Marooned (Almost)

Today we visited Robinson Crusoe Island, and almost did not leave!  The “All Aboard “ time came and went, the sailing time came and went, and still we had not moved.  Once before we were delayed because the anchor “did not come up properly.”  This time the captain came on the PA system and said that when the anchor was raised, a large rock was stuck in it.

You cannot properly stow the anchor with a large rock and you certainly did not want to sail for several days with the anchor hanging over the side.  How to remove that rock?  They tried raising and lowering it, to no avail.  They raised it all the way and dropped it.  They were about to tie a rope to the bottom of the anchor and raise the bottom above the top to tip out the rock.  Fortunately, they tried dropping it one more time and the rock came out.  Hurrah!  And so we did not become castaways on Robinson Crusoe Island.  While all this maneuvering was going on, the tender was waiting to be lifted back on board.  The mist came down from the mountains and gave us this beautiful sight.

This is the island where a sailor aboard an unseaworthy ship demanded that the ship be repaired before setting back out to sea.  "I would rather stay on this remote rock than go to sea in that ship!"  The captain said, "OK" and left him there.  The ship later sank, but he was stuck there for about 5 years before he was rescued.  Upon hearing the story, DeFoe wrote Robinson Crusoe,   a book whose complete title is much longer.  They say the book has been translated into about as many languages as the Bible, and it has inspired many other books and movies, including "Robinson Crusoe on Mars."
Pirates do not have much to do with the book, but that seemed to be a good theme for a party, so the local inhabitants went all out to set the atmosphere.  Fewer than 1000 people live on the island, and most of them seemed to take part in the party for us.

Robinson Crusoe aged well.

The island is rugged, with houses clinging to the side of the steep slopes, and most of the people live in the one small  town.

Because of the high winds and steep slopes, flowers have a difficult time growing.  However, if there is any shelter from the wind, they do quite well.

Another friendly face

Since we now have our Internet for the first time in five days, we are now publishing the two blogs together.  There is no demand for Internet in the middle of the Pacific Ocean so there are no satellites with which to connect.