Moving on...

Helen: Thank you all so so much for writing, calling, emailing and commenting on our blog in the last few days. I can't remember a worse week, and your support really has made a massive difference. I don't think C and I could have been there for Hannah if we hadn't had a wonderful support team ourselves.

Things are looking up a wee bit just now. C and I passed our dive exams on Friday so are now Open Water Divers. And we found a new boat to take us to Panama - James (from Bromley no less) and Amelia (matriculated at Somerville, Oxford the same year as C) left the Navy and set off from the UK in March in a 35' cat - they're now here (we met them at happy hour at the marina) and they will take us to Panama via Cartagena. It's especially lovely of them seeing as they haven't taken crew yet... They are both great, and exactly the type of people we would hang out with at home. They climb, dive, and generally DO stuff (they even sailed up the Gambia river - only about 10 boats a year do that!). They bicker, just like we do, and their boat is like a floating 'Good Life' episode - solar showers with rain water for example. Looking forward to living/sailing with them immensely.

I've also been thinking about Matt and Hannah too and trying to make sense of last week. C and I were there and helped Hannah give CPR - it's not like it is on ER or baywatch or in first aid training - people don't just cough and sit up and thank you. But Matt looked peaceful, and it is likely he died before we started ressucitation. Hannah's taken him home now, and we are trying to take comfort from the fact that he died with his wife who he loved very much, living his dream, in a beautiful place. It's slightly ironic that he died just a few days after sorting out all of Nooka's problems...

Anyway, I've come to the decision that the best thing we can do is remember him, support Hannah, and repay the kindness shown to us in the last week by helping others when they need it. The best thing you lot can do for us is (and apologies in advance for the cliches, but if they weren't true they wouldn't be used so much...) make sure you live your dreams, whatever they may be - not everyone dreams of sailing round the world! - and don't forget to tell the people you love that you love them.

On a slightly different note I thought you'd like to know that there are 2 cruise ships in port today. That's 5134 extra people, all trying to cope with the fact that they use guilders here instead of dollars, and all wandering up and down the high street buying rolexes and 'crafts' in the 5 hours they have before leaving again. Tick. Done Bonaire. Honestly...

Think we might have a BBQ tonight - then, if we have more than 200 amp hours, we might watch Finding Nemo on DVD - if the boys have been using loads of juice though, we might have to resort to Pass the Pigs...

Lots of love

Hxx

PS The world really is a small place - found out a few days ago that Hilary and Tony, the guys who looked after us when we left Nooka, used to live in Blackheath, and sailed at Bough Beech at the same time as me - must've shared a changing room with Hilary about 15 years ago. Six degrees of separation and all that...