Almost Tropical
Suzie Too - Western Caribbean
David & Suzanne Chappell
Sun 25 Oct 2009 16:42
and over 15,000M total sailing. I got back to the boat in Tenerife on
Thursday night after a trip to the UK and was greeted by a stunningly
attractive woman in a new hairstyle, a lovely French Bordeaux and the most
fabulous seafood paella ever (Deliah's recipe)
Saturday was the 1000 start for the next leg, of course we were ready, but
it seemed rude to be the first boat away, so we loitered like you do when
boarding a plane, then before the announcement is made you have snuck right
to the front without anyone noticing. We were in a brisk breeze in 8th from
the start, but by early afternoon we were up into 3rd place overtaking all
the cats again. Well the wind died overnight and with only 3kts we put the
motor on and I guess we are now in mid field, cos the lighter boats are
faster in light winds and more than half are motoring. Now on Sat afternoon
we have 6kts and are making about 4kts - still on a single tack about 120
degrees downwind on port tack.
Dakhla is at around 23N and that puts us almost on the Tropic of Cancer,
which is the point on the earth's surface where the sun reaches furthest
north in summer. We have all been trailing fishing lines, but have caught
only 1 Dorade between us, so all on bully beef and K rations.
Had a great birthday with lots of cards - so "A Special Thank You" to all
and received cards from Melbourne and Dallas, which was very nice. Now I
have to see if I can get a card for Suzanne - maybe something in French from
Senegal - as she is rapidly being adopted by all toutes les bateaux Francais
et les enfants - a kind of surrogate French woman. She was really well
looked after dining onboard the boats while I was staying at the Hilton
Manchester Airport Hotel - well I did go for a great Chinese with Andy and
the crew from CarPhone Warehouse.
The only things to watch for tonight are the pirouges full of cayucos "Boat
People" those desperate to escape poverty and persecution in Africa and that
try to head to the Canary Islands and claim asylum - hopefully we don't see
any, as we cannot take them onboard, because we become legally responsible,
and if we go close enough to provide them with food and water they may try
and overpower the boat - so a dilemma. It's really dark out here at night,
nothing around just 6 RIDS boats on the horizons. So we are heading for a
waypoint 20M offshore and will then close the coast at first light to watch
for pirogues, fisherman and unmarked nets.
Best Regards
David & Suzanne
Moody 49 "Suzie Too"