December 7, 2012
Our morning started with a unique ham radio contact. After speaking with my dad and a family friend over the air, a station in Oklahoma contacted me. He was getting ready to do a Special Events session with a group of middle school students in remembrance of Pearl Harbor. After he started his session, and received several other contacts, he put out a call to the sailing vessel Full Monty. Justine and Colin went on the air with some of his students, answering a few questions about where we were and what it was like to live and do school onboard a sailboat. We were very excited to have taken part in such a special experience.
Later in the day, after school, and after a full afternoon of errands and chores, I thought about everything my kids had experienced that day. It was the first time they had stepped foot into a larger Bahamian town. They walked a mile to the grocery store, and then back again, helping with the shopping and carrying the groceries. They got to see how local fisherman process conch, as well as see their dad refuse to eat the reproductive organ that he was offered. When we returned to the boat, the kids helped hand-grind grain into flour. Then, we completed the day with a fish dinner, using some of the king mackerel that Colin had pulled in a few days before.
It’s on days like these that I’m so thrilled we chose to make the lifestyle change and travel the world onboard a sailboat. This is only the beginning of all the many learning experiences, as well as the memories that will last a lifetime.
the manly man way to grind flour
