A Riddle.....

There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule.....

At 8 'o clock we get up, and then we spend
From 8 to 9 daydreaming
From 9 to 9.30 we take our early midmorning nap
From 9.30 to 10.30 we dawdle and delay
From 10.30 to 11.30 we take our late early morning nap
From 11.30 to 12.00 we bide our time and then eat lunch
From 12.00 to 2.00 we linger and loiter
From 2.00 to 2.30 we take our early afternoon nap
From 2.30 to 3.30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today
From 3.30 to 4.00 we take our early late afternoon nap
From 4.00 to 5.00 we loaf and lounge until dinner
From 5.oo to 6.oo we have a leisurely dinner
From 6.00 to 7.00 we dilly dally
From 7.00 to 8.00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we got to bed at 9.00 we waste time.

As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done......

Where are we ??!!

And what book did we plagiarize??!!

The winner will get a postcard from the Marquesas.

Royal Court of the Realm of Neptune - The People of the Deep vs. Defendants

King Neptune,
Plaintiff,
vs.

Judith, Jet, Hein and Eltjo Mante
Defendants

Ewout Mante, Captain s/y Bravado (Judge Pro Tem)

Case No.: No. 12-3-456789-1

Longitude: 127-30.000W
Latitude: 00-00.000
Date: March 21, 2009
Time: 1400Z

Trial of Pollywog Crossing the Equator for the first time

SUBPOENA

Dated: Saturday, March 21, 2009

Appropriate Uniform of the Day shall be worn: Sexy Lingerie to please King Neptune may lessen the punishment that is likely due the defendant.

I order and command you to appear before my Royal Court and be initiated in the mysteries of my Special Royal Domain. If you fail to appear you will be given as food to the sharks, whales, sea turtles, pollywogs, salt water frogs and all living creatures of the sea who will devour you head, body, and soul as a warning to all landlubbers who dare to enter my Royal Domain without warrant. It has been reported that the defendant has had the gall to scoff at these proceedings and the authority of King Neptune!! You had better change your ways or suffer the consequences!!!!

You slimy pollywog have been charged with the following offenses, to whit:
1. All: Flagrant disregard for the experience and esteemed position of the good captain of the vessel s/y Bravado.
2. Judith: Failure to appropriately appreciate the beauty of my almighty squalls and associated lightning show.
3. Judith: Showing good spirits at all times, even when finding plenty of the Captain's finger and toenails, when a bad attitude would be so much more appropriate.
4. Judith: Undue hesitation to make a three week journey through my beautifully seascaped realm.
5. All 3 First Class Passengers - Jet, Hein, Eltjo: Showing disrespect for my royal windy seas by lounging in your cabins whilst entertaining yourselves with electronic gadgets.
6. Jet: Failure to appropriately appear with hair properly groomed when my royal messengers, the dolphins, came to check out s/y Bravado.
7. Hein: Providing too much nourishment to my already somewhat opulent, hardworking fish.
8. Eltjo: Resistance to regularly cleanse himself with my royal blue golden water.
9. All 3 First Class Passengers Jet, Hein, Eltjo: Failure to deliver liquorice in copious amounts to the honorable captain of the s/y Bravado.
10. Perhaps the most serious charge of all. Somebody on board may be a Jonah!!!! If so, keelhauling is to light a punishment to be handed out. The captain will be the sole judge of this charge.

These charges are serious and the punishment may be severe. Frankly, there is nothing you can do or say to defend yourselves against any of these charges. As a lowly pollywog you have NO rights!! The captain has full authority of my Domain for the administration of such punishment. You are to appear before captain Ewout Mante and his First Mate Gerbrand Brouwer at his command at 1400Z. Failure to do so will have the most severe consequences!!!

Remember the Two Rules of the Sea:
Rule #1: The Captain is ALWAYS right!!!
Rule #2: If the Captain is wrong >>>>>> See Rule #1 !!!

Signed, Neptune Rex, Supreme Ruler of the People of the Deep

What the children wrote to their cousin Eva (7 year old first grader)

Postcard from the Pacific

Dear Eva:

We sail mail you this postcard for your class project from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are on a 3 week (3000 mi) crossing on sailing vessel "Bravado". We left La Cruz, Mexico exactly 9 days ago on our way to French Polynesia and since then we have sailed 1425 miles. We hope to cross the equator on Saturday, March 21, and Hein, Jet and Eltjo are really looking forward to some presents from Neptune. Did you know that he visits and brings presents for everyone who crosses the equator?! (King Neptune: I give presents, but I also make these children go through a ceremony where they need to wash their hair with filthy stuff and eat even filthier stuff.)

We have seen a lot of wildlife. For instance, Flying fish !
Flying fish jump out of the water, look like little birds (3-6 inches in size with 4-6 inch wingspan), and can fly about 20-30 yards. Quite often we find them on the boat and last weekend, one of them flew into uncle Gary's (your dad) stomach while he was standing in the cockpit.

Twice, we have seen dolphins. They are very playful and will ride with the boat for about 30 minutes. They like the pressure under the bow. We also heard them make clicking sounds and one dolphin had 2 sucker fish attached to it.

We are also surprised to still see quite a few birds so far from land. We've seen them dive for fish and chase each other. Quite fun.

Live on board:
The boat is small; 45 feet and we have 6 people on board: captain Ewout, first mate Gary, skipper and teacher Judith and first class passengers Jet, Hein and Eltjo (Hein also doubles as the assistant cook).

Since we are really close to the equator, we are sitting in a hot tub of sweat; it's pretty hot out here. Luckily, we can wash away our sweat by standing in some very frequent and intensive, natural showers. When these heavy downpours occur, we strip down, grab our soap bars and lather up! Better be quick, otherwise you will be left standing full of soap with no rain to wash it off !

The first 3 days at sea, we were either sea sick or had little energy; but now everybody is in tip top shape and full of energy. We read a lot, listen to music and books on tape and every now and then we watch a movie. Since the seas have been pretty choppy, we were not able to do our usual boat/home schooling program.

Imagine life on a roller coaster, side to side; up and down. And then try to imagine cooking dinner or brushing teeth on a roller coaster!! It's something like that what we experience out here. Quite a challenging environment to live in.

Every morning, we have a "puddle jump net". Through a special boat walkie/talkie, we communicate with other sailing vessels that are also on their way to the Marquesas and French Polynesia. It is fun to hear other people talk to you out in the middle of the Ocean. We also exchange jokes and riddles with a 10 year old boy, Robin, from sailing vessel Hipnautical. There are about 20 boats underway, and we are among the first four.

Weather:
While on a sailing vessel you want the right amount of wind; not too much, not too little. You also want it from the right direction. The last couple of days we spent in the trade-winds. This is an area with fairly constant winds of about 15 mph. Ideal cruising weather! Last night, we had a significant number of heavy showers and thunderstorms. These are called squalls. The captain had to use all his skills (incl computer and radar skills) to navigate through these stormy waters.

We are sorry that it is sent by email, but it is rather hard to find a post office out at sea.

Lots of love,
your cousins Jet, Hein and Eltjo

(and Ewout, Judith and your dad).

The Third Day at Sea

On Tuesday March 10, we said farewell to all our friends in La Cruz and took Bravado out of her slip all the way over to the fuel dock. There we got rid of our last Mexican pesos by filling her up with diesel and left for the Marquesas. That day three boats sailed out: Hipnautical, Apple and Bravado. The winds looked favorable and we covered a good distance. We had one problem though, the engine was not taking in or spitting out any cooling water. So Ewout spent the first two days down below in the engine room. The second day we decided that if the problem was not resolved by 6pm, we would return to La Cruz. There is enough wind that we can sail, but we need the engine for our watermaker and fridge. Luckily, Ewout and Gerbrand discovered that there was an air bubble trapped in the system and they resolved the problem.
In the morning we check in with all the other boats that are underway to the Marquesas. It is really good to hear the voices of the other crews and to know that you are not alone out there. As the Puddle Jump (that is what the run from Mexico to the Marquesas is called) coordinator said: the Pacific Ocean is really really really really BIG.
In the first 40 hours we covered 326 nautical miles (out of 3000), if this holds up we should be there in three weeks. The crew is doing fine. The children are all a little seasick ranging from very mild, Eltjo, to medium, Jet, to somewhat more, Hein. Give it a day or two and they will be over it. All adults are well, Gerbrand has been standing watch from Day 1, which is quite remarkable. It is fabulous to have an extra crew member and doing only one watch at night.
We'll keep you posted.

While we are waiting for wind...

...we are working like mad:
on reading all books in existence before the crossing (on the Kindle)

or hanging on to the last thread of life (the iPhone)

Or................................

Saving the world from destruction (the Nintendo DS)

and
those dreadful things called taxes (the computer).

As for mom, she's working around the clock

on this:

-Jet Mante

Our First Blog

After having referred all our friends to the blogs of our cruising companions for quite a while, we decided that it is time to set up our own blog.
We are about ready to set off on our three week journey across the Pacific. We did all the important preparations: the whole family had their 6 month check-up and cleaning at the local dentist in Bucerias. No cavities!! We did a big Costco Run to provision for five boats. This was very interesting as everyone provisions so differently, for some toiletpaper is more essential others prefer beer & rum. I noticed that Bravado either has the most people on board or are the biggest eaters of the bunch. Someone had arranged a small U-haul from a friendly carpet cleaner, and he brought all our supplies back to the Marina. When we unloaded the van at the head of the dock, immediately a group of Mexican teenagers gathered around us who wanted to buy our stuff. We had to explain in our best Spanish that we were not setting up a shop there. After we stored all our kilos of flour, rice, pasta, peanut butter, toothpaste, etc. it was time to go to Carnes del Mundo and get some meat that will stay well for a long time even without a freezer. We have a freezer on board, that will chill but doesn't freeze. Just in case, I also stocked up on spam....! A couple of days ago I bought fruits and vegetables from the local market. Did you know that cabbage and onion are the longest lasting vegetables? Then it was time for the Mante family to go to the hairdresser. Ewout, Hein and Eltjo now are just a couple of millimeters short of a crew cut. Between thumb and index finger, Judith pointed out 1.5 inch, saying that was how much she wanted cut off. However something got lost in translation, as the hairdresser thought that that was how much she wanted to be left. This very short hair is nice and cool in the heat here, and no other haircut will be needed for a long time! Jet didn't take part in this family activity as she is still growing her hair for Locks for Love. Our crew member Gerbrand (married to Ewout's sister) arrived a week ago and he worked very hard with Ewout to get Bravado ready. We are so loaded with fuel, water, supplies and people that there is hardly any waterline left!! Now that everything is that we could think of is done, there is only one more thing that we need: WIND. That essential ingredient is totally lacking. It looks like we are either going to drift and make it a four (or more) week crossing or use our precious cheap Mexican fuel. Of course there is a third option which is waiting for wind.....and reprovisioning!

Meanwhile the rest of the crew is busy with the following activities:
Jet likes to make necklaces with matching earrings and has been quite succesful in setting up a little business here in the Marina. By now, the women on all different docks are wearing her creations. With her income she bought an Amazon Kindle 2 and loaded 70 books on it for the crossing. If she should get seasick the Kindle can switch over to voice and will read to her.
Hein's favorite subject in school is Greek Mythology, which of course has the least practical use for cruising, that's probably what makes it fun. Hein's hobby is fishing. He has a fishing rod and caught three fish in the past year. Judith and Ewout were too squeamish to skin them, so we threw them back in the water, which was a little challenge as well, because fish have sharp teeth and bite! Now Gerbrand has brought some more serious fishing gear aboard and will help Hein catch our meals at sea.
Eltjo is somewhat accident prone at the moment. There are lots of boys in the Marina who all play together. Some on skooters, some on skateboards and some on rollerblades (Eltjo). They have chosen the steepest 'hill' around and like to go down it with the most speed possible. Eltjo, being one of the youngest, needs to prove that he can compete with the others. This cost him a huge scab on his nose and just as that was healed up, he came home with an enormous swollen black eye and two open knees. Luckily he heals fast.

Ewout is doing taxes, Gerbrand is exploring Puerto Vallarta and Judith is trying to find room to store the last batch of vegetables. We will keep you posted.