What is it exactly I really don’t know. It looks slimy with green, brown, white splotches and even some red mixed in. It doesn’t look appetizing at all. In fact it looks down right disgusting. But to each his own. And to some sea creatures this obnoxious growth on our hull is the creme de resistance. Well go for it, I say. Eat your little hearts out or whatever you have in your cellular structure. I’m told these sea creatures are krill. That doesn’t help me much. What’s a krill? The cross between a crustacean and a thrill? If you were playing the dictionary game and this word came up, what would you write for a definition?
Anyway these krill critters or as I like to call them krillitters are fine if they truly are sucking off this mossy slime. I’ve yet to see any reduction in grossness on the waterline. What these krillitters do do is MAKE LOTS OF NOISE! It’s quite an amazing thing. As the sun sets and darkness sinks in suddenly it sounds like some one is making popcorn. You know the kind of popcorn made in a big skillet on top of the stove just like my father did. He would pour in the oil to cover the bottom of the pot and turn the fire on high. Then he’d put just 2 or 3 (it’s important to remember how many) kernels in and quickly place the cover on. When all of the ‘tester’ kernels popped, then he’d very quickly pour in a cup or however much it took to cover the bottom of the pot again but with kernels this time. Once the kernels heated up to popping temperature it sounded like a war zone and soon enough the lid was growing like a hat on Chatty Cathy with the hair that grows.
So every evening after dinner and just as we’re getting ready for bed, which means that we’ll be going to sleep soon, these krillitters really get into their game. And why is it that they get hungry only at night? Are they vampire krill? I suppose it’s not really that bad. You kind of get used to it. Kind of like you get used to a mosquito. You know it’s there but you’re never sure exactly when you’ll hear it. But hear it you will. At least the krill are serving a purpose and the steady but unpredictable popping sounds means that they are dining on our crud and making our hull cleaner. I just hope they don’t get carried away and bite too hard. You know how vampires can be. Thank god for Endeavour ’84 sailboats with 3 inch fiberglass hulls.
In case you’re wondering we do plan to have the bottom scraped just before we head out down island. That probably won’t be until next week sometime. In the meantime, popcorn anyone?
Added Note:
If you've ever wondered if it rains in paradise - it does. It's been raining off and on since 9:p.m. last night. It's 6:p.m. now. We just came back to our boat from dinner ashore with our friends Kathy and Kerry. We got caught in a squall. No need for showering tonight.
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