Running Man

Simpatica's Blog with Photos of the Day

Hello Casting Off readers, it is Alex here writing a special one of a kind blog……

Today we spent our whole day on Simpatica. We met Simpatica about a half a year ago on our first landfall from Cartagena to San Blas. We had been beat up and tossed around by a giant storm. We were all stressed and needed a little fun. In enters Simpatica!

They drove over to us in their dinghy and invited us to sundowners. We went over to the 47 foot Katana catamaran and had a blast. The boat has a washer and drier, microwave, hot running water, air conditioning, ice maker, freezer and a whole bunch of awesome toys. Julie and Louis (not Julie Perry) are awesome chefs and we ate like kings. We met up in different places as our trips progressed, like in Panama or in the middle of the ocean on our way to Galapagos. Finally we met in Papette, Tahiti which is where we are now.
Last night we had Louis over for drinks. Julie wasn’t there because she went back home to Australia. He said he was having a party… a boat washing party. He invited Amelia and I and the Gromit kids to a day of swimming, fun and fresh water cleaning.

The next day we made our way over to Simpatica. It was me, Melia and Mia from Gromit to begin with. The two other Gromits were finishing school. We started off by raising a giant tarp to cover the front of the catamaran and cleaned the window covers. Then we started to wash the deck and continued along for awhile. We also were spraying each other because a fresh water shower is something very rare around Artemo. We also were jumping off the sides of the boat.

Just as we started cleaning the cockpit Zoë from Gromit stopped by and she continued with the fun. Liam couldn’t come yet because he still had some chores to do. We finished cleaning the cockpit and we went out and dropped the kayaks into the water. We took the paddles apart so they were in two and paddled it like a canoe. We paddled under the middle of the catamaran. We then made a fruit smoothie which is something we can’t make on Artemo…no ice, no frozen fruit and it was AWESOME. We then made lunch which was fried ground beef with Cajon sause on rice and kidney beans it was great.

After that the apples on Simpatica sparked an interest for me since I know a recipe called Social Apple Betty. It’s really quick and really good and it’s only four ingredients total. Zoe and I then drove back to Artemo in the giant Simpatica dinghy with a 25 horse power engine. We went FAST! We got the recipe and made it back driving responsibly.

Break Break….. have tried to get Alex to finish the blog to no avail, so I will pick up the story from here. Unfortunately though all I can give you is our point of view.....

Later in the afternoon we got a radio call from the kids asking if they could stay the night. I wouldn’t give them a "yes" on the radio since I just couldn’t believe that Louis really would want 5 kids for the night after having them all day. We all met up at Gromits for burgers and sure enough Louis was in good spirits and said he wanted to give us all a night off and was happy to have the kids over. He said that he had a great time with the kids all day and that the "boat washing" party was a success. The kids let out hoots and hollers when they finally had the "YES" they had been waiting for. Graham and I were hooting and hollering to ourselves to!

We dropped the kids off with their mats, sheets and pillows and on the front of this big beautiful catamaran where there is a trampoline like area they all made their beds. Louis then got out the flat screen tv and positioned it outside for them all. He put on “Avatar” and made them a big batch of popcorn and they were all in heaven. I guess they all were asleep before the movie had even ended. The next morning they made crepes and the fun continued til lunch.

The kids all had what they say is, 'The best day ever!' I wish you all could meet Louis. He is fun, boisterous and kind with just the right amount of crazy thrown in to make him interesting. When we did the crossing from Panama to Galapagos we were in SSB contact with Louis daily and we would track each other’s coordinates. About 8 days out he finds us and does a drive by in the middle of the ocean in big seas and wind. As he passes us he goes to the front of the cat and does the running man! Totally classic.

We all feel really lucky to include Louis and Julie in our cruising circle of friends and we can’t wait to meet up with them again down the road.