Life onboard

A warm breeze caresses the deck of our va'a as we cruise steadily across calm seas. Praise God that for the first time in a while the wind is allowing us to sail almost directly toward our destination of Tuvalu, after awkward gusts and sudden wind shifts had had us literally sailing in circles over the past few days. Someone's prayers have obviously been answered on our behalf! And we are grateful.
 
We are now two weeks into our journey home to Samoa, and have yet to see any land. The captain says that we might reach our next stop by the end of the week, and all on board are eager to re-acquaint themselves with the solid earth for a few days. Meanwhile, on board we are living Life at Sea: we read, we write; some study while others entertain themselves and each other with songs and other musical antics. We bake in the midday sun while praying for a cooling respite of rain, and we hope for clear stars and a warming breeze at night. We fish, we eat; we sit back and watch as our belly’s grow softer. We wash dishes, bathe, and swab the deck in salt water. We talk sometimes of base things such as what delicacies might next emerge from Lole's magical fry pan for dinner; and we converse at other times on elevated themes such as how to improve the lives of our people, and what noble purpose might our lives serve upon completing our current sojourn upon our mother Gaualofa. Thus we sail on...

 At the moment it is 3am, my watch shift is done, and the moon sets upon our stern while Orion slowly rises from beyond our bow. Perhaps we should enjoy one more peanut butter cracker and another 'ukulele singalong before bed...or maybe just bed.

 

Sending love to you all.

Bruce and Gaualofa crew.