s/v Field Trip

Eight months.  Nearly eight months.  It’s the longest we have stayed in one country since we’ve been sailing.  If you’d have asked me when we started this trip which country we’d likely spend the most time in, Solomon Islands would not have even been on the list!  I don’t even know if I’d heard of it at all before we got further across the Pacific.  But our time here has flown by. Today we need to do all the last minute provisioning and paperwork with Customs and Immigration.  Of course, government agencies are on their own time schedule, so when we climbed the stairs at 8:30 in the morning, all ready to check out, the office was closed.  There was, however, a sign which provided a phone number, so Mark dinghied back to the boat, dropped off the bread and garlic we’d bought, and called the number to see when they’d be open.  Meanwhile, the kids and I perused the fresh market to stock up on produce.  This would be our last chance for a w...

By Elizabeth This is a story with a moral, That doesn't smell like floral! I was so excited to go,
But little did I know! Down my heart went, When I smelled the awful scent. 
Lower it still dropped,
 When hundreds of fish flipped and flopped. Then it hit me,
 The truth I didn't see:  ''This is why we don't eat, Any fresh fish meat!!!  ''All of the fish; small and large, 
Get scooped up in that barge!
 Why do people overfish,
 So they get money like greedy men wish?''  We then started walking,  Wondering, whispering and talking.  Then the guide led us into a room,  That filled my heart with doom!  White boots, hairnets, orange jackets and cloaks,  Made me almost choke!
'' Why do they want to make,
 All of us do it for their own sake?!''  Laughter and giggles soon cured My feelings of looking obscure.  Michael then made our giggles sail,  With his newly done ponyta...

One of our absolute favorite spots was in Morovo Lagoon near a village called Mbili (pronounced Billy).  In fact, we couldn’t stop going back there each time we had the chance, and by the time our Solomons time was up, we had returned three times, all the visits adding up to over a month’s stay.  The village itself consists of the children and grandchildren of Chief Luten, a short, spunky man with kind eyes and a great sense of humor.  He always made it a point to come greet us when we came ashore, and was truly excited that our family had come to visit his. Because we came back repeatedly and stayed for a while, the kids had time to overcome the initial shyness and make some memorable friends.   Eventually, the connections that they made with the children caused them to be rushing to get school done so that they could go back ashore to play.  Every afternoon, they would engage in some new Michael playing 'rubbers' game or activity with the kids.  ...

“Velcome to dee Vaater Taxi. Vhere vould you like to go, Madame?” Michael, oars primed and ready to go, was my chauffeur for our sunset tour. He said he was from France, but his accent sounded a bit more Transylvanian… I called out countries as he started rowing. “France.” “Okay, you vant to have a baguette? A crepe? Vhere vill ve go next?” “Um... Argentina.” “Yes, yes. Vonderful choice, Madame. Argentina it is.” His oars hovered just above the surface of the water as he figured out how to push one and pull the other in order to spin us around and head for the southern hemisphere. “Ve are on our vay. Ve vill have empanadas and see glaciers and penguins!” We continued our role play as he guided me to Fiji and New Zealand. “Isn’t it crazy that you have actually BEEN to most of these places already? Do you have any idea how lucky you are? Think of all the people you know from around the world! And the foods you’ve tried! It’s amazing!” He sh...