Have I mentioned that Randal can fix anything? I know I have said that he can read train schedules in any language anywhere. And he has slogged through Pulitzer Prize winning Guns,Germs, and Steel , explaining it so well that I don’t have to read it and even the National Geographic’s video hasn’t added to Randal’s “retelling.” But have I written about how, whatever needs doing or fixing on the boat, Randal can do it or find folks who can. But most he does himself. Like this morning. I decided to clean out the aft shower and sink because yesterday we went to Silangun and went swimming and took showers so there was sand and grit galore in the shower. Plus the filter under the sink was starting to make its grunting “clean me sounds,” so I did. First I cleaned out the shower, lifting out the teak shower floor and scrubbing everything. I even changed the sponge filter Randal thought of to keep hair from the drain. Then I started on the sink. So simple: take off the plastic filter cap, take out the screen, scrub off the goop, replace the screen, put back the cap and make it tight. I had done it a dozen times before. Today, the pump wouldn’t start pumping. The water drains into the sump and then the pump, pumps it out when the flow switch tells it to. I don’t absolutely understand or I would write about it in more detail than you probably want to read anyway. Bottom line: pump not pumping right. Randal knew how it was supposed to work, why it wasn’t working, how to turn off power that needed to be off, how to turn off the water that needed to be off…. He knew how to cut the electrical wires to the pump to get it out from under the sink, how to take the pump apart, clean it, put it back together, rehook the wires and make it all work again! But that isn’t even what made him my hero for the day. Yesterday at Silangun I collected lots of shells from the beach. But one I scooped up while snorkeling and put it into my shorts pocket while I was swimming. This morning while I was cleaning up the shells I remembered the one in my pocket. I got it out and looked inside the small shell and there was a tiny hermit crab! Oh no, what to do? I really hated the idea of killing it. I brought it into the pilot house and put it onto the chart table where it started to climb out of the shell. Oh no! What to do? I was afraid to throw it over into the water because it is too deep where we are tied. I found the poor thing in clean shallow water and thought it might need to come up for air so wanted it where the water is shallow. Since I was still wearing my grocery store nightgown/sundress as a nightgown, Randal was a hero and took the little creature up to the most shallow part of the marina and dropped him in. Hopefully he will be ok if he can deal with the pollution here. I’ll just have to be much more careful next time I am shell collecting. No live animals…. So first Randal saved the hermit crab and then he fixed the pump. And instead of getting upset about my cleaning the pump into not working; he said it wasn’t my fault and that he was glad he had a wife who didn’t mind cleaning out the sink pump. So the hero award for the day goes to Randal Johnson, hermit crab rescuer and plumber extraordinaire.
Randal walking to “free the hermit crab!”
None of these shells had tenants, thank goodness.
This is Randal working on our salt water washdown system. It is so we can wash down the anchor without having to use fresh water.
Lyle makes stuff from stainless steel. He has made things for us. Randal and I stopped at Lyle’s shop so Randal could talk with him about our new anchor and new flopper stopper fish.
Driving the boat to Silangun
Randal and Doramac in the distance.Randal isn’t wearing white socks; that is his tan line!
Sitting under the little shelter for our picnic. This lady came walking down the beach. Randal managed to get her to take some diet coke.
Walking back to the dinghy to go back to the boat.