The Triumph of Good over Evil
We arrived in Singapore at the beginning of Deepavali , the Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. I find Hindu celebrations wonderful and this is the big one. Read more about it,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali The triumph of good over evil is present here. The first people we met in Singapore were dedicated conservationists and friends of the life at sea. First we met Bhavani Prakash, who is the founder of Eco Walk the Walk, Asia’s global green community. http://www.ecowalkthetalk.com/blog/
I found her on facebook, as she is a mutual friend of Ric O’Berry’s. Any friend of Ric’s is a friend of mine. Bhavani seemed to feel the same way and was eager to meet and came to the boat. We had a great talk as I told her of our Free Lolita Campaign and efforts to save whales. She is dedicated to stopping dolphin captivity and taking a real stand here. Bhavani is one of those quiet yet strong types who calmly get things done I am sure.
We also got to know the good folks at Biosphere Foundation Singapore thanks to the intrepid friend finding abilities of Charli and Troy. http://www.biosfirindonesia.org
They are busy refitting a beautiful 103’ Steel Ketch. I bonded with Mark instantly when he said he saw I was a Deadhead and told me “MG” had been onboard his boat. To us aging west coast hippies “MG” aka Mountain Girl, is a goddess so I was humbled to be on the same decks.
Well my humbling took another turn as those very same decks that lay under the Birkenstocks of the hippy goddess were leaking horribly and had to go. We joined a work party to pull the teak plugs hiding the harmfully places long screws which caused the leaks. This is a common ailment on teak decks improperly installed; I have seen it so many times before. This is one of those jobs I would hire done if on a boat I owned and would never do for pay but happily jumped on for a good cause. The crew of Furthur along with other volunteers made short order of the plugs so the next phase of removing the screws could commence. It is Mark’s intention to save and reuse the teak planks so great pain was taken to prevent damage. I wish them well in this endeavor.
So tonight I will go to Little India and see the lights, eat some curry and celebrate the triumph of Good over Evil knowing it is really happening in Singapore, one step at a time.
