Endurance Expedition
Suzie Too - Western Caribbean
David & Suzanne Chappell
Wed 10 Feb 2010 15:19
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Well I know I moaned about how exhausted we are,
but it has been tough on the crews the boats and the equipment. So Fortaleza
didn't get much of a look really - we were at the Marina Park Hotel and
just all chilled by the pool for a week, although again it wasn't easy to sleep
in the rolly anchorage. We were asked "Please
don't go out with your feet" and had to take a taxi, prices for food and
drink here were much less than on the east coast and we caught up with our
new sailing family and their news.
The group that went south to Rio had an accident
during an excursion in a mini bus, a car pulled out the driver was killed and 2
of our friends suffered serious injuries one a broken leg the other a broken
ankle - so that's now 4 broken legs on this expedition. The group is now down to
6 boats and they are sorry they left such a super group - the camaraderie has
all gone.
In terms of boats - at least 3 more spinnakers
blown, 1 spinnaker pole broken and pedestal ripped from the deck during a gybe,
1 broken lower shroud, 1 rudder jammed against the hull and had to have the
quadrant removed at sea, not to mention the usual troubles with water makers,
fridges, generators, alternators and electronics
So crews (husbands and wives - yes including us)
have all been getting VERY stressed, some very tearful and others thinking of
packing sailing in - so time to try and relax and save some energy for the
2 month push into the Amazon
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