Sailing around the World ( presently in the Coco's Islands )

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Mon 27 Sep 2010 01:10
SUNDAY 26th   SEPTEMBER   2010
 
We all got up early as we were going to the BBQ on West Island today, followed by a Local Cheese and Wine party.
The weather was only so so.
Skipper was in the middle of the blog when a leak appeared in the air vents to the Holding tanks, and these were located over the ceiling of the skippers cabin.     Ohhhhhhhhh shit!
 
20 mins later, Terry took Aileen and Neil to catch the Ferry to West Island and returned to " A Lady" to lend a hand tidy up the mess and do some repairs, 
We had a shitty first couple of hours, but then got into the swing of things and managed over the course of the day to eliminate all the
boxes on the list of things to do........
By lunch time, the rain began to come down in bucket loads, just after " Grand Filou " had arrived from Bali.
Meanwhile, Aileen and Neil enjoyed the BBQ, and prize giving , hosted by Rally control on West Island.
This was held on a beautifull sandy beach with warm torquise water lapping onto the sand. They met lots of the other boat
and generally had a good time.  They also collected some prizes for the last leg. ie. We won the overall prize plus getting a prize
for line honours on the leg from Bali to the Coco's Islands..
 
They then moved onto the cheese and wine party, this is usually held every Sunday on West Island and attended by mostly ex pats.
There the met Liza Dicks, ( remember , we had a lovely lunch in their house during the week ) Liza and husband Mike have an Oyster
and are thinking they might join the rally next time round in Australia.
Of course the also met Avril and others we met during the week and basically had a ball.
 
Mid afternoon, Richie and Charlie from " Grand Filou " joined Skipper and Terry on A Lady for a few Brandy and Ports,
At this stage , the rain was so heavy, we could hardly see the other end of the boat.  maybe a sign of things to come.
 
At 18.30 hrs the others returned from West Island and a large part of the younger crowd managed to wind up on " A Lady "
and the wine and beer was flowing well.
We had a long discussion about the unusual decision by Cowes to abandon the start of the leg in favour of every one doing
their own thing..Does this mean that the official programme we signed up to has been scrapped, or temporarily set aside
for some unexplained reason.
Right now it looks as if the fleet are in tatters , with different groups doing different things.
This needs to be addressed by rally control at the earliest oppertunity, and halt the fragmentation of the Fleet.
 
Later, we bailed out the rib, which at this stage was half full of water, and the younger people left to
continue their party else where.
We had an early night, Skipper seems to have caught a dose of the flue or something simular.
coughing and spluttering.  Aileen has bruised ribs and Terry has a crocked knee,,  We are a bunch of wrecked humans.
 
Thats all for now,
 
Signed  :-  Stephen Hyde   ( Skipper. )