Back to Port Victoria,
Sunday 01.07.2007

It is going to be interesting to see if it is as hard to return to the Maggie B as it was to get back to “civilization” from the Seychelles. The Seychelles are wonderful, but they are a looooong ways away. From Port Victoria to Chicago, it is 11 time zones, 19 hours of flying time and a 15 hour lay-over in Paris (no hardship).

Today we are all converging from all over for the leg into the Seychelles. Frank to Paris from Chicago, Bori to Paris from Budapest, Hannah to London from Halifax and Owen to London from Baltimore. In theory we all arrive in Port Victoria within a few hours. We’ll see. Going out our bags ended up just about everywhere but where we were.

The difficulties readjusting to home were not only 11 time zones, but also being used to the watch system: sleeping for a few hours, standing your watch, boat work, a little nap, watch, some more sleep, boat work, etc. Not “go to bed at midnight and wake up at 8 AM.” Also, a Captain’s skill is to hear new noises and sense a change of wind or direction of the waves. Not necessarily a useful skill if you live on State Street in Chicago, right around the corner from a dozen Irish Bars.

Federal Express and UPS had a real ball with the Blair house. Not only was there the Christmas Rush, but then there was all the new gear and supplies. Getting the right toilet repair kit was exciting! I seriously hope that the Transportation Security Agency didn’t get too interested in my bags: lots of different epoxies; touch up paint for the hull; an air compressor so we can work on the hull and dive down to 60 feet from the pump; specialty hoses; etc., etc. We’ll see what the reaction of Seychelles Customs will be. Owen is bringing out some pine tar to seal some spots on the deck. I bet the TSA spotted that — can’t hide the smell! He said his girlfriend was eager to get it out of the house.

We hope that we will find the Maggie B in the same shape as we left it. There had been some high winds and she dragged a bit, so our friends had to put together a new mooring, as well as tossing out our anchors. I think that she was missing us and went looking for her crew.

It is hard to leave family and friends, but I am very excited about this next leg to Australia. More about the planning for that later.

On a personal note, when I went home in September, I had knee surgery, which has left me with a bit of a limp. When I was home for Christmas, a routine physical spotted a small but inconvenient cancer on the inside of my eye (all cut out and OK). Now I have a limp and an eye patch. I fear getting a hook for a hand on my next trip home….

All is well.