Opua: set
Opua: set
Intermittently sunny and cloudy today.
I rowed ashore and made an appointment with Gary, the Customs official--Opua is for me like Cheers in the eponymous television series: everyone knows my name and I know theirs--for 9 a.m Monday.
I emailed a berth request to the marina in Cairns and got back a quick confirmation of a reservation for an arrival around May 5.
Many boats are anchored beyond my mooring and are leaving over the weekend. I enjoy having a day or two after the boat is ready to look everything over one last time and go over everything again in my mind.
Today I pulled the dinghy onto deck and scrubbed its bottom; tested the connection to the new LPG tank for leaks; tied the two jerry cans of water in their places against the half-bulkhead at the aft end of the quarterberths. I most assuredly do not carry jerry cans or anything else on deck, as some people do. And I stowed one of the new collapsible water containers on the cabin sole near the forward v-berth. The other I will empty into the large water tank, which is the one I am presently using, and refill on Sunday.
It is too windy now to spray lubricant, but when opportunity arises I’ll WD-40 and McLube all the blocks and tracks. And I may grease the winches, though I’m not sure they need it. Might wait until Cairns or even Darwin.
I’ll walk up the first hill one more time. Probably have lunch in the restaurant. And just enjoy my final two days here.
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I finished reading CATCH-22 for third time while boat-bound in the storm early this week and then watched the movie for, I think, the second time.
The book has not aged. It is original, clever, funny, irritating and sad. Like Jane Campion with THE PIANO, I don’t think Joseph Heller ever did anything else nearly its equal; and like her, once is enough.
The film version, despite an excellent cast, good intentions, and Mike Nichols directing, fails. What is there is true to the book, but it is incoherent; and too much is not there. That could be the fault of the screen play; but I rather think it is just that some books cannot be turned into movies.
Friday, April 18, 2008