April 11- 25, 2009 Repairs and Installations in Opua

Returning to Opua from Auckland, Frank and I spent a very quiet Easter weekend on Destiny. Early Monday our life got real busy, as watermaker people, electricians, and canvas experts invaded our little world and took over nearly every inch of our space. It felt like arriving at OZ! Destiny was swarming with activity. Though we could not have asked for a better crew for the invasion, after a day of watching Christian, Mike and Danny opening bilges, removing electronic and mechanical-looking things, drilling, sawing, screwing/unscrewing, measuring and stomping back and forth taking parts and mechanical things away, I thought I was going to have to leave the planet for peace. There is nothing quite like having her home torn apart (albeit by design and for the advancement of creature comforts), to drive her into near lunacy. And to exacerbate my impending madness, Frank and Bill Rouse (Bebe) were busily installing the external antenna for our Wi-Fi,
running wires and cables in and throughout the boat. I fled!

I perfected my driving on the left side of the road and 5-speed shifting with my left hand skills, while sitting on the wrong side of the vehicle, by going provisioning and to the Laundromat. I even offered to take other carless cruisers shopping just to stay off the boat. I went over to Bebe to play Mexican Train dominoes with Judy. And I read a lot. Frank, on the other hand was in Heaven! He was in the thick of the onboard activity, crawling around the floor and burying his head in bilges to help Christian whenever allowed to do so or when not otherwise occupied with Bill tinkering with wires and cables. When Christian wasn't around, Danny the electrician was back in the same bilges wiring and connecting things – and repairing the faulted windlass connection. These men became part of our lives for over a week, during which time we seriously bonded with them. In fact, we have become friends with them and will connect with them socially when
we return next year. The canvas specialists were just here long enough to measure our large saloon windows for sunshades and to get them installed. Now Destiny is all set and better than new. She and we are ready to move back into the tropics.