POST

Wednesday June 6, 2007

Today our oldest grandchild, Lauren, graduates in a cap and gown ceremony, from KINDERGARDEN. Lauren is six; the first time I saw a cap and gown was high school. The day starts with glaring sunshine, but a cold wind is blowing. The Sierra Mountains are sporting an overnight deposit, a dusting of snow. Jenna left her house just after 6AM to set up and decorate the graduation sight which was outdoors on the Sierra Vista Children Academy’s playground, just behind the school. I was determined to not miss this milestone in Lauren’s life. The original date was June 7, but it was moved up. Lauren has grown into quite the young woman lately. The other night I was busy talking with Kevin when Lauren taps me on my arm and says “Give me a call sometime”. Not believing my ears, I asked her to please repeat what she said, “I said call me” she says.

 

The graduation billed as The Fond Farewell started at 10:45. There were two songs each performed by classes in succession - the Spanish Club, Kangaroos, Turtles, Giraffes, Tigers and Lions. Lindsay performed as “Little Bow Peep” and her class sang “We Can See Clearly Now, the rain has gone”. There were some dark clouds but no rain. The kids put themselves into their performance singing “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”. It was so cold our bodies were getting stiff and starting to shiver to stay warm. Donna was positioning herself to use me as her wind shield. Finally Lauren’s class, The Lions, came out and sang “Tomorrow”. It began to snow; it was the typical spring corn snow, hard little round bb sized pieces of ice. The timing of the heaviest snowfall and the lyrics “the sun will come out, tomorrow – bet your bottom dollar tomorrow there will be sun” was perfect. The kids were overwhelmed by the standing ovation. The diplomas were awarded in the warmth of the crowded chaotic classroom.

 

The sun will come out tomorrow; the temperature is forecast to be in the 70s.

 

God Bless Bella Donna

POST

Monday June 4, 2007

 

Slept in Sacramento and started to Reno late in the morning. The sky is so sunny blue and the tree covered Sierra Foothills are warming after the night chill, giving off the patented smell of forested earth. After 2 months of humid salty air riding the undulating sea, I have to admit the smooth ride in Donna’s BMW is relaxing. I realize I feel much more relaxed as we left the traffic in Sacramento and reached the open highway over the Sierras. A slow roll is easier at 70 miles per hour if you are not surrounded by fast rollers. The fast rollers are minimized all the way to Reno, but then we are once again surrounded.

 

Most all of the last 2 months has been spent with us hearing, much less seeing, any news reports, except the weather of course and we asked for the weather when we wanted it. I am sure some important news occurred in those two months, but no one has approached with “did you hear?”. I talk to family and friends who all wanted to know details of the passage, but no one wanted to make sure I caught up with some significant news that occurred during the prior 2 months. I think news is only important if you go looking for it or someone you respect brings it to your attention. Therefore, Fox News, CNN News, MSNBC, TODAY, Good Morning America and the many others are mental chewing gum and should be avoided. Oh, also include talk radio. I have much better things to do, like stroke Topaz, who is in my lap right now, or spend time with my grandchildren and my children.

 

The one thing I do have time for is a quick scan of the google news headlines. This takes maybe 5 minutes and if I want more detail I can dive down with a click. The only thing that catches my eye today is a new patented sandal made by Tiva, the Karnali Wraptor.

 

I think one should put priority on news that affects decisions they are making on what to do and how to live their life. This morning I awoke to a mighty wind in the pine trees outside. I asked to see the weather because there is a wind advisory blinking on my computer screen; there will be gusts to 60 mph today and possible snow down to 6500 feet tonight; a late spring or winter storm is on its way. That rules out golf and rigging the main sail on Tomcat my other catamaran on Lake Tahoe; besides the high here is 60 degrees today and its June?

 

God Bless Bella Donna

 

POST

Sunday June 3, 2007

Just after midnight we take off for Honolulu, Hawaii. A drink and a snack, then a movie is started, you know where this is going; I am asleep before the introduction is over with. When I awake I look out the window at the most amazing thing. There is a thin bright horizontal line in the middle of our view. In seconds I realize it is the horizon as daylight is approaching. At 40,000 feet the ocean is either black or a very dark blue; as more and more sun light hits it, it is blue. More of the ocean is seen as we are looking down at the ocean, instead of over it. Looking up at the sky; it and the ocean are almost in equal proportions. In this perspective the horizon is in the middle of our view.

 

A minute later, the midline widens and refines itself into two colors. Just above the sea the horizon is a band of bright yellow, followed above by dark orange or a red color and then definite blackness that must be unlit sky. In contrast, looking at the sunrise every morning on Bella Donna over the ocean, the sky dominated our view and these colors were never seen. Many mornings clouds hide the horizon; the sunrise experience is not always spectacular.

 

A few minutes later our view is a horizontal rainbow of color. A dark blue ocean and a light blue sky with yellow, red, orange, pink and green sandwiched in between. You can see the colors change shade keeping rhythm to the heart beat of the rising sun. I wonder about the green color that keeps slowly gently changing as it blends into the pale blue sky. I remember seeing these same shades of green during a rare instant of a green flash at sunset. I have only seen 2 or 3 during the hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of sunsets I have been privileged to witness; I am old you know. One I recall as the most vivid; it occurs on a chartered catamaran just outside Admiralty Bay in Bequia in the Grenadines, the south Caribbean. I wonder if somehow the same green color is generated at sunset and sunrise.

 

 Suddenly I notice an irregular dark shape over the still dark blue ocean below. It occurs to me that it is an island. I study its shape. Then I notice another island off the first islands north coast. Both are large islands. In a flash it comes to me that I am looking straight out at Kailua Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii; I am home; Let me off please. I think of how much I enjoy our home in Kona Bay Estates. The only person who likes it more is Donna. In 30 minutes we will touch down in Honolulu.

 

At 5:45AM the Honolulu airport is deserted. A few tourists and fewer locals are wondering around waiting to board a flight. After international immigration and customs check, welcome back to the USA Mr. Johnson, we are dumped into a strange place. Even though I have been through the Honolulu airport many times I have never seen the outside, street side, of Honolulu airport; well once in 1981 when the airport was much smaller, we slept on a green grassy lawn in front of the airport between flights. Like green beginner Hawaiian tourists, we have to ask where and how to reenter the ticket check-in area. Back inside we settle in for the 6 hour layover. All Sunday morning the airport is quiet I sat on the floor and finished my previous day’s blog.

 

The day ended back in Donna’s arms in the Sacramento airport. My body, my mind gosh my entire spirit was moving at a slower pace than the world around me. I had definitely “slowed my roll” over the last 2 months. I was in no mood to shift into high gear now. I think I will try to live life at my own pace from this day forward, today is the first day of the rest of my life. I realize I have found a rhythm and lived that rhythm recently and I prefer it.

 

God Bless Bella Donna.

 

POST

Saturday June 2, 2007
Up at 5AM, today is the day we leave for home. I just could not sleep any longer. We left the salon for our cabins at 6:50PM last night. Some needed sleep because of the stomach virus we had and some just needed more relaxing. I relaxed in my cabin with a movie on my computer with the headphones on. You know what came next? At 12AM I awoke with the computer still on my stomach and headphones on and all I remember is the opening scene. The theme music was playing and the special features menu stared me in the face. I immediately went back to sleep.

At 6AM everyone was up and felling better. Ant was a lot better; his fever broke. John was a new man and Deborah felt a lot better, but still felt weak. Our plan was to leave for Hiva Oa up the channel into the wind at exactly 7:30AM and we did just that. The short journey was the worst of the 5,000 mile trip; it is hard going uphill, into the wind, swell and current. We spent quite a bit of time anchoring in the swell and still strong wind. John put out a stern anchor to try and hold us into the swell for the boarding and shuttle of Don and me, luggage, 2 weeks of trash and laundry, taken in several separate trips. Don and I were on shore with the luggage at exactly 10AM. At 10:20 still no taxi; John and Deborah start to pace. They call a taxi from town that was leaving immediately. Sure enough two women and a little boy about Lucas's age in a van show up saying "Bella Donna"? Perfect.

Both women and the little boy speak no English, just French. On the way to the airport the little boy and I exchange looks, then gemmy fives. We wave at each other. His mother is trying to teach the little boy the Hawaii "hang loose" hand sign which turns out is Polynesian and we are in Polynesia. As soon as we drive toward the airport, which is at the top of some mountains, the air temperature drops as does the humidity. Perfect; we were breaking out in a sweet dressed in blue jeans, dress shirts, shoes and socks instead of our usual shorts, tee-shirt and bare feet at sea level. The mother points at me and says "poh-pee"; the little boy points at me and says "poh-pee". I realize in Polynesia that pronunciation would be spelled "Popi". I just did a double take because I am know to family and especially my lovely grandchildren as Popie, Popie the sailor man.

We start our 31 hour passage home by taking off from the short runway on a mountain top that abruptly ends over a cliff to the ocean far below. Just as we are thankful for super Tahiti Airlines aircraft maintenance and a successful takeoff, the airplane enters a cloud above the island. When we can see again I look down and there is Bella Donna at anchor below us; I reflexively wave but no one sees. I will miss my little island in the Pacific.

We fly from Hiva Oa to Nuku Hiva where we have a 2 hour layover. I make good friends with a cat that looks just like Garfield, fat body and all; I am sure he eats pizza just like Garfield; passengers passing through give him lots of goodies to eat. I talk to him in cat talk and he talks back; I rub him behind the ears and he extends his front paws and spreads his claws out like a woman showing us her finger nails. In fact Garfield is so effeminate, I am sure she is Garfieldela. She tires of my affections or just gives food a higher priority than love; a French couple next to us offers her food and she responds by leaving me for them. Who can resist food and the sound of the French language.

Soon the engines on our aircraft come to life with a jet sound, but they are prop engines, turbo props. Ever one runs for the plane; it's a stampede. There are no seat assignments. Three hours later we are in Papeéte, Tahiti. We have a 6 hour layover here and the stories we could tell about that 6 hours deserves its own blog post. I promise to return to it during a slow boring day in the future.

Right now it is tomorrow, Sunday, and we are sitting outside Continental Airlines President Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. We have a 7 ½ hour layover; we arrived before 6AM and the Presidents Club open at 11AM. There is an electric plug so I am sitting on the ground using free electricity and free Club wireless internet through a locked door to post this blog entry.

God Bless Bella Donna.

Post

Friday June 1, 2007
Last night just before sunset I went down to the gym to work out. John, Deborah and Ant went in to swim with the manna rays. After the rays left they embarked on a mission to clean the white strip on the waterline of Bella Donna's flag blue hull. All of us exhausted from the day's activity made our way to the cool breezy fly with a sundowner to enjoy the cloudy, but still beautiful, sunset. This anchorage is rated by some people as one of the best in all French Polynesia.

For dinner we had leg of lamb, sharing the meaty bone with our sea friends. John tied it on a line and tossed it over the stern. This morning we hauled it up and it was picked clean.

We started our morning with first a big roaring sound accompanied by shaking throughout Bell Donna, and then the sound of alarms. Deborah and I rush to the salon chart table to realize the alarm is due to a wind gust of 25 to 30 knots or more. Our anchorage is shielded from the trade winds and sea swell, but winds make there way over the island funneled down a valley and then aim at Bella Donna with a down hill catabolic effect. It has been raining all night off and on, but the nasty weather is taking a quick turn to be worse. Deborah relates that she was sick all night, throwing up over the side. Ant comes up and had a bad night too. Suddenly I realize I do not feel so well either. John comes up sick too. Don comes up all bright and bushy tailed, feeling "supper" to find us all returning to bed. The thought of riding several hours in the back of a pickup in the rain, over steep bumpy muddy dirt mountain roads to see some primitive village, tikis and other archeological sites is not appealing.

This storm looks like it will last all day; it is the rainy season. We heard there was a radio station on Hiva Oa that broadcasts weather. I get my radio and try scanning all AM, FM and SSB frequencies for anything; all I get is static. The satellite is not taking internet email requests the SSB will not send or receive email until later in the day due to propagation issues and the great distances involved. I guess I can write today's blog post now; I think I know now how today will go. How about VHF? We do get someone to on VHF to talk to and try to get word to our tour guide we will not be at the dinghy dock at 10AM on Hiva Oa today; we will be at the dinghy dock tomorrow morning at 10AM needing a ride to the airport though. Suddenly I see a mental picture of luggage bouncing in the swell at the dinghy dock. Not a pleasant picture, but that is tomorrow's issue. We begin our 31 hour passage through the air home, then.

Later in the day the sun comes out with some blue sky but the wind is still gusting. John has reset the alarm for 45 knots, so if it goes off we will respond. Everyone spent the day in bed recovering and watching movies. Just as Deborah got up to make some tea a gust of wind blew pillows off the boat into the water. Even though John had a splitting headache, he and Deborah boarded the dinghy to retrieve floating blue pillows from the water before they left in the direction of Australia. Just another day for captain and his first mate.

We just heard from some of the sailboats that left Galapagos before us; they estimate they will arrive late tonight and will see us in the anchorage in Hiva Oa tomorrow morning. They managed the passage in 20 to 21 days which is pretty good given the light wind.

We will be traveling tomorrow so will post on the way if I can. The next pos is bound to have the shock of reentering the real world.

God Bless Bella Donna.

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Post

Thursday May 31, 2007
Four people come up on Bella Donna's starboard side in a dinghy to say hello. It turns out to be an Australian couple from the mono hull and an American couple from the PDQ catamaran. They want to know why we did not join them on the beach last night to party. We thought they were celebrating a birthday or anniversary, but it turns out they bought fireworks in Panama and were just celebrating the moment. The two couples had just met in The Marquesas Islands. Both couples are in their late 20's or early 30's, about the age of Kevin, Jenna, Kari and Colin. Both are in different stages of a circumnavigation, around the world trip. The Australian couple is on their way home. The American couple is from Boston and is just beginning the journey like Bella Donna. We did not get into if they have children or not, my guess is they do not. However, we have met many young families that are on a 3 to 5 year circumnavigation, having taken kids out of school and home schooling them along the way. The Australian couple stopped long enough to run a charter boat in the Caribbean, BVI, to make enough money to get home to Australia. John, Deborah and Ant did not know them, but they have many friends in common. We did not get into any similar background for the Boston couple.

The two couples told us about the manna rays, big ones. Every morning about 8:30 they enter the bay to grocery shop for breakfast. They asked us to go snorkeling with them; it seems they swim with the manna rays. They say the rays are very friendly. All I can think about is the Australian who died of a sting to the heart. Ant can't wait to jump into the water; he is really into animals and adventure. He used his underwater camera to capture the memory. Just as advertised here they come. Looking like an aircraft gliding in near the surface of the water, they have two little stabilizer fins one at each end of the wing. If you miss the floating blanket like body and just see the vertical fins, you would think 2 sharks were swimming in formation. Every so often the stinging barb on the ray's tail extends out of the water like a submarine's up periscope. Also the huge mouth on the ray's white underside can occasionally be seen. Swimming with rays is definitely an adrenalin rush experience. Ant says the rays are very friendly and curious creatures. One saw him, the ray's eyes clearly training on Ant. The ray swam over right up to Ant's face to get a close look before gliding off to resume shopping.

Later in the morning we hear an out of place familiar sound. It is a helicopter flying low overhead. We have not seen an airplane or heard the sound of an aircraft in a long time. Its funny, it's easier to see a spacecraft in the night sky than an airplane in the middle of nowhere. Maybe the helicopter is full of tourists. No it is the French Coast Guard and they are combing the mountainous terrain on the island for something. Their persistence puts a kibosh on a field trip to the mountains today; whatever they are looking for may be dangerous.

Don, John and Ant do go ashore to check out the beach and the coconut grove just beyond it. Even with insect repellant the visit is cut short by the nonos. A nono is a mosquito like thing that does not have a hypodermic ability to stick you and drink your blood. The good thing is we have not seen a mosquito since we left Panama. The bad news the nono is worse. They still lust for your blood and use their sharp little teeth to open a wound and drink. They only come out during hot sunlight during the day; they do not seem to bother you at night or early in the morning, we hear. There are 2 varieties one lives on the beach and another lives inland. They are not native to these islands. Over the years visits from outsiders have introduced diseases and ugly insects to these islands. Don lasts maybe half an hour till the nonos build their courage to ignore the repellant.

Last night just after sunset the two boats anchored near us left for Nuku Hiva. The Australians and the Bostonians said goodbye and they would see us soon in Nuku Hiva.

Tomorrow we have a guided tour to the other side of Hiva Oa. We have lost our satellite communication. It has been unreliable since before we arrived in Hiva Oa. So, we have not been able to receive and send email regularly, just in case you are not getting email responses from us. You are getting this thanks to SSB radio.

God Bless Bella Donna.

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