David's Diary: Thursday, August 7, 2003

Working on Kevin's Twelfth Birthday

Kevin turned twelve today. It is his third birthday away from Canada. Karalee and I found a small bookstore in the marina and we bought the last copy of the new Harry Potter book. The book was only just released in Europe and ever since we left Kos, Greece in late June we have been keeping a lookout for the new book. Kevin is thrilled to be the first in our family to read the new Harry Potter.

Packing is such a Mess

While it is Kevin's birthday, he doesn't get it off. We still have a lot of work to do to pack up and prepare the boat for storage. The boat looks like a disaster area as we pull everything out of cupboards and start to get it organized. We create piles of things to take with us, things to ship home, things to give away, and things to leave onboard Dragonsinger.

Cleaning Ropes

There are numerous chores to do outside. The boat needs to be cleaned and the genoa has to be pulled down and folded. Before the dinghy is cleaned and put away, we fill it with water and fabric softener. We then throw all of our lines into the dinghy where Jocelyn and Allen dance on the ropes. This cleans and softens the ropes, removing accumulated dirt and salt water. All three children, along with Karalee and I put in a full morning.

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, Karalee and Jocelyn baked a cake in the 35C heat. Home baked cakes are a birthday tradition on Dragonsinger and Kevin decides that he isn't going to wait for dinner before having a slice. At the end of lunch we light up the twelve candles and take the cake into the cockpit. Kevin manages to blow out all the candles before cutting up the cake for all of us. We each enjoy our slice as we take our midday break from packing up the boat before resuming our work for the afternoon.