by Judy Handley | Mar 1, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 125, Year 5: Chinakkathoor Pooram
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Weather: Inland HOT
Location: Ottappalum, State of Palakkad, India
The Chinakkathor Pooram makes Carnival in Panama City look like a birthday party for a one-year old. Carnival was interesting, but the festival today was totally unbelievable. Just getting from our hotel in Ottappalum to the Sree Chinakkathoor Bhagavathy Temple in Palappuram just five kilometers away was quite an adventure in itself. Once we got to the temple festival grounds, the mass of humanity was overwhelming. And we could see nothing but people jammed in the highway for as far as you could see in either direction. The kuthiras or huge, stuffed horses on a platform carried by at least 40 men, the caparisoned or decorated elephants, the live music from scores of small bands continuously beating out a rhythm for five hours, the dancers in ornately decorated masks, things that looked like whirling Christmas trees, each ‘tree’ carried on a person’s shoulders. It just went on and on. I’m not sure there is any way to describe it to really share what it is like. I think getting the photos posted will help tell the story, but you have to hear the people and the constant beat of the drums to get the full effect. We’ll get video up as soon as we can, but in the meantime, you can search for this festival and see video of past years on the web at http://www.keralatourism.org/video-clips/chinakkathoor-pooram-707624724.php. It was definitely a once in a life time experience that we will never forget. There was one big disappointment in that the parade of the decorated elephants was so late in the evening that we couldn’t stay to see it. We did get to see the elephants, but not in all their glory. But the decision was to either stay and watch the elephants and walk through thousands of people in the dark or leave before sunset and miss the elephant parade. Walking through the crowds after dark just didn’t seem like a good idea, especially since we were the only white people among the thousands, so we left early. There were also a few apprehensive moments during the day and evening, but there were so many wonderful people who made sure we were safe that all was well. So that’s the short story. I’ll now continue with the detailed version of the day.
Our day began with a ride to shore with our agent, Nazar. We then hopped in an auto rickshaw and headed to the Ernakulum Junction train station. Our train arrived about a half an hour late, but before 10 am we were headed north. I was really sorry that I hadn’t brought my laptop as there were actually laptop plug-ins on the train. We were in an air-conditioned car with fairly comfortable seats. Two hours later, we arrived at Shonaur Junction. We exited our AC train car and were greeted by the hottest blast of wind I have ever felt. It was obvious that we were no longer on the coast. The heat of the inland was intense. But on we went. We hopped in an auto rickshaw and made our way to the Hotel Aramana in Ottappalum. I had called to make reservations and talked with someone named Krishna Kumar. When we arrived at the hotel, he came to greet us and knew I was Judy without me saying a word. He had expected us two hours earlier and I had to explain that we changed our plans. I felt bad that I hadn’t called to tell him, but I’m not used to people caring whether or not you arrive. India is different. Once you call someone to make a reservation, they feel they must take care of you. What a nice change from what we are used to in the US. The hotel looked great, but as we walked by the hotel bar, it was sounding a little rowdy and it was only noon. Kumar explained that the festival time is special and people really celebrate. We learned as the day went on that ‘celebrate’ was an understatement. Kumar took us to our rooms, made sure the AC was working and told us to have a little lunch and rest and get to the festival before three o’clock. There was a room at the end of our corridor that said ‘AC Family Restaurant.’ We opened the door and went in to find about four tables and a waiter. Obviously food was being brought in from a main dining room somewhere, but we loved having the convenience of eating in a quiet room just a few doors from our rooms. It was about two o’clock when we finished, so we decided to head to the temple. Kumar found a rickshaw for us and off we went-but not far before we found ourselves behind a huge group of men blocking the road as they were carrying one of the horse motifs to the temple. Immediately our rickshaw driver made a left turn and off we went through the back alleys of somewhere. He would head back toward the main road from time to time, see the traffic blockade due to the parade, and head off in another direction. He tried to cross police barricades, but that didn’t work, and finally he indicated that he had taken us as far as possible. We got out and started walking. Mark and I didn’t have hats with us and the sun was unbearable. Some young guys sitting in the shade saw us and came to us with paper visors. I then got out a silk scarf I was carrying and also threw that over my head. The road was lined with people and still more people were walking toward the temple. There were drumming bands and brass bands in the road along the way. Some were playing, some were not, but just walking among so many people was quite an experience. The people got thicker as we approached the temple, but when we looked behind us, we were glad we had come early. There was just as huge a mass of people behind us and in front of us.
When we got to the temple we found a place to stand in the shade where we could see the kuthiras or stuffed horses. I left Mark and Ed to walk closer to the temple to take some photos. As I walked in that direction, I started feeling a little uncomfortable. Not only was I the only white person in sight, I was the only woman. So I scurried back to where Mark and Ed were standing. They had met a man with two young sons and another man who was trying to explain things to them. About that time, an older gentleman approached us and basically told us to move. At first we thought he was being rude, but then we realized he was trying to get us to go into a covered shelter where the press and policemen were standing. He kept saying something about fighting, so we went and the police let us enter the special area. Because we were obviously foreign tourists we evidently had priority seating (although there were only a couple of plastic chairs). I felt uncomfortable at first, but once the festivities were underway, I understood why we were there. Each of the huge stuffed horses being carried by more than 40 men were in a competition. One kuthira or horse motif would move to the center place and the men holding the platform would work into frenzy and then throw the horse and platform into the air as far as they could. We then realized that this was an athletic competition of sorts and then we also realized that the platform bearers were drinking some alcoholic brown liquid and that tempers easily flared. A fight broke out and I was glad to be in a shelter with the police. They were doing nothing to stop the fight, but at least we felt protected. The throwing of the horse platforms was spectacular, but it was marred by the flaring tempers. Eventually police came out of nowhere and escorted a couple of men from the festival area. By this time we could see the parade of elephants far in the distance and we thought they would arrive soon. But at least an hour went by and there was no movement. Finally, Mark and Ed left me in the protected shelter and they went in search of elephants. I stubbornly stood in my little space in the shelter where I would have a chance for a great photo when and if the elephants arrived. I was pushed and shoved in all directions by other people, but I held my own. Then Mark and Ed returned and said they had been able to get good photos of the elephants and that we should probably leave as it was approaching sundown. I agreed, although sad that I wouldn’t get to see the parade of elephants. But I did go to see them up close. They were magnificent with large, intricately designed gold plates covering from the top of their heads down onto their trunks. The backs of the elephants were covered with brightly colored carpets and each elephant driver carried a decorative parasol.
As dusk approached, fireworks went off, temporary temple structures lit up and more and more people arrived. So we tried to head down the highway. But the road was packed with bands, floats, and more people than I could imagine. A friend that we had met earlier in the day found us and said we should follow him. I have no idea how he found us among the thousands, but he did and he walked with us for at least a kilometer or two to get us out of the packed crowds. At one point, we head someone say that there was a fight ahead and we realized just how precarious our safety could be. In such crowds, you could easily be crushed or trampled by people innocently running from a fight. We were shoulder to shoulder with no place to run, but we just kept following our friend who eventually helped us find a rickshaw back to the hotel. Whew! It was a long, hot afternoon with some spectacular memories. But we were hot, tired, incredibly dirty from the constant dust kicked up by human movement, and really glad to get back to Hotel Aramana. Krishna Kumar met us again and made sure we were all set for the evening. Needless to say, we slept well.
by Judy Handley | Feb 27, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 124, Year 5: Time for a Vacation
Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010
Weather: Hot and Hazy-No Sign of Rain Forever
Location: Bolgatty Hotel Anchorage, Cochin (Kochi), India
Lots of Indians travel their country as tourists. Many come here to Kerala which is known as God’s Own Country. One of the main attractions is the backwaters, and all of the tourist boats come right through our anchorage. The tourist boats come very close and we hear the guide blaring on the loudspeaker about visitors from America. Then everyone on the boat looks at us as we are washing clothes, hanging our underwear on the life lines, cleaning stainless, or whatever we are doing. And I realize that we are the attraction, not the tourist. I’m sure the ladies doing laundry in the backwaters by slapping clothes on rocks feel just like I do when the tourists take photos of me doing my laundry. Interesting!
After our trip to the mountains a couple of weeks ago, I emailed my daughter-in-law Jo who is from the UK asking her how so many young people from there can afford to travel in India. She sent back an explanation and a link to a website that totally astounded me. The website was a Wikipedia site comparing the vacation time required by law organized by country. I quickly scanned down the list and saw that many countries require twenty-some days, some more, some less, but when I got the United States there was nothing but a footnote. Here’s what the footnote says: “US law does not require employers to grant any vacation or holidays and about 25% of all employees receive no vacation time or holidays. (There was reference here to the No-Vacation Nation.) For employees that do receive vacation, 10 working days with 8 national holidays is fairly standard. Members of the US Armed Services earn a total of 30 vacation days a year, not including national holidays.” So the US with 10 days and Canada and Mexico with one to two weeks, makes North American look just like Asia. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Viet Nam all listed 7 to 10. And India listed 10 days. All European countries all seemed to list four to five weeks. So, not only are Americans far away from European or Asian vacation spots, they wouldn’t have time to go there even if they had the money. Americans work hard, and it is really difficult to find that balance between work and life when the time is just not provided. It is a beautiful world out here and I hope my children will get to see more of it while they are young than Mark and I did. When I left on this circumnavigation, I had only been out of the US two times to visit in Canada. Mark had been to Canada once and Mexico once and had worked in Samoa for two years. But that was it. And speaking of circumnavigations-our friends Jean and Ken on Renaissance 2000 are back in the Caribbean completing their circuit. They were in South Africa the last time we heard from them in late December, but they went speedily north to Martinique. Congratulations to Jean and Ken on their dream fulfilled!
Update on shipments: DHL still says our compressor is enroute from Chennai, the toilet repair kit from West Marine left Paris last night, but no further word on that, and we received a package from our daughter Heather today with important tax info, basil and arugula seeds, and clock replacement parts for our ship’s clock. We’ll have to wait until we return from out little foray north on Monday to check with DHL and FedEx again. But things are looking up.
This morning I read in the Lonely Planet that indeed you can book train tickets ahead of time. I had understood from the Tourist Office here that you cannot, but when I went online I found that India has a most sophisticated reservation system ever. I spent an hour getting us into the system only to find that I could not use a Visa bank card to make the reservations. It had to ba a local bank card. But I could see the train schedules in detail which was wonderful. Wish I’d read the back section of the Lonely Planet before today. So Mark and I went to town to see if we could make reservations at the station. I had been there once before and found it overwhelming–so many people, so many posted schedules, and long lines to stand in to get information. But we kept standing in line and asking questions. At the ticket counter we were told we could not buy tickets until in the morning. But I went to the Tourist Information counter and found out there was a reservation office somewhere outside the station. We kept asking people and finally found the place. The reservation office was very organized and efficient. What we found out was that we could not make a reservation on the 7:30 am train we had planned to take north because it was just a ‘regular’ train (fight for your seat), but we could make a reservation on a 9:20 am train for ACC-air-conditioned chair. Sounded good to us, so we did that. We will get to the festival just after noon, but that will give us a whole afternoon and evening of festivities. We will return on Monday and arrive in Ernakulum at 1:30 in the afternoon. Just going to the train station and figuring things out was an interesting experience. And I’m sure the train ride will be interesting as well. We’re looking forward to the ride and to the festival. I’m not sure we will have internet where we are going, so it will probably be Monday night before we log in again.
After leaving the train station, we walked down Durbur Street toward the waterfront. There was one fabric shop after another, and I just had to duck in and look at the beautiful cotton and silk fabrics. Saris are sold as a long piece of material with a separate piece sold to be made into the blouse and another piece as the scarf. Other combinations are sold to make pants with a long tunic top and a scarf. I love the embroidered materials and if I had the money, I would buy every combination that I love just to look at them. We ended up buying a few pieces. With each purchase, Mark would ask what I was going to do with the fabric. I respond by saying that this one looks like so and so and this one looks perfect for another so and so. By the end of the afternoon, he was asking, “Whose sari now?” If you are old enough, you’ll get the connection.
by Judy Handley | Feb 26, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 123, Year 5: A Little Extra Protein
Date: Friday, February 26, 2010
Weather: Hot Day with Late Afternoon Sea Breeze
Location: Bolgatty Hotel Anchorage, Cochin (Kochi), India
Writing a daily log like this bares your soul to anyone out there checking out Handleysail.com. I have never really worried about that as I feel I am writing each day to my family and good friends. But this morning when I discovered weevils in our food supply, I thought maybe I should just not mention this to anyone. But then, I didn’t feel honest, because I have always written what is happening each day just as it happens. So the bad news is that some pasta and rice bought in Thailand and all the rice we have bought since arriving here in India are all crawling with weevils. Yuck! In our four and half years of world cruising, we have never encountered these little buggers, but now we know them well. Mark and I spent the entire morning meticulously checking every item in every storage basket in our forward head. That has become a food storage area and a week or so ago, I bought four kilos of rice here and just threw them into the storage bin. I had promised to vacuum seal them quickly, but somehow the days have gone by and I didn’t get the job done. When I got the packages out to vacuum seal this morning, the critters inside were very obvious. I threw out one bag, but went ahead and vacuumed packed the other three. I figure the weevils cannot live without air and when we open the packages for use, we’ll just enjoy the extra protein!
But unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. I have four milk crate-sized bins in the forward head, so I decided I should check each one for unwanted critters. The top bin was fine. The second one contains Oreos and TimTams for Mark, crackers, and soft and hard taco shells-no critters. So this is good. The third bin is for pasta-fusilli, vermicelli, bow ties, shells, and rice vermicelli. Well, the vermicelli bought in New Zealand in 2007 and the vermicelli bought in Thailand were all fine, but one bag of the fusulli from Thailand was absolutely riddled with weevils. Both bags of bow tie pasta bought in Thailand were also horribly infested, so out they went. Then I got to the bottom box of rice bought in Thailand. I hadn’t vacuum packed it because it looked airtight. Big mistake. I vacuumed packed anything that still looked passable, cleaned the milk crates and wiped the outside of very single package and then put everything away, liberally sprinkling bay leaves and whole cloves every where. I know weevils are a common problem with cruisers in this part of the world, but I have just never had to deal with this. We will check the milk crates regularly and hope that vacuum packing suffocated any wildlife left behind. And we’ll just enjoy those suffocated little weevils as extra protein in our diet in the coming months.
Mark, Ed, and I went into Ernakulum for lunch today and then did a little shopping. Ed bought 2-stroke engine oil and Mark bought aluminum bar to turn Windbird into a jail before we arrive in Madagascar. People there are so very poor and unfortunately you have to make sure you are locked in at night so no one can get inside. So Mark will make little grates to install in our hatches so no one can get in. I then bought more onions, we all bought little rag rugs to use for various purposes, Ed topped up his cell SIM card, we bought more Indian snack food that we have learned to love, I bought cloves and cardamom seeds, mailing envelopes, scissors, and a garlic press, and then we headed home. It was a successful shopping trip and a needed break from being on the boat.
Mark and I have been working on getting photos uploaded to the website and we now have successfully uploaded photos for Days 94, 95, 96, 100, 103, 116, 119. And more will be coming soon.
Our West Marine toilet repair kit has been in Paris for the last 24 hours, so we hope it is enjoying its time there. Our compressor seems to be on its way here from Chennai, but there was no update today. Hopefully it will arrive in the next day or so. And we talked to family in Florida this morning to arrange to have a few West Marine goodies sent back here when Lynne returns. My sister-in-law, Sue, and her husband Brad live in Boynton Beach, the same town where Lynne is staying while visiting with her mother and family. So we talked to Brad this morning and gave him our West Marine wish list. He will do the shopping and get the things to Lynne to bring back to us. So thank you to Brad and Sue for doing this shopping for us.
by Judy Handley | Feb 25, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 122, Year 5: Frustrating Day-But Progress
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Weather: Cooler Today with More Wind
Location: Bolgatty Hotel Anchorage, Cochin (Kochi), India
Here’s how our day went.
10:30 am-Called DHL to check on compressor delivery. No change. Still in Chennai, but will call back in 10 minutes to report on progress.
11:00 am-No call back, so we called again. This time they needed an email address, again, so they could send requests. Will call back at 2:30 pm.
Noon-We sent the letter they requested with signature stating that we need the compressor to replace one that is that working. We say ‘replacement part’ over and over in the letter just to make the point that we are not importing this into India for sale.
2:30 pm-No call back, so we call again and find that the young woman we have been dealing with is on break. We wait some more.
4:00 pm-We call again and find that there is no resolution. We will have to wait until tomorrow.
This is how our day went. In between all of these communications I continued to work on organizing photos and Mark worked on tightening our stanchions. The stanchions are stainless poles that fit into deck fittings. Our life lines run through the top of the stanchions, and you want this whole system to be secure; it’s what keep you from falling off the boat. The set screws at the bottom of the stanchions keep them in place, but those set screws constantly work loose. So Mark drilled through and put in bolts with nuts. Hopefully this will provide stability. So some progress was made, but the constant checking of email, writing letters, scanning them in, and making more calls made for a very disjointed day.
But here’s the good news. I just checked the DHL website and it says ‘Released for Delivery.” So maybe the compressor is really on the way. It will take two days to get here, but we will be ecstatic if it reaches here by Monday. I also checked the Fed Ex website and it says our toilet repair kit has left New Jersey and is on its way. Our only problem on that one is just where it is on the way to. We have been assured that the incorrect address has been corrected, but the website still says it is on its way to ‘Kevala’ which doesn’t exist as far as we know. Since the last one went to Indonesia, we will just have to wait to see where this one lands.
Tonight Ed of Constance came over for happy hour drinks and for dinner. Things are going well with Lynne’s mom in Florida. The family is gathering and slowly Lynne’s mother is regaining some strength. For tomorrow, my hope is that we get confirmation that what we are seeing on the web tonight is really happening. We will also go ashore to do some shopping-some provisioning for food and some fun shopping. So goes life here in southern India.
by Judy Handley | Feb 24, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 121, Year 5: Unbelievable Shipping News
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Weather: Clear, Super Hot Day; 94 degrees F inside Windbird
Location: Bolgatty Hotel Anchorage, Cochin (Kochi), India
West Marine does not get an A for effort. After talking for the hour and a half last night to Port Supply International Sales, we got confirmation today that a new toilet repair kit was sent to Kevala in India. So this time they got the country right, but the state wrong. It should have said Kerala. And they sent this package International Economy instead of International Priority, so we will have no idea whether we will get the package until after March 3rd. Then we get a call from DHL saying that our compressor could not be sent from Chennai to Cochin by air because the word ‘refrigerator’ was on the packing slip. They were going to send it by truck, but now there is another hold up. They want a VAT Tax # from us and we have no such number. We have no idea why DHL needs this since the package has already cleared Customs, but the bottom line is that we will know nothing until noon tomorrow. All of this is very frustrating, but we can only deal one day at a time. Hopefully the compressor is really on its way to Cochin. It is a 16 hour bus ride from here to Chennai where the compressor landed, but I have a feeling it has not left there yet. I guess Amazon gets the only thumbs up on shipping. Good for them!
Lynne made it to Florida and her mother is in stable condition. This was very good news. Lynne’s mother is 88 and has gone through a great trauma, so recovery will probably take some time. Neither Mark nor I still have living parents, so we have already gone through all of the decisions that must be made with aging parents. It is not an easy thing and we send our thoughts to Lynn as she and her sisters and brother deal with this.
I worked more on photos this morning and Mark did more work on polishing stainless. I also worked on making reservations for a hotel where we will stay when we head north to a Hindu festival this weekend. Mid-afternoon we went to town to check in with the Tourist Information lady at the main ferry terminal. I wanted to share our plans for going to the Chinakkathoor Pooram this weekend and get her input. She suggests we go by train but says we can’t buy the tickets ahead of time. In order to catch a 7:30 am train on Sunday morning, we will have to have Nazar pick us up at 6:30 am so we can get to the train station by 7 am. Hopefully all of this will work and we will reach Ottappalam by 10 am, check into our hotel, and then go to the temple for the festival. This is a festival that will be vibrant and colorful. Poorams refer to congregations of decorated elephants. So we are going to see the caparisoned (elegantly decorated) elephants (but not until sunset), kuthiras which are like huge horse piñatas carried on poles, kaalas which are like the kuthiras but are bulls instead of horses, and then a mass of people in the Sree Chinakkathoor Bhagavathey Temple. Our hotel is very close to the temple and the hotel is only 5 kilometers from the train station. So hopefully all will work out well and we will be back in Cochin by mid-day on Monday. I just couldn’t leave India without seeing one of these festivals, so I am so glad that one is happening and is only about three hours away.
One bit of good news for today-I found potting soil. Well, at least soil. The friends who visited with Lynne and Ed on Sunday had said I could get soil at Cochin Blossom on Market Street. So Mark and I walked all along Market Street looking for this place. We didn’t find it, but we did find a nursery that Mark had gone into a few days ago but had no soil. I went in this time and was told that potting soil is just not being delivered to here and that they had none. I asked the woman if she knew where I could find Cochin Blossom. She replied that I was there. When I told her a local woman had told me to come there to get soil, she agreed to sell my 5 kilos even though it is a precious commodity right now. She also invited me into the back room to see a 400 year old synagogue. You just never know what you are going to see here. So now I have my soil and if I just receive the seeds that my daughter sent, I’ll be able to continue with my onboard gardening. I have Thai basil, arugula, chives, and sweet basil started, but wanted the soil to plant more sweet basil and some lettuce. Since we will have nothing green in the Chagos, I think these will add significantly to our diet. Lynne started her basil weeks before me, and she has been enjoying pesto since we were in Thailand. I can’t wait to catch up.
by Judy Handley | Feb 23, 2010 | India, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 120, Year 5: This and That
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Weather: Hazy, Cooler Morning; Clear, Hot Afternoon
Location: Bolgatty Hotel Anchorage, Cochin (Kochi), India
Yea! The first convoy of sailboats cleared ‘pirate alley’ and reached Aden in Yemen today. We are so thankful to know that they have arrived safe and sound. The World War II convoy strategies they employed worked. Robert and Tina of Shirena have sent daily reports and it has been most fascinating to follow them. They did not see pirates but they ‘witnessed’ an attack on a merchant ship on the radio. The merchant ship radioed a warship for help, but Robert said the captain was certainly not as responsive as he thought he should have been. The captain just kept asking questions about the number of attackers, types of weapons (to which the reply was “large, large weapons”) while the merchant ship crew was fending off the pirates. Only after a second attack was repelled did the warship commander say they were on the way to help. But by the time they arrived the pirates were no where to be found. So the threat is still out there, but at least the first twenty-five boats made it in safely. I guess if we hadn’t chickened out, we’d be in Yemen right now, but then we wouldn’t have seen India or be going to the Maldives or Chagos or Madagascar and South Africa, and we are now getting quite excited about each of those stops. The arrival of the Madagascar books yesterday got us on a roll and we spent all of this morning researching anchorages along Madagascar’s northwest coast. After lunch we turned our attention to boat maintenance. We borrowed a broom from Constance to sweep the dirt off our sail cover and the top of our dodger and bimini. We then washed down the cabin top and polished more stainless. Mid-afternoon, I stopped to work on photos and Mark continued with the stainless polishing. While we were doing this, we could see that Ed was cleaning his waterline from his dinghy and just about the time I came in to work on photos, he called and said he was working on a newsletter and wondered if I had any photos of Constance on the passage from Thailand to here. I did and he came over to get those. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the photos off the memory stick, so he just included a photo of Windbird instead of Constance. Constance and Windbird are the only boats with people aboard in the Bolgatty anchorage and today we both spent our day doing a little of this and a little of that.
Saying that reminds me of Dave and Judy on Freebird. When they checked out of India the officials kept confusing Freebird with Windbird. They finally asked while pointing wildly to the official documents, “Are you this bird or that bird?” Judy assured them that they were ‘that bird’ which makes us ‘this bird.’ Now when she emails, she always puts ‘This Bird from That Bird’ in the subject line. When they emailed yesterday afternoon, they were finally sailing for the first time in seven days. Hopefully the wind will continue and they will reach Salalah in Oman soon.
Our best story of the last twenty-four hours is about a call to West Marine International to check on the order we placed for toilet repair parts. The parts were sent to Bolgatty Place (not Bolgatty Palace) in Indonesia (not India) with a zip code that we certainly didn’t supply. FedEx is telling us that the package must come back to West Marine in the US and be sent to us from there. We talked to West Marine tonight for about an hour and a half (thank goodness for Skype) and the end result is that (we think) they are going to send a replacement package to us, but that took a lot of doing. We had a wonderful Hispanic woman named Teresa dealing with us and she finally got through to her supervisor who approved the shipment. Unbelievable that it took so long, but we are so happy that West Marine finally decided to do the right thing.
We have not yet heard from Lynne, but then she has still not reached Florida. I’ll have to report on her arrival in tomorrow’s log. I’m not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but one activity will be going to the market to buy more onions. So that’s it from Windbird for today.
