It’s about time I introduce The Mighty EOS II into our story. EOS II is the name of the boat, and they are a family of four from Australia with two young daughters: Kiani (4 yrs) and Ahia Kai (2 yrs). Now, those that know me know that I’m not a kid person; I mean I can barely stand my own kids (just kidding boys!) Anyway, these two girls really stole my heart. And Slade and Lahnee are pretty fun to hang out with too. Anyway, EOS II would become our most consistent companions all the way from Funafuti up to Majuro.
Since I didn’t go to the beach bonfire, my first introduction to Lahnee was a VHF radio call as we were leaving the anchorage.
The background on this is that Tim and Slade went out spearfishing. Before they left, Tim and I had a conversation that went something like this:
D – “I need you to be back by 2:00 at the latest so we can get back to town to pick up our veggie order”
T – “You and Alex know how to raise anchor, what do you need me for?”
D – “You always say that, but this time I really do need to be back in town, so if you’re not back by 2 we’ll leave without you and you can catch us in the dinghy.”
T – “OK”
It’s still not clear to me if Tim thought I was joking, because he really, really, likes to give me a hard time about how I left him, but when 2:00 came and went the boys and I hauled up anchor and started heading back to town. And as we were leaving the anchorage I get a VHF call from Lahnee, and she said she was starting to get worried that the guys were gone so long, so she is kind of surprised to see Exodus leaving the anchorage. I told her the deal and that Tim would have to catch us in the dinghy. I was probably a little short with her only because I was driving Exodus out of the anchorage and focused on not hitting any coral.
She recently told me that she really got a wrong first impression of me that day, and I laughed and responded that it doesn’t seem very wrong to me, it seems pretty spot on.
So, Lahnee and I became an unlikely pair of fast friends. She’s a bit younger than me and is a former world-class gymnast, she has a refreshing candidness about her, and she’s got a sense of humor you can always count on. We had taken very different paths to arrive in Funafuti, but I’m so glad those paths had the opportunity to cross.
Slade – Tim’s new spearfishing bro-friend
The Mighty EOS dinghy
Gresham Family Exodus 