Day 323, Year 5 Ninety-nine Years of Birthday Wishes
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Weather: Sunny Day with NW Winds 10-15
Location: Nosy Sakatia, NW Madagascar
Our son Justin is thirty-three years old today and Mark’s brother Steve is exactly double that. 33 + 66 = 99 years. That’s a lot of living. And tomorrow Mark’s sister Jeanie will be sixteen. Well, sixteen plus a few decades. So . . . .
Happy Birthday, Justin!
Happy Birthday, Steve!
Happy Birthday, Jeanie!
We talked to Justin on the phone last night and he, Jo, and Ziggy are back home in New Mexico after an extended stay in England with Jo’s family. So welcome home, JJ&Z. The US government has allowed Jo to return while they decide whether or not to approve a ten-year unconditional Visa for her. So at least for now, all is well. Ziggy talked to us on the phone by making various animal sounds on cue. We’re anxiously awaiting a new batch of photos on their Picasa website so we can see just how much he has grown this summer.
It was another low key day making granola, doing laundry, and all of the same old, same old. We did try to snorkel in the same area as yesterday but the water was much higher today. The same beauty was there, it was just far below us. Tomorrow Mark and Bruce and Tristen of Pioneer are going with John from Sakatia Towers back down to the village on the south end of the island to cut up the donated spinnaker to make pirogue sails. The one prototype that Mark made has been trialed and got a thumbs up from the locals, so now they can safely cut the rest of the sails and Mark can get them sewn before we leave here next week. I’ll stay on Windbird and try to name the remainder of the underwater photos and come up with a “Best of.” Madagascar folder to post.
Ed and Lynne of Constance and Carla and Pieter of Odulphus came over for sundowners tonight. Carla called it the Captains’ Meeting as the purpose was to make plans for our trip south and west to South Africa. Odulphus is leaving tomorrow and will check out the end of the month in Majunga. We plan to check out sometime before the end of next week and start our trek south. I think Constance will be leaving at about the same time, so the three boats will keep in touch via a radio net at 5:45 pm each evening. Hopefully we will all reach a point in southern Madagascar at about the same time and head across to Richards Bay in South Africa at the same time.
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| 100914 Day 323 Nosy Sakatia, Madagascar–Underwater Sakatia Channel |
