The sailing has been so incredibly good lately that it is beyond words. So . . . I guess that's it then.

But there are other things to talk about. For all you long distance cruisers out there, here is an important tip: This morning I went to have my daily muffin. I selected a lovely fat blueberry one. I then went up to the bright sunshine of the cockpit and was about to take a big bite when I noticed certain parts of it had become quite furry, the blueberries in particular. I chucked it overboard. The other blueberry muffins followed. The chocolate muffins, on the other hand, upon close inspection, had remained deliciously gooey and were totally fur free. Based on this empirical data it is recommended that, given a choice, when doing your provisioning at Costco, go for the chocolate muffins only. If you simply must have blueberry as well, be sure to gobble them down quickly!

Muffin Update: Later in the day, through some sort of culinary alchemy, Beth converted a huge bag of squishy, over ripe bananas into a bountiful supply of firm and excellent tasting banana bread. All the remaining Costco muffins were, as a result, jettisoned. They pale by comparison. We will now be eating banana bread several times every day for the next week. Maybe longer. To be sure, I will be keeping a close eye on our loaf for fur development.

Back in Vanuatu, Joanna has just stepped out of the Papa's hut with the sheathed carving knife in her hand. Little does she know that she and the knife are about to embark on an epic and danger fraught adventure that will change her life!

VISION OF JOANNA - A Continuing Blog Adventure Set in Vanuatu

CHAPTER 4

Joanna stepped out of Papa's carving hut and followed the worn trail to his storage area. Lengths of carving wood of all sizes and colors were leaning randomly against the wall, protected from the sun and rain by a canopy of corrugated steel roofing. Joanna rummaged about and soon found a short length of soft yellow wood that seemed to her to want to be carved. She tucked it and the knife into a small burlap sack, slipped out from behind the hut and walked hurriedly to her secret area behind the big concrete water cistern at the edge of the village. Joanna often hid there when needing to escape the relentless taunts of the village children. She sat down on a smooth rock and dumped the contents of her sack out on the ground. Picking up the worn leather sheath, Joanna cautiously withdrew the knife and held it in the air in front of her, studying the sharp tip and finely honed edge of the blade.

Suddenly, from behind the edge of the cistern, out leapt Simon Merani and his little brother, Mathew! Banging on an old aluminum pot and yelling at the top of their lungs, their goal of surprising Joanna out of her wits proved very effective! With cry of fright she toppled backwards off the rock, dropping the knife to ground where it lay in the black sand, the sunlight glinting off blade.

"Ha, ha! Got you good Jo Jo, didn't we?" Simon laughed. "But I guess you didn't see us coming!"

He looked over to see if Mathew had picked up on his little joke. Stepping forward Simon picked up the knife. Joanna watched. She was enraged by the two brothers for invading her special sanctuary and was disappointment in herself for being discovered with the carving knife within minutes of receiving it. She wondered what Papa would say. She knew he would be very angry.

As these thoughts went through Joanna's head, Simon was slowly backing away from her, still holding the knife. He called out, "Jo Jo, don't you know that girls can't be carvers? I guess that means you can't own a knife. So it's mine now! Come here and take it from me if you want it back!" And with that Simon and his little brother turned their backs to Joanna and raced away up a nearby trail that led away from the village and deep into the rugged interior jungle of the island. With no hesitation Joanna leapt to her feet, picked up the knife's sheath and raced after them. But with her blurry vision the boys were already out of sight.

The trail was narrow and rugged, laced with rocks, roots and occasional low branches from trees that had fallen. Joanna could hear the boys in the distance whooping and calling her name as they ran ahead. Every few minutes she would trip on an unseen obstacle, sprawling forward, scraping her knees and palms, covering her face with dirt. Her legs ached; her heart raced; but she pressed on, the years of taunts and humiliation fueling her with an unstoppable drive to win this game, to take back the knife from Simon and say enough is enough. The chase went on and on. Simon and Mathew must have been surprised by her persistence. Joanna started to wonder if she could keep going and started to worry about the lengthening shadows as dusk approached.

She tripped again. This time Joanna went down hard, lurching forward and smashing into the ground with her chest, knocking all the wind from her lungs. She lay, face down in the dirt, exhausted and defeated. Tears of frustration started to run down her muddy cheeks.

Just then, cries of fright from up ahead on the trail startled Joanna out of her dejected state. She sat up quickly, trying to recover her breath. Looking along the narrow path she was surprised to see the fuzzy movement of Simon and Mathew running headlong towards her as fast as their feet would carry them! "Run Jo Jo, run!" cried Simon, his eyes wide as giant saucers. "Wild boar! There's a wild boar up ahead. A big one! He's coming after us!" Simon threw the carving knife at Jo Jo's feet, as if ridding himself of an evil talisman that had somehow conjured up the big black boar as retribution for having been snatched away from Joanna. He called back over his shoulder to her, "Run Jo Jo . . . run for your life!" In seconds the brothers were gone leaving Joanna sitting winded and alone on the rugged trail.

TO BE CONTINUED