Happy Face

OK, free parenting tip.

To try this on your own boat, begin with a 2-year old who is distraught that his mom ran out to the store without him:

Say, "Let's both make a sad face for the camera."  Take a picture.  Show it to him.

Say, "Oops, I didn't do a good sad face.  Let me try it again."  Take a picture.  Show it to him.

Say, "Now let's make happy faces."  Take a picture.  Show it to him.

Say, "Let's try again!"  Take a picture, etc.

Say, "You almost did it, let's try again!"

Say, "I know, let's do a happy face with bunny ears!"

Problem solved.

Next week: World Peace in Eight Easy Steps.

Things, As They Shouldn't Be

I have very few complaints about life here in the Workers' Paradise of the Antipodes.  But there is one complaint that I can't shake - beer prices.

Sierra Nevada pale ale on special at 23 bucks a six pack?  I recoil in horror.

Sisters, Far Apart

One of the highlights from our stop in Tahiti last year was the chance to meet our sister ship, Silver Lining.

That's Galactic on the left, and Silver Lining on the right.  One is a cutter and the other a staysail schooner, but they're two versions of the same hull - the only two Noble 451s that were ever built.

One of the things that helped us to feel better about taking the leap into the unknown of a non-production sailboat was finding the blog that Margo and Frank and their two boys kept - they were sailing Silver Lining all over the South Pacific, and apparently having a great time doing it, so we figured the design must be pretty good.

And now, nearly a year on the dot since we met them in Tahiti, Silver Lining has just left Kodiak, on their way to Homer, where they plan on settling in for a stay.  And we, of course, are down here in Tassie - the two boats are about as far from each other as they could possibly be while still being in the same ocean.

You get so used to sailboats being slow; I thought this was a great example of just how much travelling you can do under sail.