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January 28th - Nevis
How did I get so lucky to be nominated to enter the next
log into the diary? Christy
thought those that frequent the site most often might
enjoy hearing a different perspective....in this case
the perspective of Christy's youngest sister, Kim.
Those of you that heard the story of Dan and Candy's
visit back in December will be disappointed to hear that
motion sickness is not something you inherit. I'm
bouncing around the boat, furling the genoa, dropping
the dingy, washing dishes with the smallest amounts of
water you can imagine, and yes, shaving my legs with a
cup of water. Seems my past experiences in camping
and on other boats has all been leading to this - life
aboard Zia.
It's my first visit and I immediately understand the
importance of weather. 8:30AM and it's time to
tune into Chris' weather reports. This is a man
who, for a yearly fee of $175, reports on all things
weather and boating related in the Caribbean. I
asked Joe where this guy lives, but nobody seems to
know. I have a mental picture of some weird lonely
guy living in a hut somewhere and this is all he does -
talk to people on the radio and via email about swells
and currents and precipitation (oh, my!). I've
never been so fascinated by weather, especially on a day
like today when it's windy and rainy. I was hoping
my four days with the Boyles would consist of nothing
but sun to help overcome my intense Midwestern
pigmentation challenges, but it seems I might be out of
luck. Chris has not given me the report I wanted
this morning. It seems we may be in for this nasty
weather through my departure, when it will instantly
turn sunny again.
Next, I notice how brilliant my two nieces have become.
They are in the midst of their second day of school
since I boarded Zia, and I bet I've learned more from
them than they are learning from their home schooling
lessons. I probably once knew what a palindrome
was way back in 1st or 2nd grade but who the hell
remembers? My nieces have ensured they refresh my
memory. For those who do not know, a palindrome is
a word or a phrase that is the same thing forward as it
is backward. Try this one - did joe kill like oj
did? How about butt raft fart tub? I think
the latter is their favorite as it sends them into
giggle fits every time it's said aloud.
Not only are my nieces smarter than I am, but they are
certainly physically stronger than I am. Both
Cassie and Juliana dove down 10 - 15ft. to the bottom of
the bay (we are anchored off of Pinney Beach in Nevis),
where we were searching for sand dollars. I
haven't seen a sand dollar since I was a kid!
There were hundreds of them everywhere we turned.
Cassie and Juliana dove down again and again, collecting
well over 30 sand dollars, about 21 of which survived
without breaking all the way back to the boat. I
can only be held responsible for diving for one of the
21. Not only do I freak out a little diving down
so far, but my lung capacity is not quite as rich as
Cassie and Juliana's (yes, Mom and Dad, I need to quit
smoking).
While we were diving for sand dollars, we saw the most
interesting fish. It looked like an alien or a
giant grasshopper, with fins it used to crawl along the
bottom of the bay, wings that sprouted off the back of
the fins, and giant black bug eyes on either side of its
head. Joe dove down to get a closer look and once
he did, the fish spread its wings and I saw strips of
brilliant blue on the edge of each. After
consulting the Big Book of Fish, we're still not quite
sure what it is - maybe a Bighead Searobin or a Lion
fish? Regardless, I think we'd all agree it was
not the kind of fish you'd catch and filet for dinner.
Cassie, Juliana and I have had story-time each night so
far. The first night, we told a group story, each
taking a sentence and passing it on to the next to
continue the story. We told the story of Eissac
and Ieluj and Aunt Mik (names courtesy of Uncle Mike
Boyle), who had and adventure that included grey
buildings and cobble stone, a homeless guy with what
ended up being a black stone walking stick (Juliana
wanted it to be a magic wand - she's reading Harry
Potter if you can't tell), and an Alice In
Wonderland-type experience with shrinking (minus the
assistance of cookies & milk). Last night we
enjoyed a story about the trials and tribulations of my
6 month old cat, Lenny. They think it's funny that
he continues to fall in the toilet when I forget to put
the seat down.
Joe is definitely the captain of the boat, but his other
core responsibility seems to be dishes. It's
always good to keep a level head by taking the most
important along with the least pleasurable job on the
boat - keeps you humble. I think he's happy that
I'm with them for a few days if for nothing else than to
be relieved of the washing duties. Dishpan hands
are no fun for anyone! Madge, we need some
Palmolive!
Joe has decided that he wants, nay, must have, a
helicopter to go along with his beautiful boat.
Once arriving in Nevis yesterday, we watched one such
gadget fly past us to land aboard a ship called the
Floridian. A less than unique name for a boat that
we're sure is filled with elderly, rich gentlemen
accompanied by busty, young, diamond-loving blondes.
We did discuss the possibility of me swimming over to
introduce myself, but we heard over the radio that
"lunch was served". Timing is everything with
these things, so I decided against it - for the time
being. It'd be rude to interrupt their caviar and
champagne but today is another day.
Christy has turned into quite the sailor as well, though
she also seems quite comfortable with the role of the
"bathing beauty" of the ship. She will put her top
on when guests arrive. I've also noticed that she
has a strange reaction to grocery stores since living on
a boat. We spent well over a half hour in the
store on St. Kitts while Christy simply looked at bottle
after bottle, package after package of interesting
concoctions and giggled "I love coming to grocery
stores!" Weird if you ask me, as I don't go to
grocery stores in Chicago until I'm down to my last
square of toilet paper, but whatever makes her happy!
In
closing, to those of you planning on staying aboard Zia,
a few things to note:
-
Never pack a
computer in a bag that you check on the plane,
especially when it's a brand new fancy Fujitsu that
you're delivering to the Boyles as a replacement.
It'll make you feel more idiotic than Joe dumping
the original computer in the water. Yes, it
was stolen right out of my bag. The ten bags
of flour tortillas made it, though, and that's the
most important thing.
-
Bring books!
The Boyles have begun to re-read their entire
library. Even if you don't buy books
specifically for them, plan on Christy negotiating a
trade.
-
Starbucks coffee,
though she's learned to live without, will ensure
that Christy (and therefore Cassie) will have a good
day at school. French Roast, please.
-
Lastly, you need to
slow down. Your cell and blackberry won't work
here. You'll need to mellow about your
shower etiquette. There's just no need to
shower every day! Most importantly, slow down
so you enjoy your time aboard Zia with this very
courageous and adventurous family that I miss so
much. As Christy noted, they'll probably be
seeing more of me now than when they lived in
Annapolis!
-
Aunt Kim
Next entry
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Many thanks to our
friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up
the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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