Winterizing the Grace...a return to SALTS!

so, today some of us got to go to the SALTS shipyard and help to winterize the beautiful Pacific Grace. we were up and ready to leave shortly after 8 this morning, we hopped into one of the vans and off we went to the victoria harbour. when we got there, we were directed to Antony (who was my watch leader during our week-long voyage) and he set us about our work of the ship. as we were working we got to see Sarah and Jillian and Rebecca again as well, it was so cool to see them all again...only the skipper was missing. as for the work, we untied the sails from the booms and set about the task of hauling them away to the storage shed (those things are pretty darn heavy!) and then we inspected each of to see if there were any small holes or other wear marks on them.

we also disconnected the booms from the masts and hauled them into the larger storage area in the shipyard. as well as the large things that had to be taken down, we cleaned out the areas below deck and brought up all the stored food that was down there. it was really cool to go below again, i have to say, climbing down that ladder to the hold brought back some really cool memories of nightwatch and getting up at one in the morning to go and spend an hour on deck making sure the ship wasnt drifting too close to shore!!

we also brought out the good old dories...yes, those are the small boats that you use to go ashore when at anchor, the ones that feel like you are going to tip over at every movement...that was good times too. all in all i think we worked from about nine ish to a little after four (minus one hour as a lunch break). and at the end of it all, we said goodbye to the Grace and to the crew once more and came back to camp.

then, later in the evening after dinner we had another fireside. and i got to have chocolate fondoo!! it was so good and the fellowship and conversation was awesome as well!!...next week we have our Hermeneutics class, so if you could pray that we would all be able to pay good attention and that we would learn what God wants to show us throug this class that would be great! and continued prayer for those hurting these days would be much appreciated!! thanks guys!

Prayer

well, this past week has been eally chill compared to those when we do things like surfing, hiking, sailing, and all that AMAZING stuff. but even so, it has been an awesome week. on thursday night to friday afternoon K6 split up for a time of bonding and getting to know each other, the girls went to parksville, went out for Indian food (sooo good and super filling!!) and then we stayed at a place right on the waterfront. while the guys went to JimBad's house and had steaks and did "manly things" (video games and movies...yeah i know, NERDS) :P
no i am kidding i am sure that there was alot more to it then only that.
on thursday night when we girls started to relax and get comfy we played some games and we sang some worship and praise to our great heavenly father. and then we took some time to hear about hurts and questions that we have been facing. i dont want to get into details of what was shared other than the fact that it got emotional and personal to the deepest level at some points. in regards to that i am writing this blog. i just want to ask you all this time for prayer. prayer for comfort to those who are hurting, for comfort to overcome the weight of things that have happened in the past of people's lives. for strength and encouragement to face the things that try and hold us down. prayer for the ability to overcome the hold that satan tries to place on us.
i also want ask for prayer for Jon, he is a K6 sutend also, and he lost his grandfather this past week so he is away from us until saturday at the soonest and i just ak that God would continue to grant peace and comfort in the promise that because of the gift of Christ Jesus they will be reunited again some day.
i know this wasnt the most exciting blog, but i just really wanted to take the time to ask for continued prayer, and to remind us all (yes even me) that this year is not simply for fun, it is a huge growing time and a time to get to know Jesus on a much more personal level and to really alow him to speak into our lives.
your prayers are all very much appreciated!
thank you all!!

Surf Tofino and then some

so, last thursday we headed towards Tofino to catch some waves!! the weather was perfect, it was just starting to rain here at Qwanoes but as we drove to the west side of the island we hit the nice weather. on our way there we stopped at a place called Coombs...basically an old school hippy village...and we had some food and stuff...and the goats that usually live on the roof of one of the buildings were not there any more, that was pretty much sad. but you know we dealt with it. and then we drove through cathedral grove, which is a place in the forest where the trees are pretty much seven feet in diameter...so basically they are huge. and then we kept on going all the way to Euclulet to watch the massive waves (and by massive i mean like 20 feet...no joke) crash against the rock face of the coast line before heading to our camp site closer to Tofino. the weather was awsome all three days that we were there!!

on the way there, as we were getting rather close to our destination...JimBad ran over a baby racoon!! there was a little family of them running over the road and we thought that they were all over safely and then a straggler came out of the bush on one side and went to run accross and ended up under us as Jim was trying to avoid it, but it didnt make it and fish and Kristy and i were sitting in the front row of the van and we saw the whole thing and yeah pretty much it was a very sad moment to and otherwise happy day...and then Tom Bietz said "BOOM headshot!" which was horrible...

(oh and while we were there jen and jordana and i made a big drawing of a man in the sand and we named it JenMirJor..it was pretty much awsome)

on the day that we got there we had a game of soccer and i think everyone played or was taking photos of the people playing...and then (because we were playing with bare feet) Deborah got kicked in the foot and pretty much broke her pinky toe (and by pretty much...i mean she did). so that was fun. and we ate and sang songs and shared testimonies and all that good stuff, then the second day we were there we hit the beach to catch some killer waves...and i say "killer waves" because i pretty much almost died...yeah so it was the SECOND wave of the FIRST day of ACTUAL surfing, and Deborah happens to decide to ride a wave, she was having a totally awsome time of it too, until she realized that she was aiming straight for my head!! so yeah i was basically almost decapatated by her surf boad as it smucked the side of my head just behind my left ear...and then she went on to finish the job by running over the rest of me!

no in all honesty its super hard to turn a surf board when a wave catches you, your pretty much going to end up where it takes you unless you are a pro who has been at it for years and years...and there were 32 of us in a relatively small portion of a very large beach so it was bound to happen and indeed several others came out of the three days with similar tales. so no hard feelings to Fish (fish is deborah...deborah is fish). and even though i didnt manage to stand up and ride a wave, i found riding the waves penguin style to be alot of fun anyways!! plus we get to go again in the spring so maybe next time!! it was basically awsome fun times and if you have never surfed you should totally try it!!

the waves were awsome for beginner surfers, oh and the wetsuits...so much fun to try and get on, only not really. seriously :p it was very interesting as we all struggled and fell over and stood up again and struggled some more. and then we all got to look like super hard core ninjas, which was pretty sweet.

on the third day some people went and did more surfing while others went and walked to a small surf shop place and then went and explored the beach. it was so beautiful there, seriously one of those kinds of places that you could just sit down to relax in and never leave. after a few hours of surf and exploring at the beach we went back to camp and packed up to head back home. on our way back we came accross a road block thing that gave enough time for several of us to play some soccer on the road. it was lots of fun. and i stole the ball and then gave it back because...well i dunno, i just did ok?

then on friday we had a day of class with JimBad before half of the kaleos went off for thanksgiving weekend. on saturday half of the half that was left took off to victoria and the remaining five of us were able to chill and hang out and spend good quality time getting to know each other even better. plus we cut Josh's hair! and that was good times.

on sunday we went to church and then out for an amazing thanksgiving lunch with one of the church families and it was soo good!! by the time we got back home to qwanoes it was dinner time and i only had a few grapes because i was too full to eat any more. then after dinner we all (as in the half of us who spent thanksgiving here) went and had a four movie, movie night!! we watched mulan, pocahantas, rescuers down under, and tommy boy. and i fell asleep in the last one and when i woke up people were leaving and getting me up and i was seriously just totally confused and i had no idea what was going on!! its a really neat sensation to wake up to ill tell you that much!

and today (being monday) i spent most of the day with fish and her parents who came back from taiwan. and then we had a semi formal thanksgiving dinner here at camp with the kaleo and the staff members all together. the food was fantastic and the fellowship was totally cool. all in all i can say that i am glad to have spent this thanksgiving here with these people who i have come to know and will enjoy getting to know even more as the next seven months pass by.

Surfs up and Happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

oh and i am thankful for kaleo6, family, friends, and air!!