Two Firsts
Miss Molly 4
Bob & Peggy Wilkerson/Geoff & Merel Pettifer
Sat 12 Jul 2008 05:24
Thank Goodness. Yesterday's extreme rollyness subsided since the wind picked
up again and the seas smoothened out a bit. We no longer feel like a certain
cartoon character or jungle animal. Also the current has come back to help
us along.
The wind however decided to back so far to the NE that we had to gybe. Not
an easy job with a pole on the headsail to deal with and a preventor on the
main, but much simplified by the hydraulic furling systems on board.
Nevertheless, it takes us 15 minutes with the two of us to gybe in a safe
manner. So for the first time in weeks we were
sailing on the starboard tack. Quite confusing to adjust your routine in
mirror fashion. Not for long though, since the wind veered back to ENE and
we had to gybe again, back to our old familiar port tack.
Another first today was some rain. We had not seen any since we had left the
Galapagos. Nice to get some of the salt off the boat, although there is
still plenty of that left.
Our radio contact with the other boats is slowly fading out since more of
them are about to make or have already made landfall. We know that there are
some boats behind us still, but it's unlikely we will see them after
landfall, either because they are heading for another island or because they
are so far behind that by the time they arrive, we will already be en route
to the Tuamotus. So despite that society is getting closer, our social life
at the moment is feeling emptier. Never mind, less than 3 days to go now,
about 400 miles ahead lies land. Hard to imagine yet, but we would like to
think we can smell it already.
Talking about smell(y): we tried a new Indian Goan fish curry mix from a
package today, which turned out to be disgusting. Luckily we had not added
our beloved dorado yet, so we tossed it over the side and started again with
a nice Balti sauce instead. Spicy, but nice! We are already dreaming about
the baguettes with pate - nice to have something different!
Cheers from the Countdown Team,
Geoff & Merel