All Quiet

It was almost 2 months ago since we wrote on our blog.  Our life is really, really boring with nothing to report.  Just the same old, same old.  Work for both of us.

Late November Alii Nui went on the hard.  So Mark is now busy working on the boat instead of driving.

Pauline, well, she is still at her job.

It is almost Christmas and we are still trying to get our Christmas letter out.  What is there to tell since nothing exciting happened!  Well, since we can't send out a blank letter, we'll come up with something.  So we ask for your patience while we churn up something before Christmas.

Pauline is Coming Home!

This is great news.  However it does cause a bit of drama as I have been doing several projects while she is away.  Not any noticeable projects but they require getting things like different epoxies out, loads of tools, varnish etc.  Get the picture?!  The boat looked like one of those many storms just passing us by whipped through the inside.  Needless to say I have spent the last couple of days trying to stash all the mess and now I just need to vacuum, finish dusting, and do laundry all tomorrow night after work before I pick her up at 6 AM.  I am sure we will cope.  I hope she notices the cleanliness!

Well It Missed Us

For those of you who have been keeping your fingers crossed for us.  Typhoon Francisco has missed us.  It came close enough that they closed schools and most businesses but it gave us a wide berth and missed us by more than 100 miles.  It seems like the whole last two months we have been under threat but this was the closest.  At one point the forecasters had it stopping and intensifying right on top of us.  But it dipped south under us and track a little further west before turning back north again.  There was another one slotted to hit us but it looks like Francisco helped us here and the forecasts now show it heading north and dissipating. So maybe the bad weather is behind us for a while.  Poor Japan is getting hammered this year.  So hopefully next year when we are there they will get a reprieve.

What I Do!

Some of you have been asking for pictures of me working.  Today I brought my camera and handed it to one of the crew.  We had a baby dolphin today as well, but he was too shy for the photo.  However some other members of the pod hammed it up.  He took one of me driving with the rest of the crew in the background.  Unfortunately he didn’t show my feet.  To drive this boat you have to stand on the pedestal and do everything with your feet.  It takes some getting used to, and after an eight hour day you are pretty tired but as jobs go this one doesn’t suck!

Pauline's Screen

Hey Pauline is away so I can post what I want.  This is her first project with her new toy.  She did it in a few hours.  All of my ones took about a week of my time to hand stitch and they didn't look half as good.  The first pic is from the inside looking out, the second is from the outside looking in.  The slight droop in the top was because I didn't push the hatch all of the way open.  The droop looks worse in the photo.  But the nice thing is with the fish weights sewn in the sides it sits nice no matter how much the hatch is open or closed.

Pauline's Away for October

I am not sure if this fits under cruising or not, but it is certainly one of every cruiser's biggest worries.  What happens when our family back home needs us?  For those of you who don't know.  Pauline's mum and dad were visiting her brother in Hong Kong, when her mum fell and broke her hip.  The good news is the doctors in Hong Kong were able to fix the hip and now comes the road to recovery.  So Pauline has flown to HK and once her mom is out of hospital will fly with her to Singapore.  While there she will organise the physical therapy treatments she needs, get a live in maid/care giver and basically make life easy for her.  She is going to be gone the whole month of October.  Meanwhile Mark and Sari Timur are staying in Guam watching the weather which has been pretty exciting for all of September.

My New Toy

I have a new toy!  I am Pauline and my parents are both tailors and I grew up sewing.  After we left on our cruise, Mark and I always talked about buying a sewing machine but we never did.  We were at the Chicago Boat Show one year and saw the SailRite sewing machine and coveted one.  Years later, we finally bought one.  I am really excited and am looking forward to doing sewing projects on the boat.  Here's a picture of the machine.  For those who don't know the SailRite machine, it can sew sails and canvas and leather.  Not quite a commercial machine but more than a home machine.

New Lights

We have been waiting for technology to give us nice LED lights for Sari Timur.  We have been looking but never really found something that compared with the halogen or fluorescent lights we have below.  We have just found some by Marine Beam and are so pleased with the initial order we received we have just ordered some more and some nav lights as well.

Saw My First Sperm Whales

Again no pictures, sorry!  But we had a group of charterers on board Alii Nui and headed out looking for some bottlenose dolphins we had heard one of the other boats had seen within the last hour.  We couldn't find them but noticed a couple of whale plumes and headed over for a closer view.  Great to see it was a couple of sperm whales swinging by Guam on their passage.  We stayed with one of them for about 40 minutes before heading out fishing.

100 Ton Upgrade

No, we are not adding on to Sari Timur.  But Mark did get his USCG License upgraded.  The USCG even remembered to give him the STCW endorsement he asked for last time.  It is still only half as good as his International License but hey we Mericans Do Thangs Differently Here!  Mark also learned the people he did his International training with in South Africa have taken over the Ft Lauderdale office.  Maybe once they are established they can help with some of the red tape with his GMDSS.

Back On Guam

Well we are back on Guam after our whirlwind trip to Singapore.  We managed to see most everyone, even though we were stretched for time.  We also managed to consume lots of food that we were missing.  Got half of the banking done as well as our passports, ICs, driver’s licenses etc. and Pauline got a wedding in.  Not bad by most standards but now it is time for us to be back at work and rest up.  The pace in Singapore is definitely faster than what we have gotten used to in Guam!  Anyway if we did miss you on this trip we apologize and hopefully we can catch up next year when we come back.

Almost on the plane

Well work is finally over for the day and most of the things are done.  The inside of the boat looks like a typhoon hit.  As I was tearing things out to get at all the extra lines and things to secure the boat in case a typhoon decides to hit the outside of the boat.  We have 12 lines down to 4 mooring blocks.  Which those blocks are tied to others.  I have put chaff guards on each line.  Moved most of the loose stuff below.  I left the sails on, except the big genoa, but I did lash them to their booms.  All in the weather looks good for the next 7 days but then this is Guam and 5h1t happens!  Will enjoy the break and it will be nice to see the flat now that it is finished off.

Singapore Beckons

There is a family wedding the weekend of May 25 and 26, which gives Pauline a really good excuse to take time off work and fly to Singapore to rejoin her family for a catch-up.  She will be there from May 24 to June 7.

Mark was going to stay behind and take care of Sari Timur.  However, he had forgotten to renew his Singapore Re-Entry Permit and therefore have to return to Singapore to renew it personally.  It was decided that he will join Pauline on June 1 and return to Guam together on June 8.

It will be the first time since June 2010 that Mark is in Singapore.  It would be fun catching up with our family and friends.  However, we realize it will be a very short trip.

In order to prepare Sari Timur for staying in Guam alone during typhoon season (a little early but you'll never know), we have to put down the typhoon lines and will keep our fingers crossed that none will form while we are away.

We will update more when we return to Guam.

Pygmy Killer Whales

Interesting day out on the water today.  The Spinner dolphins were back after a few days off.  And there were some young ones with them.  On the third trip we spotted a rather large pod of Pygmy Killer Whales that got up close and personal.  No pictures though, sorry I was driving.  Anyway one of the more interesting days out on the water, maybe on par with the time with the topless women.  Of course I got no pictures that day either!

Turning 55

Wow it has finally happened I have reached old age.  Last week was my birthday.  And it was number 55.  That is the age I can collect my CPF.  Of course that was a small enough amount we have decided to leave it  in place.  But the plus side here in Guam is I can go to the front of all the queues, which came in handy when I went to the DMV to register the car.  The actual birthday was fun we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and they put on a cake for us.  After great food and a few margaritas we then ended up in the local brew pub for the Saturday night band.  Turned out to be an alright night.

                                                          The Cake

The Old Man

Our New Ride

We got the settlement check from the insurance company for our truck and we bought this. Our new 'old' ride is a 2002 Nissan Xterra. We hope we will be happy with it like we were with our truck.

We're Staying ....

..., but only for another year.

It is now coming to the end of March.   Mark is still happy with his job as captain of Alii Nui, the charter cat and  Pauline is still happy with her admin job.  The bank account is healthy again.

So, Guam, we are here to stay for another year!  Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that the "T" word will stay away while we're here.

Live Another Day

On February 20, 2013 Mark had the afternoon off.  So he took the truck and ran errands.  In the evening, he picked Pauline from work.  We were looking forward to getting home to the boat, where a couple of nice steaks were waiting to be eaten.

As we were driving in the middle lane going southbound, a blue Toyota sedan came screaming across the road, right in front of us.  Mark immediately applied the brakes but it was too late to stop and we crashed into the side of the other vehicle.  As usual, the airbags deployed but the speed at which the other vehicle was going caused both vehicles to the side of the road and we crashed again, into a huge tree.  By then the airbags had deflated.  Having never been in accidents where the airbags deployed, we smelled smoke and saw smoke.  First thing Pauline did was asked if Mark was ok.  He said "Yes, but I think the car is on fire".  So we both got out of the truck, real quickly.

We saw that the other vehicle had also crashed into a tree.  The miracle is that there is a house between the two trees.  What is also a miracle is that all four of the occupants in the vehicles got out alive.

The police arrived, together with the fire trucks and ambulances.  Even the tow trucks were there.  Mark had filled up 5 jerry jugs full of water and tied them to the back of the truck and these broke loose and crashed into and smashed the storage box in the back and fell onto the road.

The ambulance transported us to the hospital, where we had x-rays, blood tests and pee test to determine if we had broken bones, internal injuries, etc.  About 5 hours later, we received the good news that we didn't break anything and sent home.

The driver of the other vehicle is a 16-year old, pregnant girl with no license or permit to drive and the car was a rental.  It was alleged that she was having an argument with her boyfriend while driving and going at 55 mph.  She crossed the northbound lane, plus the 'suicide' lane and the left lane of the southbound lane, right across our path.  If we did not hit her vehicle, she would have driven right across 7 lanes of traffic and crashed into the house.  I don't think she would have thanked us for saving her life plus that of her unborn child.  She didn't even say sorry for causing the accident.

We are waiting for the police reports and insurance reports but we believe the truck is totaled.  We are planning on leaving Guam in a year's time and are a little upset about losing the truck.  We would now have to look for another truck.  Our trusty, rusty old truck was very reliable and took care of our needs to ferry water jugs and diesel and petrol jugs.  We also paid a really good, cheap price for it and it would be difficult finding another cheap and good conditioned truck.

We are badly bruised up and in pain, and we complain about it but we are very thankful that we are alive and not seriously hurt.  Through this accident, we also came to experience the kindness of the people of Guam.  The EMTs were reassuring and gentle, even if they had to put a neck brace on Pauline and strapped her onto a backboard and gurney, despite her protest.  One of the witnesses stayed till we left in the ambulance.  Pauline’s boss, Tim drove to the hospital to see us.  Our friend John also came down to the hospital and offered help.  Kerry was at the scene almost immediately and helped us take some of our stuff out of the truck.  Chris drove her car to the hospital and left it there for us to use.  The next day, when we returned Chris’s car to her, she invited us to their place for dinner (just so we didn’t have to deal with cooking).  Everyone was so concerned about us and we really felt the love.

Some photos of the truck and the car we hit.  We are still amazed that none of us were badly hurt or dead.  In her dreams, Pauline had wanted to buy a mini cooper but she has now changed her mind.  Now she is looking at armored vehicles!!

 

Accident Update

Well after 22 days we finally got the police report and man is the girl who caused the accident in trouble.  She has 4 citations just on this accident.  Plus her story is not consistent with ours or the external witnesses.  Plus it looks like she may have pulled a runner as the rental car company and insurance company is having difficulty finding her.  Anyway we should be settled with the physical damage sometime next week and our medical stuff shortly after.

Just Signed On

Well I just signed on to be a captain for the charter sailing cat Alii Nui here in Guam.  It is a job I wanted back in May/June.  It comes now at a confusing time as we were getting ready to depart Guam.  Anyway I am taking the job and if I still love it in March we may stay for another year.  If not it will be fast track to get ready to leave in April.  This is the biggest boat in Guam so will look good on a resume (of course Guam is pretty small)!