" A LADY TRIP " Sailing around the World
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sun 23 May 2010 20:56
|
SATURDAY 22nd MAY
2010
04.00hrs The skipper was at the end of
his watch and Jonh was about to take over untill 08.00hrs........
The wind had died way down, so we started the
engine and left it heat up for a while before we ran it at 1500 rpm
which drove the boat along nicely at 6.8
knots..
08.00hrs, we could see the Island of Rarotonga, and
it was just a mere 21 miles away,, It was one of those beautifull
mornings,
Flat deep blue sea, light air, ( mind you, not
great for sailing ) not a cloud in the sky, and the sun shining down on us
and the Island we are heading for.... We put out
the fishing line again, in one last desperate attempt to catch a fish
before reaching our destination.
( however, we did discover a big flying fish in the
rib, dead as a door nail )
Donal ( We should call him, Sinbad the
Sailor, ) set about replacing the flags,, Firstly, the World ARC flag looked so
tired and worn out
that it gave the impression of a boat with a bunch
of " gobshits " on board , who just dident give a continantal.
second, we had to change our courtsey flags, and
raise /hoist a Q flag.
He ( Fats ) is such a usefull TOOL ho have on
board,
We made radio contact with " Jeannius" , who was
already after arriving at Rarotonga, but then she left Bora Bora 2 days before
us.
They indicated that we would have to reverse onto
the harbour wall with long lines and use the rib for going ashore, and that
they
would stand by and take our lines... great
stuff..
11.00hrs, we motered into the very small harbour,
and sure enough, there was " Mike " from Jeannius, standing on the quay
wall,
we turned A Lady around, dopped anchor in a
suitable spot and reversed onto the Quay, and Mike fastened our lines to the
bollards.
Job well executed and we then set about and washed
" A Lady " down with her powerfull freshwater power hose,
We polished the SS work and windows, and she looked
great when Rory Quirke arrived with his young son, " Finn "
This place began to look better and better wiyh
each passing minute,
* They speak
English / American,
* They drive on the
left,
* The climate,
fantastic,
* The people , so
friendly,
* The ATM
works
WOW
Rory, then took us in the jeep to " Sails "
restaurant and Yacht Club,
Sarah, had already given me all the details of Rory
and Sails a long time ago, but never did much about it, as " Rarotonga " was
never
on our agenda, thats untill we were leaving Bora
Bora, and switched the course to here. It was a good
decision.
" Sails" A yacht club and restaurant, leased
from the locals by John Tierney ( thats the way things are here, the locals own
everything)
and run by his family, as in one of his sons is a
chef, and daughter " Erin " is the Manager,, Rory works in the Banking
system,
Sails, is located in a Fantastic Lagoon on the
eastern side of the Island, with 3 Motu's in the lagoon. and the best beaches we
have seen yet.
There were lots of dingies sailing around when we
arrived at around 2pm for lunch, plus hundreds of swimmers.
Paradise X 6
Skipper, still shagged from the flue (or whatever
it is ) had a little nap in the seat , while the others nattered away in the
background,
later , we all had a swim in Paradise X 6 and it
was just wonderfull....... we are definatly after dying and have gone to
Paradise in the sky.
except I dont remember hitting anything and
sinking................................
19.00hrs We had dinner in Sails with our
host's, John & Anne Tierney, Rory, The French woman, married to one of the
Tierney's
Donal, ( sinbad the sailor ) John ( Scotty ) and
Myself.. Sinbad and Myself had a " Shank of Lamb" NZ and it
was sinfully delicious.
Later , we walked along the beach to the Tierney
House, where we watched the " Heieneken Cup " final on the telly
At the end of the night, we got a Taxi back to the
Boat,
We had just a fantastic Day on a fantastic
Island
The others had a few more scoops, and then we hit
the scratchers,,, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thats all for now,
enough is enough.
Signed :- Stephen
Hyde ( Skipper )
|