Skagua n. place where the north wind blows

I have celebrated a lot of Easters.  Never has the Saturday part of the Easter story been so meaningful to me as this year.  This time around I resonate with how disoriented and lost Jesus's followers must have felt.  They had spent 3 years of discomfort, hope, miracles, and impatience with this man of whom they had high expectations.  Just a few days before Jesus had entered Jerusalem to the sound of thousands of people shouting with excitement.  They also had high expectations. The palm branch-waving crowd and the disciples were imagining a political leader who would release them from their Roman rulers.  

This weekend Eila, Brian and I worked aboard Skagua.  We brought 4 boxes of dishes, non-perishable foods, and miscellaneous items to move aboard.  While I cut and placed non-skid shelf liners and determined where to place supplies, Brian worked in the engine room on to raise the level of the exhaust exit, as well as preparing for a massive electrical project.  He has to install those batteries, run connections to the alternator, and the other parts of the boat. 

So, it's been quiet on this page lately because we are, as the title says, regrouping.  A couple of weeks ago we found out that our girls would not be allowed to join us on the 3 month outreach phase of our mission into the remote Pacific islands.  This was unexpected and sad, and not at all what we were imagining.  Rather than farm the girls out to a family member while we are out at sea, we withdrew our enrollment at the school in Hawaii and are starting to try to figure out what is next.  What we do know is,

Well, folks, a plumbing problem at the house has taken 3 days of Brian's time which he needed to use aboard Skagua. And the girls and I have started putting things in boxes.  Some boxes to be stored, some boxes to get rid of, and some boxes to bring to the boat for bringing along. This is not as fast a process as I would like.  Thank you to my sister in law, Kristin who worked with Eila for a couple of hours yesterday on her boxes!  And thank you to Katie who dropped off 30 odd boxes last weekend; it was perfect timing.  Although there are only about 8 or 9 boxes in process now, it feels like a start.  

Last year, Brian heard an interview about slavery and cobalt mining in the Congo.  It immediately caused him to resolve to never purchase lithium batteries unless there was no possible alternative.  As a result he had decided to not purchase lithium batteries for our boat.  This meant the remaining option would be multiple very heavy lead-acid batteries.  Today, he and I were delighted to learn that there are now cobalt-free lithium batteries which will be more powerful AND a fraction of the weight of the older style.  whoo hoo.  If you have not seen it yet, here is the link to the cobalt mining interview.  https://youtu.be/CIWvk3gJ_7E?si=MwYWGpC_00u-64GJ  It is very much worth learning about this horrific situation.

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