Ship’s Log: Aitutaki – Generator Success…..
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Dear F&F,
July 9, 2010
Aitutaki – Generator Success
We got the long awaited generator parts 2 days ago, but surprise, surprise
it was not as “plug & play” as Scott hoped or was told.
Today he received a tech support email from Florida telling us how to
re-program the digital brain (replacement part) of the generator. It worked!
Happy days. Scott then noticed the raw water intake pump is leaking, but we
have a spare, so that takes him only another hour to replace & we are in
business. Tonight we will give it a good long run, but it seems that worry
is solved. Very, very happy & relieved. I am not sure how it evolved, but
Scott has taken to saying “Namaste” when he starts the generator which I
find adorable & hilarious. Laughter is so great.
Finger Update: I went to the hospital to see if a local might know anything
about my lingering sore finger from a Crown of Thorns starfish prick. Two
medical interns from Australia were very sweet & good listeners, but not
that familiar. The guy said he saw one case & the patients’ leg from the
knee down was swollen (from a prick in the foot) but after 1 week just the
ankle & foot were swollen. He did not know the outcome.
Dr. Koko, possibly Korean, was beckoned & heard my story & took a look. He
suggested another course of antibiotics plus 4 days anti-inflammatories. He
said nearly 4 weeks was slow healing & suspects that there is still a part
of the thorn in my finger. We can’t see anything, but because it is still so
painful, swollen & tender my tissue is very likely reacting to this foreign
body. It is too bad we did not know about the hot water plus vinegar soak
immediately. We knew this for jellyfish stings & I had to use that treatment
many times in Mexico & it worked great. C’est la vie.
Lucky me, such a “sensitive” girl having a strong reaction to this silly
starfish. Ok, I was the one trying to murder it…so maybe it is my karma.
At any rate, I began a different antibiotic today, Cipro, plus Aleve.
Food: It is more hot & humid. I try to think of food that does not involve
cooking, or minimal time with the stove on. I defrosted already cooked &
peeled shrimp & made “shrimp remoulade”. I used 2 boiled eggs & ate mine
over a bed of lettuce. Will offer Scott pasta and lettuce.
VISITORS: About 4 pm we were just thinking about beginning happy hour when
Bernard appears at our stern in his dinghy. Solo French guy with the broken
rib. We give him wine & I make a treatment to his mid & upper back (just
sitting in the cockpit) which is very tense from guarding his broken rib. We
met him first contact at the last island when I was lonely & doing sunset
yoga while Scott was on the radio Net. So Bernard & I have a nice rapport.
Bernard is still onboard when Natalie pulls up in her dinghy with a tooth
question. I call for the dentist. It is pretty funny, we haven’t worked in
all this time & suddenly we each have a “patient”. She has an implant crown
that is a bit loose. He asks her to return tomorrow p.m. & he will do
something (re-cement? not sure). Natalie & Bernard leave.
Jerome arrives to tell us about his kite boarding day & ask Scott how it
went with the generator. Scott is tired & hungry so goes inside & gets on
the net & pours himself more wine. I am enjoying my parade of visitors so
sit on the back chatting with Jerome for over half an hour. It is sunset. We
talk about many things. I really love both Jerome & Natalie – good people.
We notice the Swiss monohull between our 2 catamarans is trying to pull up
his anchor & having trouble. Jerome is being beckoned home by Natalie to
help with the family bath hour (they wash in the lagoon with just a small
fresh water rinse after). Scott gets in our dinghy to see if he can help the
poor old Swiss guy and his game but not overly able female companion. Their
stern anchor is stuck in the mud. Scott tries to muscle it up for them from
our dinghy – no luck. He instructs them what to do. They follow his
instructions pretty well. He also uses the dinghy to fend them off from
swinging in the wind & hitting us or Jerome’s boat. It is getting dark. It
is not smart to go out this shallow pass without good light and high tide.
But they seem psyched to get underway. Eventually get both front & back
anchors up & seem to be away.
Five minutes later Scott sees that they have run aground in the pass! It is
now 7:00 p.m., totally dark & Scott goes out in the dinghy trying to help
them get free & going. My guess is that they will just anchor where they
are, if there are no dangerously shallower areas. But perhaps they will get
loose & continue tonight. Scott helped them get their stern anchor set and
told them he will return just before the mornings high tide to help the get
the boat off the sand bank and on their way. The next morning, Scott
successfully helped get their nose aimed in the right direction and wiggled
them off the sand bank. Happy ending after a night of leaning over while on
the bottom; fortunately a calm evening.
Tomorrow we booked ourselves as tourists on a highly recommended Lagoon
Snorkeling Excursion, with “Teking Lagoon Tours”. They will pick us up at
9:30 a.m. We will be with 8 other people. They provide some kind of lunch.
We’ll go to 5 motus (little islets) inside the reef. I’ll hope for the best
with my finger. I have been trying to keep it dry. I hope I can tolerate
snorkeling. Got to figure out which of my various wetsuits to wear. The sun
is hot & air humid, but the water is cooling steadily. Although if it is a
shallow area it might not feel too cold. Hoping for a fun day. See the
photo gallery 07-2010-Aitutaki TOPSIDE for our tour with “The King”….
Cindy and Scott