18 24S 152 31W
Libertyatsea10
Thu 19 Aug 2010 02:57
Burnt to a cinder...the joys of south pacific sailing..my lips get so burnt., I just have to climb the companion way steps and they are burnt. Have you ever tried drinking earl grey with lips you didn't know were burnt,? it is hell I tell you! I have tried everything, sun block, vaseline, skiing block, even a ridiculous lipkerchief designed by Grum in tasteful and cheerful Tahitian colours. I am told I look like a pirate, so that is some small comfort.
Hey Hoh , we are quickly back into watch routine, and so far a lovely passage. Benj spending sun time watching Little Britain and staying out of the sun which shows remarkable sense compared to everyone else on this vessel. He is a very trendy pale!! However, he disgorges every word of Little Britain which he scammed from another boat, over meal times. Thoses familiar with Little Britain will know that this is not necessarily mealtime conversation. I am concerned about the child's education...he has to figure out some of the humour, and that has introduced a whole new world of explanations. Whenever a grown up watches with him, they watch with two sets of headphones, so from an otherwise silent forecabin, comes peals of raucous laughter, it is such a great sound..the rest of the crew look at each other in the cockpit and shrug, excluded for the moment from the joke.
These days have been a joy, so much time to read, enjoy the stars, the sea, to cook, to relax. This is the first time we have had a really relaxed time, but I have one constant eye on the coming weather. We have about 350 miles to go. DR Holtby as always, faithfully sending his daily interpretation and encouragement all part of Liberty routine now. Grum often says that apart from the duogen and Holtby, everything else is quite dispensible on the voyage! (B}}}} cheek)
We have serviced the engine, changed the filters for the engine, watermaker and generator. We have tuned the rigging, sewed the genoa, corrected the crap fitting of the furler. Grum says he can hardly remember when we used to get someone to fix stuff on the boat, he is MR Fixit now. NOt he claims, that he ever wanted to be Mr Anything! We are all tuned into the boat now, so things are routine, almost automatically we live by routine, things usually in the spot where they live, routines usually falling easily into place, decisions usually in accord, Boat cleaning, boat checking works well, we have a great crew. Joahn and juergen are so different but they work well together.
We desperately want to get to Rarotonga (known by the experienced cruisers it would seem as RARO so I will call it Raro just to be cool) so that we can see if we can make Fiji, so that you guys can come out for a bit. It would be SO marvelous to share a little of this time with you...although it is so hard to be definitive about dates etc. however, we will try.
We are missing you all, although the prospect of not living in this routine and culture seems to be quite a challenge on the odd occasion that reality dawns for me. I have travelled a long way from St Lucia when I had lost confidence and interest..but I am so glad that we continued ,to have the discoveries and experiences that we are having is a priceless opportunity. We have friends who have troubles with their boats now and are stuck for different reasons and I feel so helpless as we are far away from them . The bond between the sailing boats is so strong. The challenge, as Steve on the beautiful najad Magic Bus , said the other day, is never to be underestimated..... I could not agree more and he is the first chap I have heard mention that thought since we left on the ARC. I thought it was just me! It is a treat to have this gentle south pacific sail. Long may it last!
xxx