Day 32, Year 5: This Way or That?
Date: Friday, November 27, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Day with Blue Skies, Rain in the Evening
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia

The good thing about a daily log is that you know what we are thinking and doing at all times. The bad thing about a daily log is that you know what we are thinking and doing at all times. And in these times, our minds change on an hourly basis. There has been a new development in the saga of the English sailing couple presently being held hostage in Somalia. A day or so ago, the Somali pirates issued a video of the couple saying that if the 7 million dollar ransom for their safety is not paid in the next week they believe they will be killed. Then we talked to Jack on the boat next to us this afternoon and found out that he and his wife just recently delivered a boat from the Med to here. He described how chilling it is to transit the Gulf of Aden and to see one ‘supposed’ fishing boat after another. Any one could be a pirate boat, so he said the passage is quite tense. Then we had another couple over for drinks this evening and found that they are going around South Africa. So we are spending a great deal of time researching the South African route and are seriously considering changing our minds . . . again. Our original plan was always to round South Africa, but in August as I was researching the details of that trip, I decided that I didn’t want to be out of video Skype range for as long as we would be if we go the southern route. So we decided to go north to the Med so I could see the grand babies via Skype and then have the possibility of having them visit us in the Med as early as June of next year. Going around South Africa, it will be another whole year before we could see them again in person. That seems like a VERY long time, but better to see them in a year and half than spend time in Somalia as a captive and run the risk of never seeing them again.. Obviously this decision is probably the most important of our circumnavigation to date, so we are going to take our time making the final decision. Tonight South Africa is looking like the way to go. But that could change at any moment. Stay tuned on this one.

I continued working on the website today while Mark did internet research on the South Africa route. We talked to my sister Patsy via Skype video and made arrangements to talk to our siblings this weekend. I cleaned the dinghy and applied a coat of 3 M UV Protectorant. I had cleaned the port side of the hull a couple weeks ago and mark got in the dingy and cleaned the starboard side today Lots of little jobs around the boat keep us busy

By the way, pumpkin pie is even better the day after Thanksgiving.