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A MODERN DAY MIRACLE |
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Above: Masala anchored at Shaw Island yet again, this time after the navigation computer blew up. |
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MONDAY 18 JULY – DEPARTING SHAW ISLAND FOR LINDEMAN ISLAND (supposedly). All was set. The anchor was about to come up at the start of our second sail to Lindeman Island and attempt on the summit. A sharp “crack” noise issued from the vicinity of the navigation station. The navigation computer was dead. Battery removal and reinsertion, followed by a reboot, is usually the best way of fixing the problem. But not this time. ist kaput. |
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The spare was retrieved from its cupboard. It was going to take a while to get the spare up to speed as a lot of stuff from the navigation computer was backed up but not installed or copied across yet. Well, the weather is still a bit dodgy so maybe we’ll just stay another day at Shaw. It will be a good opportunity to make one more trip ashore (or is that “ashaw” – “shaw” jokes were rampant for a week, are you shaw?) and explore some beaches further to the east. The dead laptop was put in the cupboard with battery removed, in place of the spare. Little were we to know the consequences.
A few days later, I said to Leanne, “How about we get out the dead navigation computer and swap its DVD drive for the one in the spare machine since the spare only has an old drive?” “Good idea,” she says. While we are at it, we whack the battery back into the dead machine just for the hell of it and press the boot button. It starts. It has been going perfectly ever since. “It’s a miracle! We now have a self-healing cupboard,” I say. “Hey Leanne, perhaps you should shove your head in overnight and it might fix your eye.” The eye gives me a steely glare.
Still, the self-healing cupboard is not the only miracle aboard. We also have self-cleaning shirts. Yes, it’s true. With long intervals between marinas for us, by choice, clothes washing is an issue. We wear only pure cotton shirts as these are by far the best at withstanding BO. We try to get three days out of a shirt. Sometimes this works, but if there has been a “heavy” day they often die sooner. No problem. Chuck the shirt in a corner and leave it for a few days. Voila, it is fresh again – the miracle of the self-cleaning shirt. For unknown reasons, some shirts are skilful at self-cleaning while others never cut the mustard. The worst part is having to sniff the armpits to check on progress, or lack thereof. |
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Above: turtle snoozing on the beach. Left: Little One anchored at Shaw Island. It is hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful place. |