Hi my Friends,

 

Human beings are social animals. Already we have sort of “teamed up”with some like – minded crews.  In our little anchorage for the last couple of days were  our mates Garry and Lee (I already told you about them) and what we call the Aussie boat, which has 3 Australian and a young American guy (Rosco) on board. The skipper Mike ,originally from Papua New Guinea but now resident in Australia has lived on board his boat for 30 years, and after this trip, he will gradually sail his boat (via some Pacific Islands where he intends to spend a few weeks) back home to Australia.

 

Now you will be wondering about the excitement in Graham Harbour? Well first of all I should tell you that a number of boats have dropped out of this attempt to sail the NWP, and are heading East to return to the Atlantic. One of these vessels is Aventura, belonging to the well known Yachtsman and author, Jimmy Cornell. Jimmy thinks (probably correctly) that the NWP will open too late this year, and as he does not want to be stuck here over winter with his family on board, he made the prudent decision to return. Of his 8 crew, 3 wanted very much to continue. So Jimmy entered our anchorage yesterday morning to drop of the 3 sailors who hoped to find berths among our 3 boats in the anchorage.

 

It just so happens that one of these 3 crew is a most attractive young lady. Actually there was another such lady, but she is with her boyfriend. Now our boat is already absolutely fully crewed, with no spare room. Our skipper Dai was quite upset about this. He asked me if I wanted to overwinter on the ice to make room for, let’s call her E, but I refused his kind offer. So much to Dai’s chagrin, E ended up by going on the Aussie boat. So just to show that there were no hard feelings, Dai sent over a bottle of cheap deoderant to the Aussies, which they were very excited to receive. To complete the picture, the other 2 crew were welcomed aboard Meloda (Ukranian for “beautiful bride”) ,Garry and Lee’s boat.

 

So now another 3 have joined our small band of brothers and sisters as we near the end of our waiting game in this desolate but beautiful land.

 

By the way, thanks to all who have emailed me, sorry I have not replied personally, but they are appreciated.

 

Until the next time, take care

pete