We made it! My fearless crew didn't believe I'd do it, but I got us to Tahiti. The first thing we all did when we got here (aside from actually getting all sorts of permission to get here) is head inland for a big ol' party. A bunch of vendors were asking us if we wanted to try snorkeling or parasailing and I kinda wanted to smack them. We're all happy to be grounded for a couple days.

Chau met a gorgeous island lady tonight, so we don't expect to see him until we head off for our next destination...he's the other person on the boat with us. He's mainly TJ's friend...they grew up together. Awww.

TJ doesn't know it, but her twin sister is flying in to meet us and should be here tomorrow! I'm psyched too see the look on TJ's face.

Well, I'm off to find a place to donate some of our stuff and possibly volunteer our time tomorrow. We all decided we felt way too hedonistic to just all take a rediculous amount of time off of work and live it up for a year, so we try to do some volunteer work everywhere we go. Although our work in the Gulf should probably count several times. But hey, we're all lucky to have a home, even if it is on The Westender, this year!

-Ta!
-Jack

We've been lazy...we also misjudged the time it would take to Tahiti if we stopped to dive every other hour. So we're a couple days behind. It's funny, because before I got the Westender, Hawaii in my mind was always located just off the West Coast, down between Texas and Alaska...you know, because that's how Hawaii and Alaska are drawn on maps. If you never travelled, you'd never realize just how far away they are from Texas. hahaha.

I love Alaska, by the way. If you ever have the means of taking a cruise around there, I recommend it. Take a small cruise boat though...big cruises around Alaska are a waste. You'll dock every day in another port so no need to busy yourself with a gigantic ship.

The Westender, however, is continuing to get smaller...If I didn't jump overboard a couple times a day, I'd feel a little captive. TJ wishes we had a shark cage...she did a special once on PBS about sharks...she was the helpless diver in the shark cage. Now Shark Week is much better on the Discovery Channel. I'm sure it's her dream to be on shark week.

Okay, I digress.

I've shamelessly led us all off course, and blamed Devon for it. There, that's my confession. We also are running a little low on the fuel, but we should be docking tomorrow. We'd better, because I'm beginning to feel how small this boat is with four people...two of whom are men-types who eat everything in sight.

TJ is now addicted to the collection of DIY tapes we have in storage. They were my dad's. She learned today how to install new laminate flooring and actually tried it in Devon's cabin...the problem is, we don't exactly have a Home Depot out here, so she just glued it down with duct tape. Every time we rock or even step into Devon's cabin, the whole floor makes this farting sound and it moves a little.

I found a bottle of rum stashed in a secret little compartment right near the bow. That was exciting, like finding my own treasure...but the thing is, I know I didn't put it there, and the others knew nothing about it, so who's rum was it? Since I didn't care, I drank it anyway...then I got soooo sick. Devon keeps teasing me, asking me if I'd like a meatnormis omlet sandwich. I think I'mna re-laminate his floor with my used rum!

So before I get gross, Ta!

I just finished reading Polar Shift...I am quite a fan Clive's work, but that Paul Kemprecos guy ... not so much. I also think Kurt Austin's shoulders are way too broad... I mean, I was picturing an Aryan jerk with shoulders the size of a kayak, with a block head on top.
Nevertheless, Clive is still my hero. I gotta say, that end of the world stuff is killer...especially in light of the three weeks I spend wading in hurricaine Katrina mess under water...because they say that might have been them dirty Japs, emitting low frequency electromagetism into the water to create giant tides. Thanks for giving them the idea, Clive!

okaybye

We left Kona this morning and have been spending the day pretty much in the Westender. TJ was dumb enough to watch the movie, Westender, after which I named the boat (look TJ, no prepositions!!)

I decided to watch this time travel movie called Primers mainly because I watched Timeline and was left wanting. Primers is about two engineers who invent a time travel machine by mistake in their garage. I couldn't wait for them to end up in the middle of some war between the French and English (because isn't it always something between the French and English in the olde times?? weird.)

So the movie starts up with this brrrrrrrrr white noise sound of a propane heater, but it doesn't let up...I think this thing was filmed with a camcorder...the old kind that takes the full-size VHS tape. Beneath the brrrrrrrr, you can sort of make out the mumblings of these two guys in a garage. Then you find out that these guys are the stars and they were actually trying to say something important to the film. oops, didn't hear ya, guys!

Finally, without any mounting suspense, the two guys decide that they have time traveled a piece of chalk or something. So they rebuild their machine bigger, and here comes the moment of truth...THE FIRST HUMAN TIME TRAVEL!! oooh.

The brrrrrr sound gets louder and the room flashes (or not) and BAM! the guy goes back in time. But he doesn't end up watching the English fight the French because he has only succeeded in taking himself back 23 hours. 23 HOURS IN TIME!! What the hell good is that?

Well, we learn it's great, if you play the lotto and invest in stocks. But then the engineer guy makes the fatal mistake of calling someone on his cellphone...this for some reason leaves a bad ripple in time. Now they have cheated fate...but wait, this movie forgot that they already messed with fate earlier.

For the next 6 minutes, I went above deck to check on our position and the weather, to see if we could get some good diving in. When I got back to the movie, everyone was shooting everyone at a pool party...I thought maybe I messed up something in fate because this was not the same movie...except for the camcorder type footage.

Then the movie ended. My Lord, I'm renaming my boat "Primers" because that definitely sucked more than Westender.

Weather's good now, I'm going diving.