Day 18 - And they wait
Sawsealady
David Moore
Wed 13 Dec 2006 12:13
" 15:18N 55:58W "
Day 18 - and they
wait
And they wait.... and they wait.... just like they
did in the Guiness ad. Except we've had our surf and now we are mellowing
out in calmer waters waiting for the towering green hilltops of St. Lucia to
loom up on the horizon. Roll on, roll on. Everyone seems to be
sleeping sounder than ever, not so much motion in the ocean these days.
Despite covering watch hours for the ailing Philippa - an indecent attack of
tonsilitis - everyone is managing well. Not long left
now.
Considering some of the disasters occuring
on other yachts, we seem - so far - to have come off lightly. A boat
full of Scots lost their mast a day before the finish line; two others on a
Bavaria 38 lost their rudder and under distress and exhaustion found they
couldn't substitute it so sent out a mayday
and abandoned ship. Quite a salvage. There have been other
reports of yachts hitting whales, and ending up with jury sails, an
epirb being let off, and skippers having breakdowns. Well, we struggled
with the tiredness but got used to it, and now just have a day to go.
I had been looking forward to this trip for the
best part of the year, and now that it is all but behind us I wonder where the
hell it went. Not so long ago we were fitting and fixing in France.
So what have we learnt? Well - it's all about the preparation. As Ben
Kingsley said in Sexy Beast, "It's not sudden. Preparation. Preparation.
Preparation." What an adventure. Thanks to David and
Teri, Philippa, Richard, Donald and Peter, and not forgetting Mike - just
about to try that Tuna bake now ;-). It has been a true pleasure.
OSCAR
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