I had the incurably good fortune to have dated Wendy Effer in 1970. She was (and remains) the most beautiful human being I have ever known (I see only inner beauty; that she was also outwardly beautiful is interesting, but by and large, irrelavent and a distraction). She was kind, caring, compassionate, an incredible listener, and she routinely beat me at bowling by 70+ pins (at 4"10" and less than 90 pounds). I was a frequent guest at her house and had the great priveledge to get to know both of her parents, remarkable people, kind and generous, her older sister (who was in my HS graduating class), the older sister's boy friend, a brilliant mathematician, and all round world class scholar, and could share with her secrets that I've never told another human being.
Via facebook, I have come to learn that she has been in a loving and wonderfully commited relationship for 32+ years. She and her partner SAIL - around the world, and Wendy finds to the time to blog of their adventures.
She will be coming to a port near y'all soon.
May all your sailing days be uneventful, beloved child of God, my dearest Wendy.
L-Imbordin, Malta
Paradise Bay, Malta. Saturday 4th September 2011
After over a week of drippingly hot weather, bathwater seas and diving for treasures, this is probably our last day in Malta / Gozo. Temps a sweltering 30-35 deg C and water 28-30!
A long time without writing and a long time without connections. We arrived back to Gozo on 23rd August and it was still boiling. Rapid prep and shopping for arrival of first round of guests on this leg. R's daughter Sophie and friend Heather joined us on 27th August in Valletta for a week of sun and relaxation.
Now we were worried that they would find things too tame and looked up all sorts of things to do and places to see. We needn't have worried. It was so hot. They were in true holiday mode and were content to sun themselves and swim and chat. Nothing more strenuous than walking from one end of the boat to the other for another drink or book or txting fix.
We had a good time with them here and hope they also enjoyed. Highlights of the week: Improving diving skills off the bow of boat (see pics), falling into the water whenever one felt about to boil over, fishing for lost treasure 20 ft down (one plastic shoe (W), one towel (S), one snorkelling mask (Anon) with R's reel and grappling hook weight. Also the Bombay gin and Lanson's champagne, one ribs meal and one super fish supper (courtesy of S & H - thank you!!). And the snorkelling (nice Maltese gentleman on neighbouring boat loaned us 2 masks for the week, so we each had one).
And the laughs and card games. Heather is a shocking cheat (or very very lucky) and trounced us all the first night of play. However, we each of us managed to eventually get our own back at least once. The girls survived the heat and the sleeping arrangements (in the saloon with body bags - they wisely decided the furnace that was pretending to be an aft cabin was better suited to storage). And they did a mean job of washing up and were suitably frugal with water like seasoned sailors. A competent crew course may be in the offing….
So, stocked up on some "British" goodies (still stocked in the shops despite independence and eurozones) and looking forward to Sicilia again and onwards to Greece. We have a date in 3 weeks' time in Corfu - Talisman (alias COOC or Clive and Jane) are joining us there - we just need to make sure we get there!
And wish S well for her move, and H for her next steps. Xx
