Iluka Again

I just re-read Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim, motivated by a search for a quote that turned out to be less well-put than I remembered. I was rewarded, though, by the funniest public speaking scene in all of English-language literature, as well as a bit of wisdom described (apocryphally, I'm sure) as an Arab proverb: Take what you want, and pay for it.

That could be our rallying cry right now, as we find our way into Epoch Two of our sailing lives, which, I/we hope, will be best described in retrospect as, "And then they went on and on and on."

There's a price to pay for living that kind of life, of course. But maybe some part of wisdom is knowing the life you want, and being willing to pay for it.

Anyway, that's one of the great pitfalls about writing about sailing - it can devolve into endless justification of lifestyle choices.

Or, perhaps, "lifestyle" is a word that cheapens those choices, and what we're really thinking about as we sit on the hook here in Iluka and contemplate the future has to do with the essence of life, something much more at the heart of what's important than any question of "style".

Maybe it's time to start thinking again about the value of grand gestures, and a disregard for nearly everything that is generally agreed on back home in the Lower 48.

Oh dear.

~~~

So here's an update on us.

Often I go to the office in the morning. This is me, commuting. Notice the coffee cup on the bow of the inflatable kayak. The blue dry bag in my lap holds the computer.

Sometimes Elias comes to visit at the office.

We make it to a decent number of barbecues. Australians have a knowledge of barbecuing that is deep and subtle. Below are Miles and Melissa and their sprouts, whom we barbecued with last week. Miles and Melissa are the Australians whom we would most like to take to one of those old parties in Kodiak where everyone would have a little too much to drink while we talked from eight at night until two in the morning.

As it was, we had just a little to drink and talked until the mozzies came out and the kids began to get tired and whinge.

Check out two year old Malachy on the grill. He will grow up into a fluid and confident barbecuer.

And then there's the beach. Alisa and Elias get to one beach or another at least once a day, often twice. And sometimes I come along.

Elias takes his beach fossicking very very seriously.

That and tide pools.

Yesterday we were about to settle into our everyday routine when we got an invite to travel down to a beach 45 minutes or so to the south. That's our little party on the right. To the left is kilometers of empty beach. Alaskan friends, can you just feel the sand between your toes?

We went with two other families with little kids.

I had a fun thrash in the surf. My technique still needs lots of refining before anyone would call me a surfer. Elias is laying the groundwork of his own technique right now.

The end.

Growing Shallow Roots

Last night there was a rowdy thunderstorm. You could see the big thunderhead clouds building all afternoon. When the wind built, the lightening was soon to follow. There were continuous bolts for hours. I’ve never seen lightening go on and on like that. The loud thunder cracked and rumbled much later and was accompanied by wind gusts of 35 kts. that sent Pelagic spinning dizzy around the anchor. One other boat in the harbor dragged. The only other time we were anchored in a storm that had Pelagic heeled over at anchor was years ago Terror Bay off the west coast of Kodiak Island. Both times I felt grateful and content to be dry and secure and in the company of the ones I love the most.

Things in Iluka are still pretty sunny-minded, despite the theft of our outboard last week. It took me a few days to rebound from that event, but we have resumed our praise for Iluka as we simultaneously begin planning for our departure in a few weeks. Mike has been working very hard on everything: his book, his new consulting business, plus nonstop work to get Pelagic shipshape. There’s some routine maintenance and some unexpected breakages. Last night he said ‘why should I be surprised that the sink pump isn’t working. I’ve only fixed it twice and everything seems to require getting fixed 3 times”. Today he spent 9 hours rewiring the bugger only to discover that although it does now function, it would also benefit from a new switch. Someday.

We have been here for nearly 3 months, and it feels like we have grown some shallow roots. We’re feeling the restlessness and also the benefits of being in one spot for a while. Here’s Pelagic, in full resting mode with sails off (for annual inspection and minor repairs) and laundry drying in the rigging.

Since February began, Elias and I have had a fun weekly routine shaped around Monday playgroup, Wednesday story time at the library, and Saturday swimming lessons. In between we swim at the numerous ocean and river beaches that are in walking distance to our anchorage. The playgroup has been terrific for both me and for Elias.
The kids at playgroup are great for Elias to play with – they are all struggling with the concept of sharing and they are sweet with their manners. There are crafts, plenty of toys, and we end with songs. We are both on the cusp of making good friends. Here are a few playgroup photos.

The moms at playgroup are incredible, strong, and active women. Most subscribe to the ‘Dr. Sears’ mindset that was also accepted as wisdom by my Kodiak girlfriends. In fact, they have inspired me to include Elias in the meal preparations and he loves it! When he’s not stirring the salad, he sits with a cookbook open and ‘reads’ me a recipe while wearing an oven mitt. It’s gotten to the point where last night he actually asked if we could cook something with eggplant for dinner, so we did and he ate two bowls of it! Here's a photo of our first shared cooking experience, which took place in the unit we rented during Pelagic's haulout in the boatyard.

It will be bittersweet when we sail off, as even shallow roots require some tugging.

Iluka Bummer

Well, we stayed a few extra nights in the holiday unit to finish up all the work we wanted to do on Pelagic. We finally moved back on board today, but it turned out that was a couple days too late.

Yesterday, coming down to the beach, I saw that the oars had been stolen from the dinghy. I swam out to Pelagic, towing the dinghy, and retrieved the outboard and spare oars from the mother ship. Last night I carefully locked the boat and motor to the pier with our trusty cable, and I took the oars back to the holiday unit as a precaution.

This morning, I found that the cable had been cut, and our new outboard stolen.

Bummer.

In a twist, the oars were retrieved on a skiff that a trawler found floating on the harbor. The motor, though, we have little hope of seeing again.