elizabeth
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At 10/2/2014 5:26 PM (utc) Fluenta's position was 13°14.00'S 163°06.00'W

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