Tuesday 5 September 2017

Eight months of Darwin should be enough for anyone, but this turns out not to be the case. Who knew? In a continuing quest to visit every restaurant and bar in the area - all of them - we have decided to stay for much of another year. There's also the cancer treatment thing, but that would hardly seem enough to keep us here. Anyway, Jan feels much better with the new round of treatment, has more energy and experiences almost no poopiness (rarely used, highly technical medical term derived from the Latin, marginalis poopii).

Having aborted an escape from marina two weekends ago due prematurely moribund battery (AGM 4D, two years old), which declined to start the engine, got sorted to go out this past one after buying an outrageously expensive group 31 Optima. Had a delightful time playing with new running backstay arrangement while sailing (that's where one eliminates the engine and gets pushed around by the wind using sails - ergo the name of said activity). Sails, by the way, are generally either square or triangular as all corners must attach to something, often ropes. More than four gets cumbersome and less than 3 tends to catch little wind. Other high points of the adventure included mutinous unresponsiveness of anchor windlass, mainsail furling motor and generator. Use 'em or lose 'em - extended period of disuse. First two required an excess of manual labor (defined as any) and, although unnecessary for such a short trip, third hampered battery charging. Peaks were consequently shaved off high points of exhilaration.

Friday

As previously mentioned, yoga, from personal observation, entails lying about on the floor. Although ostensibly like napping this is a misapprehension. After much research have discovered that if one is lying on a bed or sofa he is resting, but if reposing on a yoga mat... voila! Jan recently purchased just such an appliance to practice her "yoga" on the boat. Rest of crew, eschewing appearances, just goofs off.

Boat is upside down and sideways for repair of unproductive machinery and to make room in forward bunk (used customarily for storage) and forepeak head (workshop and tools) to accommodate visitor (see below). It's shocking and disheartening how much crap one accumulates while sitting and stagnating instead of cruising.

Buddy Lesley with whom we skied in Lake Tahoe this March will arrive Sunday for an eleven day visit. This will provide an excuse to see nearby Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) and Kakadu National Parks. Kakadu, the size of Slovenia and continuously inhabited by aboriginals for over 40,000 years, is very diverse having lowlands, highlands and rocklands and while beautiful doesn't appear to be a place you'd really want to live. The area reportedly has mammoth numbers of species of every type of fauna, pantloads of aboriginal rock art and uranium. Decision-making Australians don't believe in nuclear power (for clarification, they are fully aware that it exists, but don't want to use it), so sell the element to others for making electricity and bombs and such. This might remind one of Indian Hindus who don't eat cows because they're sacred, but have huge exports for other's consumption. Hey, as long as it makes them feel good about themselves, right?

Jack