Day 7 - In Tonight
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Mon 16 Dec 2013 13:30
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34:30.74S
174:10.22E
Day Seven – Our Last Day at
Sea
 Sunday Afternoon: We
settled after lunch to games. Bear drove a hard game of backgammon and declared,
you did NOT deserve two of those games, as I
held him to a five three loss. I further rattled his cage when I beat him 501 to
500 at Upword and his Trill was all over the place when I beat him – at MY game – Sequence, five one. His turn to be as
cross as a wasp. Huh and Grrrr. I’m going to sleep,
right now, this very instant, don’t talk to me. OooooooooooooooKay then. I carried on listening to Lucky Man by
Michael J. Fox. When I started in the industry, in 1989, I sold four products,
one of them, Sinemet, it was a walk down Memory Lane listening about levodopa,
titration and tremors. Quite convenient too, as the skippers
snoring was very pronounced.
 A peaceful
sunset
 The moon
was massive and every time the girl leaned over, I got a headlamp glare through
the side window, on my two to six.
 Monday the 16th of December 2013: I came out at ten
and the skipper said brightly, I feel very convivial this morning. I was too
stunned to ask why and in the flat, calm sea I asked about a game, surely. He played like a villain, my four one lead was
eroded to four all and I only just scraped in by a couple of throws to win five
four. Let’s put the engine and heat the water for really
hot showers. Marvelous, on it went at eleven o’clock. While its
heating shall we have a few games of Rummikub. Why
not. Still convivial, just, methinks. About this time we had been
pottering along at four and a bit knots, with the engine on, we shot up to just
under six. We both looked at each other, then the chart plotter, both then doing
the sum - fifty eight miles at say five knots - we could get in at around ten
o’clock tonight. I looked once more at the skipper, he looked at me, shall we go for it. Yes. The
charts are accurate, it is well signposted and the Q dock is apparently
massive. OK then. It has always been our rule to enter new places in
daylight, but, looking at the chart plotter on the one and a half mile scale,
the buoys are numerous and cruise ships go to The Bay of Islands all the time.
If we don’t like what we see, we can always go round in circles until daybreak.
However, with leaving the tropics, we don’t have twelve hour days anymore, it
now doesn’t get really dark until nearly ten o’clock and the moon will be even
brighter tonight, so we are happy to give it a go.
  The few games of Rummikub saw the
skippers face turn sour. All I want is a few more
bobbles. Bobbles are the indicator of who
has won and next to it how much money was lost or won. The
last page was a complete disaster for Bear, losing all nineteen games.
The current one puts him sixteen thousand, three hundred and eighty nine dollars
down. He doesn’t have a total on his side as he’s never got any
money............ Are you still feeling convivial, I ask with a sweet smile.
NO and several expletives
followed.............
 The water was hot by now, time to
hair cut, trim beard and me to be allowed to wield the nasal strimmer, I don’t
get to do this particular piece of the ablution process very often. It’s rather
like having cut the lawn, this is the tidying round the edges. Yes, but this is very personal, a step too far in fact and you
have to remember the sensitive beak below your ministering fist as you “tidy
away”. Well you shouldn’t be so furry. You
tortuous minx. Steady. See the warning signs....
Have you ever seen anyone trying to
get away with watering eyes.
Bear has.
Run Bear, Run.
  Talk about Sod’s Law. There Bear was
a naked as a jay bird, having just finished his shower, me shaving the back of
his neck, just wearing knickers as I was next in line for the shower and what
happens. The Orion Search and Rescue plane does a fly
by, normal for boat to be monitored as they approach New Zealand. We hadn’t
heard his approach and after one hundred and sixty seven and three quarter hours
at sea, should he appear just at one fifteen and find us in our current
condition....... Ugh. I ran for the big camera and got a very poor shot of him.
Our logo would have been easy for him to read and so we missed out on a chat....
Double Ugh. Still we had a short visit by many dolphins and we’ve got chaps chattering away behind us. Just as I am typing this,
Bear is speaking to Russell Radio to report in, the friendly voice said “stand
by”, contacted Customs and radioed back. “Come on in, it’s easy. Tie up for the
night on the Q dock and Chris said he will be with you around nine in the
morning to complete formalities.” What nice people, we’ll have time for a fry-up
on the morrow. Marvelous.
Miles in the last twenty four slowed
to 121, bringing our total to 1037.6 nautical miles completed. I went down to tell the boys the good news that we were going
in tonight. Beds, Bernie, Bobby and Claude immediately began to party and I even
saw a lop sided grin from Killick, settled in his usual place beside the
captains pillow. Beez can be heard singing away to herself. The sun is bright,
God’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world.
ALL IN ALL VERY
EXCITING
VERY FEW MILES AND WE’VE CROSSED THE PACIFIC
OCEAN |