Pi Squared Yacht Blog - Day 8
Mustique
Fin McGurran
Tue 4 Dec 2007 22:18
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Day 8 - Merry-Go-Rounds And Roller
Coasters
There are two ways to live your life, in a
constant, happy medium with no highs, lows or danger of disappointment. Then
there is the Roller Coaster, seeking out and riding the highs and accepting the
inevitable lows, no middle ground. Here on Pi Squared, we are firmly
in the Roller Coaster category. In the last blog we spoke of
the highs of riding the surf. Yesterday we experienced the other
extreme, the low (with a wee bit of a high in there too). At 11pm we were flying our spinnaker and settling down to a
cup of tea when suddenly the sail shredded - down it came and up went the
biggest headsail we had. A couple of hours later
the wind dropped. With Sophie at the helm, we hit 1 knot of boat speed! We spent
several hours struggling to make progress, one of the worst things that can
happen in a yacht race. our welcome rum in St Lucia was slipping further
away from us with every minute that passed.
Then, during the Celtic watch, between
5am and 8am the wind died completely and we had to take all of the
sails down, going nowhere fast, mid-Atlantic. At 6.30am it started to
rain. Jake, Jonny and Lynn didn't hesitate in grabbing the shower
gel, stripping off and enjoying their first shower in 8 days,
using water gathered in the sail to rinse the shampoo from their hair, bliss!
Fin was on hand with a camera but couldn't be convinced to join in, this
time. We are feeling very smug today, the rest of the crew are standing
by with shower gel and Sophie is wearing her best underwear just in
case!
Its day 8 of the detox programme. we are now all
officially sober and beginning to experience reality. Some of us are having very
strange dreams and we are all getting a little concerned. For example,
Simon dreamt that the winches were sand castles and that there was a music
room in the fore peak.
Tonight's dinner delight is a home cooked three
bean and chorizo stew, courtesy of Fin - he is also making fresh
bread, a welcome departure from our pre-prepared meals!
Our daily sweetie bags were late in coming out
today causing quite a stir (we are all given a small bag containing sweets,
a cereal bar and a bar of chocolate). Sophie knows where the stock is
hidden but won't divulge the details. She does however always seem to be
chewing sweets!
No flying fish have boarded for 2 days now. We
can still see them flying close to the boat, sometimes in groups of 10 or
more.
Love to all at home from the entire
crew.
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