Mother Knows Best

Summer has always been my favorite season. Growing up next to the ocean, my favorite summer activity was going to the beach and my memories are laced with splashing in waves and building sand castles. However, I always hated putting on sunscreen. Like every other child, I cringed away as my mother slathered lotion on my unwilling limbs. Even now, I dislike the activity and conveniently forget to reapply all the time.

This habit often leads to minor sunburns, but sometimes has much more painful consequences. Last week on the island Adunara, the crew had a play day. We hoisted our downwind parachute sail (the spinnaker) off the bow, and used the power of the wind to fly out of the water up to heights up to about forty feet in the air. It was great fun and we wore ourselves out with all the spinnaker flying, swimming and laughing.

A little later, I began noticing that much of my body was beginning to feel a little singed. I realized that I had completely failed to put sunscreen on any part of my bathing suit clad body besides my face. In the tropics, on a hot and sunny day, this was a terrible mistake. I turned red as a lobster. Even through their sunscreen, Adam, Amanda and Alan also suffered sunburns. Now, the days later, it still aches. Sigh.

What have I learned from this? Well, I will be careful to apply sunscreen from now on, especially so close to the equator. Also, as I am often reminded, mother knows best.

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Rockin the Sway

It's crazy to finally be here. I've been planning to join the crew for a few months now, so it's quite a weird feeling for it all to be coming true. Even on my 40 hour transit (from Korea, to Malaysia to Bali to Australia), I couldn't really believe that it was really happening.

Leaving Korea was quite an undertaking, since I'd gone with cheaper flights, I'd ended up with a rather crazy path to the boat. My first layover was in Malaysia for 20 hours, so I made a trip out to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, for the night. I got to see the PETRONAS Towers, which are some of the tallest buildings in the world, and experience some local cuisine and culture. In Bali, my second layover, I stayed at the airport and chatted with a Malaysian man. By the time I got to Darwin at 3 AM the day after I'd left, I was ready to put down my bags and stay for awhile.

Darwin has actually given me a bit of culture shock coming since I've been in South Korea for half a year. Suddenly everyone speaks my language again, I don't stand out and no one stares. Joining the crew has been quite a change as well. I've gone from entertaining and teaching Korean kindergarteners to provisioning for crossings, repairing the boat, learning how to run the dingy and the various boat appliances, and exploring a brand new country. I'm still trying to break my Korean habits- people look at you a little funny if you bow your head when you are introduced and exchange money with your left hand on your right forearm.

One thing that has been constantly reminding me about my new home is the constant swaying motion. After only 7 nights on the boat, my inner ear has adjusted to me getting rocked to sleep by movement of the waves. This means that when I'm on land, everything gently rocks. It's a bit alarming to be stretched out on a lawn and feel like the ground beneath me isn't stationary. The rest of the crew says I'll get used to it, so now I'm just hoping that happens sooner, rather than later.

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