16:47.271S 162:43.943W - It is not a race; it is not a competition !
Irene IV - World Adventure
Louis Goor
Wed 15 Jun 2022 08:07
Day 3 dawned warm and benevolent. The very jerky and high rolling sea state
of days 1 and 2 has settled to a gentle roll, with waves further apart,
making it easier to remain upright and steady. I am happy to pronounce that
the crew all have their sea legs and that nobody succumbed to the dreaded
mal de mer. Jobs have been divvied up and life has settled into routine
passage mode. It is fun having more of a female presence onboard, with Liz
and Heidi. The boys took a little while to get used to the caprices of the
twenty somethings, but it seems that they have come to terms with the girl
power and might even be enjoying said caprices! I dare not ask!
To while away the hours, the girls came up with a game to share with our
fellow late leaver from lovely French Polynesia, Makara. Makara has a crew
of 6, Dom, Susan and their children, Luke and Charlie-May, with new
additions, another Luke and Harriet. They left from Raiatea the same day
that we left Maupiti. They chose a more southerly course than us, but had to
motor sail for 2 days, they have since moved to a more northerly course and
seem to be gaining on us. Rob is worried! Rob likes to win, neigh, Rob must
win at all costs! We have enjoyed winds steadily in the mid to upper teens.
Day 1 and 2 were squally with torrential rain fall, the sails often had to
be reefed. We have been sailing with the genoa and main goose winged (also
known as, wing on wing), the main out to starboard, secured with a preventer
(to "prevent" the boom from flying out of control and causing harm to the
boat or its occupants) and the genoa out to port with a spinnaker pole
holding it in place. This has allowed us to cruise along at a respectable
average speed of 8-9 knots. However, with Makara catching up, things need to
be altered! Louis hoisted the stay sail as soon as he started his morning
watch at 06:30 in an effort to gain even a fraction of a knot. Rob, as I
write, with a belly full of afternoon tea and digestive biscuits, is
studying the sail plan, the wind, the waves and cooking up a let's move
faster plan!
Yesterday's, competition, I mean game, involved finding as many words as
possible that had one spelling but more than one meaning (for example,
"port", "leg", "table", "cast"). The stellar Irene IV crew came up with a
whopping 90 words, Makara 75! Today, we are discussing 5 facts about French
Polynesia or experiences had in French Polynesia that we think the other
boat may not know about. We shall report on the victor, I mean the
conversation, in the next post.
Louis has taken it upon himself to try his hand at cobbling today, ably
assisted by Rob. Why, you may ask? Well, as is common among sailors, little
pinky toes always seem to come into agonizing contact with blocks, cleats,
car tracks, and other obstructions on the deck. So, Louis is creating
leather covers for these obstacles, to save our precious toes. Our toes say
thank you.
A crash before dinner was served, announced to all yet another breakage due
to sudden unexpected jolts. Soon I will learn, but maybe not! It seems
whenever even a slight risk is taken; the ocean knows and teaches me the
same lesson again.
The quest to reuse and reuse again, continues. Some of the oft washed
plastic bags are beyond salvage and need to be thrown away. Sad to say, they
must go in the regular rubbish and goodness knows where that may end up. It
is depressing. Our friends from Uhuru, James and Jin, suggested doing a
periodic garbage reckoning. This involves finding a wind-less spot and
emptying out the trash and discussing what we might do without to reduce our
plastic and other waste usage. As soon as we find an appropriate place, we
shall do just that. Therein lies the actual competition. Can we win this
race against time and change our ways? Do we have the courage to do without
and suffer the attendant discomfort to save the planet for our descendants?
That, my dear Watson, is the true question !