CALISO - FRIDAY 14th December - WE LANDED!!!!!!
CALISO
Mark
Fri 14 Dec 2007 13:00
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good morning - it is great to be typing on a flat
surface, not holding on, nothing moving, wunderbar!! so, here's a brief
account of our last 32 hours for anyone out there still reading.
wednesday evening it rained and got rough again -
three of us ate above decks and three below - we had been having more than our
fair share of squalls. the night shift - the last we hoped - continued in
the same vane. the first shift - dave and becky - loadsa rain. mark
and lisa on the 12-4 had no rain but instead a huge wave came over and
completely flooded the cockpit and went over the bottom hatch insert and down
into the cabin. also, becky had opened the girls inner hatch again due to
the heat and the beds got wet again!!! she was really sorry
obviously. we will give everything a good scrub. bob and i on the
romantic early morning last sunrise shift had squall after squall, we got soaked
over and over and the sunrise never really happened as it was so cloudy, but it
was now our last morning and we had less than 70 miles to go and we were also 2
hours ahead of real time so all in all we knew we woild get in on thursday and -
even better - in daylight. we all had bets as to when we would arrive -
dave and becky with wednesday and tuesday were out of the running - bob and lisa
with friday were also out of the running. it was all down to mark and i - i said
9am on thursday and mark said 11pm so we had a 14 hour difference which meant my
time went up to 4pm. we arrived at 13.29pm. i was the winner. the
prize - a drink from each person.
anyway, back to our most gorgeous but huge sea off
the coast of st. lucia. bob spotted land first at 10.15am and then it gradually
got bigger and bigger - although somewhat hazy. we could also see
martinique off our starboard side. the waves were huge. they changed
from dark blue to brilliant blue depending on the sun and then as we got
shallower and shallower to the most beautiful turquoisey green. they were
however so huge and we were tipping over so far whilst surfing down some of the
giants and mark said we should all life jacket and harness up again even though
we were in sight of land. we had to go round pigeon island and then into
the bay in between the white ketch with the orange banner and the orange
buoy. we had to radio in 5 miles off and then again 2 miles off. you
wouldn't believe it but three boats came in together - travelled nearly 3,000
miles, left at same time and came in from different directions at exactly the
same time. one was ahead of us and the second boat - a charter racer in
the racing division - looked to have just pipped us and as mark said - we are
not racing. they we were...... they tacked right in front of our
nose - not very gentlemanly - and we tacked - mark now barking out orders as we
had never heard him before. lisa got two frictions burns on her legs and
we were all just pulling sheets or letting them out on command - my hands felt
worse after that than after the whole trip - no sailing gloves on. they
tacked too soon, we follow tacked, then tacked again and then pipped them over
the finish line. what a moment. the guys on the ketch sounded the
finish horn and we all went mad. that's what it feels like to race over
the finishing line when you are not racing!! still we were all dead proud
to have pipped them, especially as they were a racing crew all togged p and
professional looking. there was a photographer on a boat taking loads of
shots and i will go and check out the results today. everyone was waving
and shouting congratulations. we got our head sail away and then got out
berthing instructions and motored into the marina. well, that was amazing
too - we came in at a brilliant time - all the other boats with people on them
were clapping and shouting congratulations - i knew it would be magic.
this moment and the free rum was one of the reasons i wanted to go two years
ago- that and not wanting to worry about bob - so it was just amazing. us
girls were hugging and trying to keep our emotions at bay. we berthed
without problem and then there was the lady with the free rum and fruit and
bottle of bubbly - see following photos - the rum was delicious. more team
hugs and thanks in all possible combinations of the crew and then we started to
chat to the boats around us and it was all just absolutely wonderful. dry
land - it rocked to start with.
we then did minmum clear up so that we could at
least walk in the cockpit and then off to the bar at the end of the
pantalon. had loads of different cocktails and snacks and then a meal
later. no one knows what time we came back, probably not late by our
normal standards, but as we were all used to going to bed at sundown, very late
for us. what a night. loos where you could put the paper down them
again. it's the little joys!! water that you could run and run and
soap up your hands and then rinse it all off again. everywhere people who
were chatty and friendly and willing to share their sailing stories. we
met the crew that we pipped at the post and they called us "buggers". nice
bunch. took it well.
it is now next morning and the big boat clean up
has been underway since 7.30am - mark and dave are both early risers. the
to do list is hanging on the wall and we are all busy as bees. i will send
this and hope that at least some of the atmosphere comes across. thanks
for following us and showing interest and look forward to seeing lots of you
again in january when we are back. mark and lisa fly home on tuesday, dave
on wednesday. bob and i have booked a hotel nearby so we are moving out
for 5 days to give everyone else a bit more room -that's our excuse and we are
sticking to it. clean, fresh white sheets uuuuuuuummmmmmmmm. we have
sent the girls off with two huge bin bags full of dirty washing - including all
the rank bedding. bob, becky and i plan to head south for christmas, we
have heard mustique is good for xmas, then st. vincent and on to the
grenadines. see how far we get. we haven't got a return flight yet,
but plan to come back about 6th or 7th jan. becky is looking for a job on
a boat and then further travels. hope you all have a wonderful
christmas. thanks again for your patience reading my diary. it's
quite strange to write a diary knowing in the back of your head that people you
don't know might be reading it. hope you enjoyed. out jan
xx
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