Friday, June 21, 2013

Junior Kayak Races in Palau...guess who won?


He was determined to make it all the way.
Wednesday, the Royal Belau Yacht Club put on it's first ever Junior Kayak Races in front of Sam's Tours.  Jake, believe it or not, is not very skilled in kayaking so he was a little hesitant to join.  With a little persistence we finally convinced him to try it out.  It was a really fun day.  Andy volunteered to be the buoy the kids paddled around as well as take pictures and I volunteered to help with sign up and basic chicken herding, um...I mean gathering the kids up.  There were four categories: 6-9 years, 10-14 years, 15-18 years, and then doubles, which mostly consisted of the younger kids paired up with an older kid.  The skills varied from non-existent to pretty darn good.  It was a blast to watch.  Everyone had a chance to paddle two races (or 4 if you participated in singles and doubles).  Jake placed 3rd in the first race and 4th in the second race, but due to some kids only paddling in one race and one girl getting disqualified for not following the course, he actually ended up taking the first place prize home (and no, it wasn't because his mom was helping with the scoring...I was actually lobbying against him). He won a $25 gift certificate at a local store here.  Think miniature (very miniature) Walmart.  Jake was a bit miffed that he won, so we turned it into a lesson:  if you don't give up and you try to follow the rules, most of the time, you'll be rewarded.

We had a great turn out and I don't doubt that we'll do another one soon.










The "Winners" Circle


Aside from his racing debut, Jake has been playing with some of the local kids pretty much non-stop and yesterday, Charlie arrived back in town so it was 'game on' for those two today.


After the race, coming to our boat to ask us if he could play onshore.

We have some potential news but I'm going to leave you hanging for a week or so while it gets finalized (how else am I sure you'll come back and read another post?)...

Enjoy the pics!


Saturday, June 15, 2013

Our First Judo Tournament


Warming up...

Jake had his first Judo tournament a few weeks ago.  None of us had any idea what to expect.  The practices the week before the tournament were unorganized and the last day, they didn’t even fight each other.  Things are a bit more laid back here and even after all these years of sailing the islands, it takes some getting used to.  So our expectations were pretty low for the tournament.  We were pleasantly surprised.

Explaining the rules...

First off, they actually started on time.   That’s unheard of around here for any event.  Secondly, they were very organized in their registration and when it came time for Jake to fight, he was evenly matched. 
"And in this corner....JAKE!!!!"





Now I don’t want to bad mouth my kid, but he’s only been doing this for a couple of months (and coordinated is NOT his middle name), so my expectations for him were even lower than the tournament itself.  He, too surprised me!  No, he didn’t win any of his fights, but he didn’t let anyone take him down either (he went down, but they both just fell).  Both fights went the full three minutes and he lost by ½ point.  Considering Jake doesn’t have a mean bone in his body and he’s the least aggressive kid I’ve ever seen, I think he did pretty good.  He was a little disappointed but I was pretty darn proud.  He showed improvement, good defense, and good sportsmanship.

Jake was determined not to get pinned (even if he had to lose his clothes).

I enjoyed watching the other kids too.  The little girls are the spit fires.  I think they won more matches than the boys.

Anyway, its still something he’s having fun at and I foresee another tournament in our future.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

More pics from our visit

It's been a week since Jennie and Jett left and the whole mood on the boat is a bit somber. :(  Jennie went back to real life with a real job and real stresses.  I think it might be awhile before she's able to get around to her guest post so I'm going to go ahead post the rest of our pictures.  

We have a lot going on as well and have lots of things to write about, so it shouldn't be too long before our next post.  Provided I get motivated.....

Enjoy the photos (excuse the hair...still working on growing it back)...
They're so stinkin' cute!  We caught a small tuna on our way out to the Rock Islands.



Both Jett and Jennie tried my tuna poke.  Jennie actually
liked it!  Jett....no so much.  But he was a good sport (that's not his
beer, by the way)!


More Jellyfish Lake...






We had this beach all to ourselves.  The boys got all dressed up as pirates and went to look for their treasure.



We introduced Jennie to our favorite coconut drink...


Sunset with my best bud.


One of the best parts of the trip were our nightly paddles...


and our morning paddles...


They actually kind of look alike, huh?

Jennie rolling in the jib, with my supervision of course.  Do I look like
I'm giving good advice??  :)  Any chance I can get to unload
my duties...






Me and the absolute best husband in the world!