" A Lady " Sailing around the World, with World ARC 2010
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sat 15 May 2010 05:16
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Thursday 13th May
2010 ( Presently in Raiatea, Tahiti. )
06.00hrs. Skipper got into emails and the
blog, the daily pennance, but it does give time alone before the
rest
get out of the scratchers, and start serving things
like breakfast and tea,, and generally take over your day.
but its all great disiplin , and we are enjoying
the whole experience, even the small things like, leaking diesel, leaking
water,
frayed ropes, and frayed nerves,,... who would want
to be without this bliss.!
07.30hrs We discussed race tactics before we
left the dock. this is the first race of the " Pearl Regatta" and starts in
Raiatea
and ends in Bora Bora, a distance of 27 miles, some
of which is inside the lagoons,
08.30 hrs The race began, and the wind
was from behind and light, we goosewinged down the lagoon and watched some of
the flash boats
hang themselves on the coral reef... trying to take
shortcuts, never pays in places like this..and particularly with the kite
flying.
There were about 50 boats taking part in the
regatta, about 8 multy hulls, and 12 World ARC boats,
The wind shifted all over the place all day and in
the end, we motored the last 2 miles as the wind had virtually
dissapeared,
but we had a very enjoyable day on the boat,
It seems that Snorre and Stian had really never raced a boat in their lives
before
so they really enjoyed the cut and trust of the
whole thing.
We passed a pod of Pilot Whales on the way past "
Tahaa" , a fantastic sight. and this had the cameras clicking like
grasshoppers.
The sea was that beautifull deep prussian blue
colour, and the sun was screeching down on us poor souls for most of the
day,
However , that all changed as soon as we dropped
anchor in Bora Bora, we jumped into the lagoon for a swim and no sooner were
we
in the water , than the heavens opened and it
pissed down for an hour or so ...
The landscape of Bora Bora is just magnificant, and
it looks very busy in comparison to the visit Aileen and the skipper had to
this
Island 15 years ago on a chartered yacht, as
mentioned already.
We really soaked up the whole scene before we were
collected and brought to a " Motu " for a white night out, run by the " hilton
Hotel "
( by the way, the Hilton Hotel in Tahiti is closed
because of Union and worker trouble )
We had a great night , even if it was a bit like
faulty towers, it took some people about 2 hours to get their food,
but it was worth the wait, and again the ass
wriggling by the girls was very impressive, plus all the male dancing and fire
works.
A MOTU is a small little Island,
seperated from the main Island by water and mostly on a coral reef.
22.00hrs, We got the organised ferry back to " A
Lady " and had a night cap before hitting the scratchers,
A great day, all things taken into
consideration,
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thats it for now
Signed :- Stephen
Hyde ( skipper )
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