The previous blog was a very speedy thing done in an Internet cafe with the timer running. I had to notify oz customs of my change of plans and I dashed off a quick blog. The sail I have just had was memorable to say the least. I averaged seven and a half knots including the hours I spent with the handbrake on(hove to). Top speed was 13.7 but the usual speed was around nine. This was with about half a headsail. The seas were the thing. Damn boat would catch a wave and take off only to run into a wall of water coming the other way. The leaking forward hatch meant that lots of water got in. I opened my wardrobe yesterday to find two feet of water in it. I feel a little like a flood victim, salt and mildew on everything. Lautoka had a final gift for me, while the dinghy was tied up during the checkout it rubbed against rocks and got a leak. I've tried for the last two days to fix it and finally gave up today and am having it repaired. This means being stuck on the boat for a day or more. Hopefully I can con some fellow cruiser into giving me a ride to shore tomorrow which I'm sure I will. I seem to have very decent neighbors. My main memory of the sail though is the volume of white water around me during the knockdown. Nothing like I had ever seen before. Just noise, water and foam and me thinking come on, keel boats are self righting, when are you coming back up. After it finally came back up the auto pilot was telling me ever so kindly that I had no rudder.Not something I wanted to hear and it was a great relief when I discovered it was lying. Something it has done ever since.
When I visited customs today I informed him of the theft and he was crestfallen. He said sorry so often I felt I had to cheer him up. After I left there the taxi driver asked about my trip and I explained what happened. He was furious and refused to take me to immigration before he had arranged a phone for me. I asked why he was so keen for me to have phone and he explained that he was going to see someone this evening who would use black magic to find the thief and if he couldn't find him he would place a curse on the thief. He need to be able to call me for details later. Bemused and flattered I went along as I had already hoped karma would get the miscreants.
In spite of all that, I am still sore, the boat still needs fixing up and I still have a thousand miles to sail. May it be more peaceful.
