Stargaze 28:45S 161:10E

Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Mon 8 Jun 2015 10:32
Just before I fired up the computer I was horisontal- looking at the stars. Now when the bimini is down it is easy, just lay down and look upwards.
 
It has been a beautyful day when the boat has sailed all on its own, the sun has been shining, the sea has been only around 1,5 - 2 meter swells.
Not only that, we seem to have a current that is pushing us at least 1 knot extra and that makes us feel like very good sailors. Making about 8knts in 6 knots wind? Well, well.
A day like this there is time to dry things after all the rain, clothes that got soaked in ocean spray etc. This severe gale actually dumped more water over us than we have ever experienced before.We got pooped as the English say.
Today the kids have been doing some schoolwork, Andreas got five missions written on notes, he had to read the notes and then accomplish. It was great hearing him making every letter sound and then putting them together and finally getting the word in full, continuing to the next word and soon the whole sentense, the satisfaction in his eyes! It is almost hard to imagine that in the beginning you have to take it letter by letter, word by word and how hard it is to get the speed up. Erika has a hard time not to help him out, you can see how it hurts when she can see the whole sentense in one second.
 
Paradise
"It is almost axiomatic, that as soon as a place gets a reputation for being paradise it goes to hell."
This is from a book called "The happy isles of oceania" by Paul Theroux
I strongly recommend this book to everybody who is interested in the Pacific in general and an honest description of the people living here.
Paul paddles the Pacific and his way of telling stories is fun and rewarding. Especially for us who have been around here there is a lot of myths that have to be busted, we know it and he helps us doing that.
The book is also available as a Kindle.
The citation above is fun because we have been discussing living the dream and also the fact that the most misused word among cruisers is "paradise".
Everybody is looking for the paradise island.When some early explorers found what they thought must be paradise, Tahiti for example had the reputation for being very special, with nature of course but the "free" spirit of the people made it attractice, especially for men...
Well being paradise, the misionaries had to go there and change things around.
And as a Fijian said to me, first the Europeans come here and tell us to get dressed or we will go to hell, and now when we are dressed, the Europeans come here halv naked...
 
We try to relax now before the next front with bad weather is going to hit us, tomorrow will be motoring for 24 hours (no wind) and then Wednesday dawn looks like we will get 30 knot winds and rain. After that we shall be able to run for Newcastle.
Look forward to get there! 500 miles to go, at least we are half way!