Not everything in the sea is nice!

I'm pretty sure you are a bit tired of seeing photos of us sitting in front of sunsets, lounging on white, palm fringed beaches and supping on exoticly named cocktails while we top up our tans.... and probably a bit sick of hearing how pretty, amazing, stunning, and all the other superlatives used in the various blogs being written from aboard Tin Tin , although I have to admit to not having read a single one of them (bar this one of course).

Well as the title of this post suggests I'm trying to redress the balance (just a little bit...) by showing you that there are down sides to this life cruising the tropics. I've included a photo to illustrate the point (and solicit sympathy from all of you reading this!).

A quick recap on my previous posting is in order as it is is linked to what I am reporting in this posting... ie. Pain! Justin and I decided that rather than sit on the beach in a pool of sweat we would do something productive and make a raft from material scavenged along the high tide line. We named her TinTiki in homage to her famous balsa wood predecessor.

We conducted extensive sea trials and attempted to fish from her decks, at night we made sure she was secure ashore and that there was a fire to guard against infestation by scorpions, ants, or snakes, then on our final day we anointed her with out calling card (of the stencil and red paint variety) and said our goodbyes.. I elected to be the last to leave and swim the quarter mile back to Tin Tin. Soon, very soon, I was not questioning the reluctance of the others to join me in the water! It felt as if I was swimming through a patch of nettles stretching all the way out to the boat. I couldn't see any jellyfish, or any other organisms for that matter. It was only my fore arms and ankles that got stung but 48 hrs later they are still itching quite intensely. I think I'll be investing in a rash vest as soon as I can find one.. Do they do rash leggings too? And perhaps more to the point, do they actually stop you getting stung? Answers on a post card to.... Well, actually it w
ould be good to get a response via the Comment box which you should find at the bottom of this post.

Comments

Tim said…
Hi Dad! Hope you're not in too much pain!
Had you leant on or brushed a plant with tiny spines that might've been aggravated in the water?
Love the raft :)
Sat Mar 11, 08:33:00 pm GMT
Mark Stephens said…
Hi Tim! It was definitely water based stinging going on!
Fri Mar 17, 11:12:00 pm GMT
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