A day trip from Melaque - photo essay by Maia

Questions for Maia

 Maia's mum here. A while ago (a really long while ago...) Maia invited her readers to ask questions. But because I'm terrible about tracking comments we missed the fact that several families asked her things. So, better late than never, here are her answers. Feel free to ask more, or re-ask other things I've missed... And I promise to look this time—they make a great home schooling activity.

When did you learn to drive the outboard? 

I forget. It was so long ago!

 

 Did Charlie the cat settle in easily?

Kind of. If you count hiding behind the water maker for 2 months easily. And he was seasick for the first few months.

 How did you feel when you left stuff behind?

It was hard but not as hard as leaving my friends behind.

Does your life vest bug you? 

Not really because I only have to wear it out of the cockpit in rough weather or at night. (Maia had to pass a swimming test and swim 3x around the boat in wavy/windy conditions to be freed from day to day pdf wear.) But we had to try a lot of different life jackets to find one that was comfortable. 

What scares or bothers you about living on the boat?

Nothing except for storms.

What do you like best about living on your boat?

Waking up every morning and having a new back yard. 

Do you miss having friends around all the time?

Sometimes, but I have a lot of cruising friends.

Crocodiles

 Crocodile babies are small, only about 1& a half feet long. How do I know? Not because I read a lot, (although I do) not because I saw pictures, (although I have) I know because I've seen them. (Although not in a zoo.) I saw them in the mangroves of Tenacatita. 

 We were cruising down the mangroves minding our own business when suddenly my mom started yelling at my dad to turn the dinghy around and get the camera because she had seen a crocodile. By the time we turned the dinghy around it was gone, but we were excited because when there's one there's bound to be more. I kept looking and soon we spotted the second one; it had a long snout and was olive green and lumpy. It was a baby. After that we saw three more.

not a crocodile, just a nice bird...

 See you later alligator,

in a while crocodile.