Daily Report #40

The big ocean party!

Ton had already announced that we would throw a party on July 14th. We will then be on the road from Darwin for a month. Coincidentally, the French have something planned, but that doesn't stand in the way of our party! Unfortunately, we received a message from the Netherlands that not everyone had received the invitation. Perhaps it was due to the unsettled political situation in that country.
An Ocean Party, because we have now sailed two oceans and made many friends. This was the perfect evening because on the 15th we will get wind again and then it might be a bit too swinging on those high waves.
We invited everyone from the Sydney scene, and Don from Mackay, of course the crew from Lola's Pergola and Karen and Hayden from Darwin. But unfortunately it was too far for them to travel and the Westerly of Karen and Heyden still had a rudder problem. Surprisingly the Borderforce based at the Ashmore Islands did come, they were up for a trip and enjoyed hearing us spell another MEDEMBLIK in the maritime alphabet. And as a surprise, they brought a delegation from the Ashmore bird colony. Frigatebirds, gannets, seagulls and a few terns who seemed so nice that they brought their eggs and sat on the aft deck to brood while the party was in full swing. The water turtle that swam by also came along as well as a few reef fish who showed us the beautiful coral reefs.
It was also really nice that crocodile had come from the Whitsunday Islands. That's a long swim. He had put on a purple suit for the occasion and looked really festive. He said that the swordfish from the Timor Sea could not come, he had heard that it had an accident with a fishing rod. That was a pity. The sun kicked off the party. It was still a little early but she still had work to do on the other side of the earth. She gave a huge light show of different colors as she slowly sank into the sea. The clouds joined in the most beautiful forms of a huge castle in the air, a row of chimeras closed with beautiful balloon shapes. Very nice! Because there weren't that many guests yet, we were watching the show on deck together with our fruit flies and biting beetles that kept their jaws together for a while and a school community of flying fish. The waves had promised to flatten and they did, leaving a pleasant swell.
Then we had time to prepare everything for the guests and to hang the stars in the sky to dress up the party a bit. I made saltwater cocktails and orange juice and baked fresh veggie burger buns with sun-dried tomatoes for the hungry after dancing. When the phytoplankton had arrived and the sea was completely lit up, the dolphins appeared and immediately started a swimming show. You could see them having fun and it was a phenomenal sight to see them darting through the luminescent water, sometimes in formation and sometimes jumping out of the water. I heard a little one tell her mother that she thought her first party was really 'dolphin'. Well that was great to hear! Wally the whale stopped by to take a closer look at the ship and delighted us with a delicious smelling steam fountain to liven up the party. Very special. Ton had once broken down the steering gear for this occasion and made a dance floor there and when the wind made the sails and halyards flap rhythmically, everyone went on the dance floor. After the first dance rounds Ton gave a concert of his best Crowded House imitations and in between the flying fish showed their skills in the shining water. We had to get Kroko off the dance floor because he twisted his partner's leg with every pirouette and ate it too. I talked to him for a while that you can also dance without eating your partner slowly and he understood that and just nibbled some skewers. Later I saw him shuffling with the turtle. You remain an educator. We also had to call the frigate birds to order after they had drunk too much sea water and started tapping others on the head and then begging for food. Really typical frigate bird weather. Halfway through the night the moon came out and the party was complete. Around three o'clock the wind started to pick up and the guests started to leave. The Borderforce took the whole arc of Noah again and the dolphins put the little ones to bed. Crocodile quietly slid into the water together with turtle and they started the long way home chatting. A new relationship was born. We stayed behind and quietly cleaned up the stars and then went to take a nap, tired but satisfied. What a great party that was! And now on to Reunion.

Ton and Mark