0730 NZT Tuesday, Nov. 19 - Day 4
27 41.2S/174 49.7E
SOG - 8.6 - 9 kn
COG - 156 mag
Conditions:
Clouds with light overcast
Wind 15 kn NE
Bar
A great day, yesterday was - a steady 15-18 knots abeam with easing seas, and the sailing was easy. By early
afternoon the reacher went up and we were over 10 knots the rest of the day. Jib came back for the evening, but
the winds continued to slowly ease and reacher went back up at 10 PM. We have slowly been heading up
(more into the wind for all you land-lubbers) to maximize apparent wind and boatspeed, as our Weather guru
Ken McKinley from Locus Weather in Maine says to keep making tracks south - so we just keep on truckin'.
Steve and I have told Tony he shouldn't get used to this (apart from paying our dues the first 36 hours) as
the light beam seas do not create a roll as downwind sailing might...and there is no upwind pounding at all.
It can't last forever but perhaps just 2 more days?
And, we are making good on our southerly progress. We left the tropics behind yesterday and are making
fast tracks toward Opua. I grant you that it is no longer hot and sticky, but when I awakened this morning
to stand my watch, there was Steve - in his fleece! Kind of wimpy, if you ask me, for a guy that
keeps talking about polar expeditions.
The meals were superb yesterday. We enjoyed burgers (ground mince) and cole slaw for lunch, and chicken
Parmesan and pasta with fresh tomato (as in potato) sauce for tea (dinner). It is not easy writing for
a multi-national audience!
We will do 197 nm over 24 hours, and that includes slowing down to board a fish, as Steve caught
another Mahi Mahi. We have also given two back, and lines are out as I write seeking that elusive yellowfin.
Either way, Tony will be packing a load of fish when he heads home.
455 nm to go, and I am hoping for a mid Thursday afternoon arrival.
All is well on board.
Smooth seas,
Bill
Monday, November 18, 2013
Fiji to Opua Day 3
0715 NZT Monday, Nov. 18
24 08.39S\175 19.48E
Mostly Sunny sky
Wind East, 17 - 20 knots through the night
Bar 1018
Good morning from Visions of Johnna,
We are fairly flying along, speeding at mid-nines to ten knots through the night. Seas have eased a bit, around 6' but still from 2 directions. Minimal slamming or wave jumping, though. We have covered 204 nm in last 24 hours.
Enjoyed some good American comfort food last night for dinner - meatloaf with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes. We are settling nicely into routines and I have heard no mentions of mutiny yet. We will put out some lines and see if Neptune has anything to offer.
All is well.
Bill
24 08.39S\175 19.48E
Mostly Sunny sky
Wind East, 17 - 20 knots through the night
Bar 1018
Good morning from Visions of Johnna,
We are fairly flying along, speeding at mid-nines to ten knots through the night. Seas have eased a bit, around 6' but still from 2 directions. Minimal slamming or wave jumping, though. We have covered 204 nm in last 24 hours.
Enjoyed some good American comfort food last night for dinner - meatloaf with fresh green beans and mashed potatoes. We are settling nicely into routines and I have heard no mentions of mutiny yet. We will put out some lines and see if Neptune has anything to offer.
All is well.
Bill
Saturday, November 16, 2013
0845 NZT Sunay, Nov. 17
20 39.10S\176 14 73#
Hello from Visions of Johanna. We are rolling along, and doing a bit of rocking too, with steady winds 22-26 knots ESE. Wave patterns are still at odds, but have become a bit better as we put distance between us and Fiji.
We'll have traveled about 180 nm in the first 24 hours, and that includes departure motoring, raising sails, and catching Mahi-Mahi. Currently COG is 185 mag, and we have been averaging over 8.5 knots easy. The decks are officially very clean and we are well. We have 880 nm to go.
Bill
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20 39.10S\176 14 73#
Hello from Visions of Johanna. We are rolling along, and doing a bit of rocking too, with steady winds 22-26 knots ESE. Wave patterns are still at odds, but have become a bit better as we put distance between us and Fiji.
We'll have traveled about 180 nm in the first 24 hours, and that includes departure motoring, raising sails, and catching Mahi-Mahi. Currently COG is 185 mag, and we have been averaging over 8.5 knots easy. The decks are officially very clean and we are well. We have 880 nm to go.
Bill
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Thursday, November 14, 2013
Ready fpr departure
Hello all. Steve Brown, Tony Pope, and I will leave Fiji tomorrow morning, bound for Opua New Zealand. Weather looks good and this multinational crew plans to have a fun and fast passage. As usual, Ken McKinley (Locus Weather,.com) is providing routing assistance, and I am hopeful for a fast trip...which means we will have to eat early and often to make a dent in our stores.
I will send daily updates which will be real time in NZ, near 1 PM in Maine, and near 7 PM in France, or England, or where ever Steve is from these days (tomorrow might be a bit off schedule). We look forward to your low bandwidth replies, and as always, you can follow us on vofj.blogspot.com.
Calm sea for everyone,
Bill
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I will send daily updates which will be real time in NZ, near 1 PM in Maine, and near 7 PM in France, or England, or where ever Steve is from these days (tomorrow might be a bit off schedule). We look forward to your low bandwidth replies, and as always, you can follow us on vofj.blogspot.com.
Calm sea for everyone,
Bill
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Friday, June 7, 2013
Hello all from the northern Lau group.
We are finally able to connect after having been without communications over the past 4 days. The local cellular tower has been out of service for a week, and we were (inexplicably) unable to connect through our satellite phone. After several days of trouble shooting, and finding no problems on this end, we had multiple back-and-forth conversations with tech support and engineers at Globe Wireless who kept insisting that it was not their problem, but was a vessel issue. Finally, after a change of settings on their end, we successfully connected to the satellites and are back in communications.
We are anchored at Ship Sound in Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu Island. The "bay" is small, located inside the fringing reef, and entry is a bit tricky. We found 13.5 feet of water at mid-tide as we passed through Shoal Passage into the small Ship Sound anchorage. We are surrounded by many small and one large volcanic island amid turquoise blue water. I see a photo-op from mast head in my future.
We will be here for several days before heading back to Dalconi Village on Monday with plans to attend a lovo (traditional Fijian earth pit cooking) and Fijian dancing and singing.
It h
----
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We are finally able to connect after having been without communications over the past 4 days. The local cellular tower has been out of service for a week, and we were (inexplicably) unable to connect through our satellite phone. After several days of trouble shooting, and finding no problems on this end, we had multiple back-and-forth conversations with tech support and engineers at Globe Wireless who kept insisting that it was not their problem, but was a vessel issue. Finally, after a change of settings on their end, we successfully connected to the satellites and are back in communications.
We are anchored at Ship Sound in Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu Island. The "bay" is small, located inside the fringing reef, and entry is a bit tricky. We found 13.5 feet of water at mid-tide as we passed through Shoal Passage into the small Ship Sound anchorage. We are surrounded by many small and one large volcanic island amid turquoise blue water. I see a photo-op from mast head in my future.
We will be here for several days before heading back to Dalconi Village on Monday with plans to attend a lovo (traditional Fijian earth pit cooking) and Fijian dancing and singing.
It h
----
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Remote Fijian Adventures
Hello from the Shoreside Support team (i.e. Gram). Bill sent this message along this morning from a neighbor boat along with a request for support getting the satellite phone internet working again. Phone is working fine, but data is not. Have contacted customer support and hopefully will solve the problem soon. In the meantime, if there is an emergency, please contact me at ibsailn@gmail.com and I can fwd news along. Otherwise stay tuned here. -- Gram
Hello everyone: We are in the eastern group of islands called the Lau. We arrived 2 days ago when a NE wind provided good sailing here. With 63 miles to cover, we left just after first light - 6:30 A.M. We had a great wind and made good time, clearing through the western Adavici Pass about 3 in the afternoon with the sun behind us. We caught a Mahi-Mahi along the way and the sun appeared. Quite perfect.
Yesterday we did sevusevu with the elders of Dalconi Village, and the village has been most welcoming. The village requests a donation for the privilege of anchoring in their waters but has formed a tourism committee and tries to offer services for the donation/fee. They provide a village tour and will accept trash, which is quite important to yachties. Sam, head of tourism committee, took us on a guided snorkel to their marine park. We saw some nice bommies and a giant clam hatchery (the hatchery was not too big, but they were growing giant clams) and we will visit the school this morning where Zak and Dani will talk about North America and their part of the world. We will also talk a bit about about our trip across the Pacific.
Yesterday was also a day that the Health Ministry staff visited Dalconi to give a medical workshop to the villagers. I attended the first section which discussed behavioral and mental health issues. Subsequent subjects included substance abuse and age appropriate sex education strategies. Clearly basic social health issues are the same all over the world. One very neat thing was that when we did our sevusevu at the village, we gave the Mahi we caught to them as a gift. We found out that it was cooked that morning and served to the Health Ministry staff for their lunch. Very cool.
The Lau are an outlying group of Fijian islands and are certainly remote. The monthly cargo roll on/roll off ship no longer calls here, and their goods and staples now come irregularly on a small ship. Apparently, very irregularly. It seems that they are frequently in need of sugar, flour, and similar basics. These donations are also appreciated and we donated sugar we bought in Taveuni for this purpose.
Over time, they have also purposefully tried to retain the culture and lifestyles of the Fijian peoples and we enjoyed these insights too. We attended an afternoon rehearsal performance of Fijian dance, and later Zak tasted his first Grog (Kava Ceremony). We all had a blast sitting for a few hours around the Kava bowl sharing Kava, stories, (and I have learned from Dani that this last was a British comma) and learning about the village and Fiji. Johanna and the girls, led by one of the two elementary school teachers, danced Fijian style and we stayed until Jules keeled over and Zak's gastric alarm brought us back to the boat and our dinner. We videoed much of this and will see if our tech consultants can get some clips up to be viewed - when Internet service is available..
It is important to note that we do not have any cell phone or wireless internet service here - there is one Vodaphone tower, but it is not functioning and may not be repaired until next week. Hence, we will not be able to respond to mails or post easily, and please do not worry. We are fine. It is just that we are out swimming/snorkeling/diving/
Best wishes to all from the crew of Visions of Johanna
Hello everyone: We are in the eastern group of islands called the Lau. We arrived 2 days ago when a NE wind provided good sailing here. With 63 miles to cover, we left just after first light - 6:30 A.M. We had a great wind and made good time, clearing through the western Adavici Pass about 3 in the afternoon with the sun behind us. We caught a Mahi-Mahi along the way and the sun appeared. Quite perfect.
Yesterday we did sevusevu with the elders of Dalconi Village, and the village has been most welcoming. The village requests a donation for the privilege of anchoring in their waters but has formed a tourism committee and tries to offer services for the donation/fee. They provide a village tour and will accept trash, which is quite important to yachties. Sam, head of tourism committee, took us on a guided snorkel to their marine park. We saw some nice bommies and a giant clam hatchery (the hatchery was not too big, but they were growing giant clams) and we will visit the school this morning where Zak and Dani will talk about North America and their part of the world. We will also talk a bit about about our trip across the Pacific.
Yesterday was also a day that the Health Ministry staff visited Dalconi to give a medical workshop to the villagers. I attended the first section which discussed behavioral and mental health issues. Subsequent subjects included substance abuse and age appropriate sex education strategies. Clearly basic social health issues are the same all over the world. One very neat thing was that when we did our sevusevu at the village, we gave the Mahi we caught to them as a gift. We found out that it was cooked that morning and served to the Health Ministry staff for their lunch. Very cool.
The Lau are an outlying group of Fijian islands and are certainly remote. The monthly cargo roll on/roll off ship no longer calls here, and their goods and staples now come irregularly on a small ship. Apparently, very irregularly. It seems that they are frequently in need of sugar, flour, and similar basics. These donations are also appreciated and we donated sugar we bought in Taveuni for this purpose.
Over time, they have also purposefully tried to retain the culture and lifestyles of the Fijian peoples and we enjoyed these insights too. We attended an afternoon rehearsal performance of Fijian dance, and later Zak tasted his first Grog (Kava Ceremony). We all had a blast sitting for a few hours around the Kava bowl sharing Kava, stories, (and I have learned from Dani that this last was a British comma) and learning about the village and Fiji. Johanna and the girls, led by one of the two elementary school teachers, danced Fijian style and we stayed until Jules keeled over and Zak's gastric alarm brought us back to the boat and our dinner. We videoed much of this and will see if our tech consultants can get some clips up to be viewed - when Internet service is available..
It is important to note that we do not have any cell phone or wireless internet service here - there is one Vodaphone tower, but it is not functioning and may not be repaired until next week. Hence, we will not be able to respond to mails or post easily, and please do not worry. We are fine. It is just that we are out swimming/snorkeling/diving/
Best wishes to all from the crew of Visions of Johanna
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Zak and Dan write a Bloooooog poooost (sung to Troy and Abed's theme) OR: you could probably just use Windex
Hello and welcome to our blog post. It is the most fabulous blog post you will ever read. If you are receiving this via email, it's probably fairly average fare.
---
Be warned: should you desire useful information or a cohesive narrative, you will be sorely disappointed. This is Art.
Let's start at the very beginning. 22 years a handful of months ago, Danielle de Carle was born. A couple of weeks later, the heavens opened and Zak was brought to this earth via a very lucky stork (or possibly a cesarean section. The world will never know). Ever since, the world has been blessed by their presence. Trials and tribulations ensued as the precocious two progressed from infanthood through their ascension from the underworld itself (Montreal, Canada, North America, Earth), but the end justified the means. Unbeknownst to them, their previously meaningless lives culminated in an airplane to New Zealand, a yacht, and a seven day voyage to the fabled lands which are called Fiji. Zak thought this trip was going to be a vacation, but apparently he thought wrong. It was idiotic for him not to remember that any stint on the boat is far more work than an entire semester at McGill.
But I digress. I believe that Dr. William Strassberg has caught you up to our first sevusevu, which was quite an experience. Zak was brought to believe that drugs would be involved (namely kava, a mild stimulant which has the unfortunate side effect of tasting like dirty dish water), but his hopes were dashed when "King George" kept our offering of a kava root all to himself (although this did spare our intrepid travelers a foul-tasting mouth). We are still pondering whether this was selfish or altruistic (the world will never know). We then met the wonderful Amelia, a 27 year old beauty who told Danielle not to get married for at least a score. She is wed to Chris; Amelia and Chris take care of Michaele (I am unsure of how to spell his name, for this I apologize), a young boy (who may or may not be related to Chris and Amelia via ties of blood), on days when he doesn't ferry to school or something like that. We are unclear on the details, or perhaps I did not listen hard enough.
Chris, who was wearing a fantastic Australian flag tank top, took us on a hike to a waterfall. Father and I were not shod, and I feared that I would contract a ringworm in my soft, Western sole. There were also stingrays in the water. Danielle told me to shuffle through the water to avoid dying like Steve Irwin. I have many fears involving injuries to my feet. They are what I walk on every day, after all. But fear not, faithful reader, for I emerged unscathed physically, although psychologically we are still unsure of my fate.
As we approached the waterfall, we spotted fair maidens washing their clothes nestled in the bend of a babbling brook. An aside: nearby were pigs AND piglets. The piglets were practically falling over themselves trying to get to a shell perched in precarious proximity to the pristine pool. Hopefully their porcine droppings don't contaminate the drinking water of the village.
The ascent was treacherous, but worthy of the dangers we encountered upon the way. The path was often fouled with excrement of the wild beasts which roam the land here, like landmines in an action movie: presenting an omnipresent but ultimately surmountable barrier as we moved forward toward the third act. Zak did cry Hark! to Danielle after he spotted a landcrab basking in the sun upon its chariot - a verdant taro leaf. Eventually, with the help of our guide, more valuable than any Sherpa, we found our way to the waterfall. Here William and Zak did swim in the clear, cool water.
Our naturalist (Danielle) studied these waters. Were they the mythical fountain of life we sought? Zak tasted the water in hopes of immortality. Only time will tell if his wish will come true, or if dysentery will be his only reward. The pools also harboured crayfish below the surface and crickets above. Their oblivious meanderings reminded us of the futility of trying to understand this moment. Were we enlightened spirits peering into a more simple world? Or simply fools convinced that the our ways are superior to those of nature?
Refreshed and rejuvenated, our descent was uneventful. But around us the landscape teemed with the fury of the wild. Struggles of life and death went unnoticed by our sun-shaded eyes. If we are unaware of the turbulence around us, does it still have meaning? Back in civilization at the shore below, we partook of the sweet water of the coconut, hacked to pieces by our guide. A metaphor for life, perhaps? The dogs in this country are gaunt. They stared at us with pleading eyes. While our hosts weren't looking, we slipped them some of the meat.
The ride back to the boat was silent. What had really happened to us that day? We were unsure of the details, but certainly something wonderful. Or maybe something devilish, not meant to be Understood. Whatever it was, dinner that night tasted sweeter than ever before. Another day in paradise indeed.
- A mysterious missive masterfully made manifest, mostly mad.
---
Faithful Readers,
After a final morning of adventure (for Bill), puppy-snuggling (for myself and Zak), conversation with the locals (for Johanna), and relaxation (for Jules) in Dukanubi, Visions and her crew set off for Viani Bay. While we did encounter a spot of trouble when it came time to drop anchor, we have so far found Viani Bay to be very agreeable, if slightly rainy.
Upon arrival yesterday, Bill went to introduce himself to the local residents: two families who have built their houses on a small island in the bay. Zak apparently finished two books. After dinner, there was a rain storm of biblical proportions. This meant that we could refill our water tanks. It also meant that we couldn't have any of the hatches open. Most of that evening was therefore spent on the verge of melting.
For now, however, the rain seems to have stopped. We have a dive planned for tomorrow morning, so we spent a bit of the morning going over SCUBA equipment and procedure. Jules, Bill, Jo, and I also swam over to visit the residents of the small island. (On the way there, I totally saw a puffer fish, which was excellent, but also slightly scary.) They were extremely hospitable, and invited us to have grog (kava) and curried land crabs (caught during the rain storm) with them tomorrow afternoon. They also let us poke around the island some. At first I was slightly unnerved because all the shells kept rearranging themselves of their own accord, but then I realised they were all full of hermit crabs. Jules and I spent some time trying to see faces in the coconut shells littering the beach: one was particularly morose looking, so we named it Zak. Bill also found a discarded pig pelvis, which prompted us – well, mostly just me – to scour the beach looking for other pig bits. There was a particularly interesting lower jaw which had teeth in it that hadn't erupted yet, so they looked all gnarly.
After we returned to the boat, we played Settlers of Catan*. I won. This was extremely gratifying because up until this point, I've pretty squarely lost every game we've played. Catan has a tendency to drag on, though, and because of this, dinner always ends up being later than planned. We will have to find a way to rectify this, because it displeases Captain Bill, and it seems to have put a damper on our after-dinner television-watching.
At any rate, that pretty much brings us up to the present. Everyone but Zak and I has gone to bed, and here we are filling you in on our adventurings. (I will take this opportunity to distance myself from anything unflattering or nonsensical that Zak may have said in his update.)
Goodnight**!
- Danielle
*Note to my parents: Remember that game that we were meant to play at Auntie Cindy's cottage, but she was too drunk to explain it, so she just yelled about it for two hours and then we all went to bed? It's that game.
**Note to Yaffa: It's Muggle Time!
----
This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using GMN's XGate software.
Please be kind and keep your replies short.
---
Be warned: should you desire useful information or a cohesive narrative, you will be sorely disappointed. This is Art.
Let's start at the very beginning. 22 years a handful of months ago, Danielle de Carle was born. A couple of weeks later, the heavens opened and Zak was brought to this earth via a very lucky stork (or possibly a cesarean section. The world will never know). Ever since, the world has been blessed by their presence. Trials and tribulations ensued as the precocious two progressed from infanthood through their ascension from the underworld itself (Montreal, Canada, North America, Earth), but the end justified the means. Unbeknownst to them, their previously meaningless lives culminated in an airplane to New Zealand, a yacht, and a seven day voyage to the fabled lands which are called Fiji. Zak thought this trip was going to be a vacation, but apparently he thought wrong. It was idiotic for him not to remember that any stint on the boat is far more work than an entire semester at McGill.
But I digress. I believe that Dr. William Strassberg has caught you up to our first sevusevu, which was quite an experience. Zak was brought to believe that drugs would be involved (namely kava, a mild stimulant which has the unfortunate side effect of tasting like dirty dish water), but his hopes were dashed when "King George" kept our offering of a kava root all to himself (although this did spare our intrepid travelers a foul-tasting mouth). We are still pondering whether this was selfish or altruistic (the world will never know). We then met the wonderful Amelia, a 27 year old beauty who told Danielle not to get married for at least a score. She is wed to Chris; Amelia and Chris take care of Michaele (I am unsure of how to spell his name, for this I apologize), a young boy (who may or may not be related to Chris and Amelia via ties of blood), on days when he doesn't ferry to school or something like that. We are unclear on the details, or perhaps I did not listen hard enough.
Chris, who was wearing a fantastic Australian flag tank top, took us on a hike to a waterfall. Father and I were not shod, and I feared that I would contract a ringworm in my soft, Western sole. There were also stingrays in the water. Danielle told me to shuffle through the water to avoid dying like Steve Irwin. I have many fears involving injuries to my feet. They are what I walk on every day, after all. But fear not, faithful reader, for I emerged unscathed physically, although psychologically we are still unsure of my fate.
As we approached the waterfall, we spotted fair maidens washing their clothes nestled in the bend of a babbling brook. An aside: nearby were pigs AND piglets. The piglets were practically falling over themselves trying to get to a shell perched in precarious proximity to the pristine pool. Hopefully their porcine droppings don't contaminate the drinking water of the village.
The ascent was treacherous, but worthy of the dangers we encountered upon the way. The path was often fouled with excrement of the wild beasts which roam the land here, like landmines in an action movie: presenting an omnipresent but ultimately surmountable barrier as we moved forward toward the third act. Zak did cry Hark! to Danielle after he spotted a landcrab basking in the sun upon its chariot - a verdant taro leaf. Eventually, with the help of our guide, more valuable than any Sherpa, we found our way to the waterfall. Here William and Zak did swim in the clear, cool water.
Our naturalist (Danielle) studied these waters. Were they the mythical fountain of life we sought? Zak tasted the water in hopes of immortality. Only time will tell if his wish will come true, or if dysentery will be his only reward. The pools also harboured crayfish below the surface and crickets above. Their oblivious meanderings reminded us of the futility of trying to understand this moment. Were we enlightened spirits peering into a more simple world? Or simply fools convinced that the our ways are superior to those of nature?
Refreshed and rejuvenated, our descent was uneventful. But around us the landscape teemed with the fury of the wild. Struggles of life and death went unnoticed by our sun-shaded eyes. If we are unaware of the turbulence around us, does it still have meaning? Back in civilization at the shore below, we partook of the sweet water of the coconut, hacked to pieces by our guide. A metaphor for life, perhaps? The dogs in this country are gaunt. They stared at us with pleading eyes. While our hosts weren't looking, we slipped them some of the meat.
The ride back to the boat was silent. What had really happened to us that day? We were unsure of the details, but certainly something wonderful. Or maybe something devilish, not meant to be Understood. Whatever it was, dinner that night tasted sweeter than ever before. Another day in paradise indeed.
- A mysterious missive masterfully made manifest, mostly mad.
---
Faithful Readers,
After a final morning of adventure (for Bill), puppy-snuggling (for myself and Zak), conversation with the locals (for Johanna), and relaxation (for Jules) in Dukanubi, Visions and her crew set off for Viani Bay. While we did encounter a spot of trouble when it came time to drop anchor, we have so far found Viani Bay to be very agreeable, if slightly rainy.
Upon arrival yesterday, Bill went to introduce himself to the local residents: two families who have built their houses on a small island in the bay. Zak apparently finished two books. After dinner, there was a rain storm of biblical proportions. This meant that we could refill our water tanks. It also meant that we couldn't have any of the hatches open. Most of that evening was therefore spent on the verge of melting.
For now, however, the rain seems to have stopped. We have a dive planned for tomorrow morning, so we spent a bit of the morning going over SCUBA equipment and procedure. Jules, Bill, Jo, and I also swam over to visit the residents of the small island. (On the way there, I totally saw a puffer fish, which was excellent, but also slightly scary.) They were extremely hospitable, and invited us to have grog (kava) and curried land crabs (caught during the rain storm) with them tomorrow afternoon. They also let us poke around the island some. At first I was slightly unnerved because all the shells kept rearranging themselves of their own accord, but then I realised they were all full of hermit crabs. Jules and I spent some time trying to see faces in the coconut shells littering the beach: one was particularly morose looking, so we named it Zak. Bill also found a discarded pig pelvis, which prompted us – well, mostly just me – to scour the beach looking for other pig bits. There was a particularly interesting lower jaw which had teeth in it that hadn't erupted yet, so they looked all gnarly.
After we returned to the boat, we played Settlers of Catan*. I won. This was extremely gratifying because up until this point, I've pretty squarely lost every game we've played. Catan has a tendency to drag on, though, and because of this, dinner always ends up being later than planned. We will have to find a way to rectify this, because it displeases Captain Bill, and it seems to have put a damper on our after-dinner television-watching.
At any rate, that pretty much brings us up to the present. Everyone but Zak and I has gone to bed, and here we are filling you in on our adventurings. (I will take this opportunity to distance myself from anything unflattering or nonsensical that Zak may have said in his update.)
Goodnight**!
- Danielle
*Note to my parents: Remember that game that we were meant to play at Auntie Cindy's cottage, but she was too drunk to explain it, so she just yelled about it for two hours and then we all went to bed? It's that game.
**Note to Yaffa: It's Muggle Time!
----
This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using GMN's XGate software.
Please be kind and keep your replies short.
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