At one time, Michael and I were trying to avoid coffee, trying to stay away from acquiring a physical addiction. Our friends aboard Britannia, Amanda and Krister, convinced us we've been looking at it all wrong. Coffee is a great pick-me-up in the morning, they said, and there's nothing wrong with having a cup or two in the a.m. Besides, coffee contains anti-oxidants.
And so we partake.
Two of my most memorable days of this trip involve Coffee Time with Piko and Britannia aboard WGD. The first was back in Taha'a in French Polynesia, when, on a rainy day (our biggest non-stop downpour to date), the Laurens and Krister/Amanda came over at 10 a.m. for what was supposed to be a cup of hot coffee. We added baguettes and French cheeses, and as time went on, we made a large pot of lentil soup. The party ended at 5 p.m. We watched back-to-back movies about global warming (An Inconvenient Truth together with The Great Global Warming Swindle) and followed that with a heated debate about whether in fact our oceans are melting and the the world as we know it is coming to an end. We're still not sure.
Two days ago, being the day we left Tonga, was the second such get-together. Piko and Britannia came over for a hot cuppa and crepes (with carmelized onions and cheese, or bananas and chocolate, no less!). This time the conversation centered around what we are all going to 'do' once we get back to real life. It was quite personal, emotional, intense and amazing all at the same time as we focused on each one of us individually to talk about our dreams and our fears. The party ended at 3:30 - only because we had to finish up the provisioning before heading out on our passage. This may in fact be our last get-together for quite some time as Piko and Britannia are heading to New Zealand from Tonga in a few weeks, while we continue heading west for Australia. We've vowed to rendez-vous again when we are all on the same continent for some more extended 'chillaxing' together. The Pikos and the Britannias are like family.
Friendships are grown fast and intensely when you buddy boat, reminiscent of my childhood camp days. There's lots of love and laughter, sharing of ideas, dreams, boat parts, skills and food, to name just a few. And of course coffee.
Coffee is a beautiful thing.
-Barb
En route Tonga to Fiji
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At 9/2/2011 13:39 (utc) our position was 17°53.33'S 177°45.96'W
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Barb, I've been following your blog since you left Mexico. Krister and Amanda are our friends that got away! Your post confirms that in the next couple of weeks before we set sail that we do indeed need to figure out how to turn our barbecue into a coffee roaster. Coffee is important for far more than waking up in the morning! Have a great sail to Australia!
ReplyDeleteBarb don't worry to much about the coffee, your adventure sounds amazing, just be careful you don't drink to much of it as it's horrible for your nervous system, keep on sailing
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