Rum Runs Out!!
Nakesa
Sat 9 Jun 2012 10:33
|
S9 35 W123 22
Rum Runs Out!
Sorry to have been quiet for a few days
BUT.......there has been a major situation aboard Nakesa when it was discovered
that the rum stocks had finally been depleted and we seem to be stranded mid
Pacific without grog!!!
Calls have been made to Falmouth but it seems the
nearest ship is around 600nm away and there seems nothing for it but to limp
into the Marquesas under a jury rig, using just beer for the 'tot'! Shabby!
Even an old wayward bottle of Sambuca has come into play and had to be used as
an improvised measure! Us sailors can be resourceful!
The last three days at sea have been uneventful ,,I
mean at least, without drama hence the lack of postings and yet when I think of
the days they have been entirely pleasurable. I started asking myself why and
perhaps, dear Friends, you may be interested in the minuti of our day.
Mine starts at 0600 after a 2 hour rest..my
habit has been to read just on deck after sunrise and enjoy the first
couple of hours alone with a book. Currently Barack Obama's first Biography,
Dreams from my Father....beautifully written..amazing that a man from such
a background could become president of the US..before this Steve Jobs by Walter
Isaacson.. a compelling read, what a nutcase, clever yes, but World changing and
important.. well sitting here on a yacht mid pacific thinking of 6 day queues we
saw in New York to buy an I Phone 4 ..not really!!!!.... but what a
businessman.....creating that level of desire ...and that much money..oh the
pump spares I could buy!
Breakfast of meusli and a morning sun sight..I have
been keeping up the celestial navigation mostly because it is fun and i want to
be in practice should the need ever arise to use it. In truth the GPS and
chartplotters are great and really make everything much safer so long as one
keeps a healthy mistrust of the charting which is 400 years old in this
area.
There will normally be time to catch up on e mails
and watch a movie before the crew surface and want breakfast/lunch. In between
the last few days have been dominated by 'Risk' on the i pad..much better than
the real game and very addictive, before this I was also up to my 500th game
against the computer at Backgammon...very cerebral!
Afternoon is always fun with the children, playing
chess, chatting and cooking (bread today) and late afternoon I run the
morning sight and noonsight up to the afternoon sight to get a 'fix'
(position)...... which I can then check against the 3 GPS readouts in front of
me...okay okay so I am stuck in the past...remember I am living out a boyhood
dream here and I always imagined myself as Robin Knox Johnson having to
swing a sextant, climb the mast and fix the rudder all in a mornings work. I am
glad I experienced sailing at the end of that era with no electricity or
electronic navigation aboard..that was real sailing....and it was more fun..ah
well, those were the days.....I ruminate on this further as I turn on the
generator and water maker and take another hot shower and settle in front of
theTV to watch a DVD!!!
My brother sent a lovely e mail today, asking
whether this trip put a perspective on life 'back home' he mentioned
corrupt politicians, the media etc....in truth almost the opposite, I
have come to deeply admire those people in life that try to make a
difference however imperfect. Hence all the books and films about politics I am
absorbed with lately....people .that try and civilise a World of animals that
are pre programmed to be 98% selfish. I am still amazed and delighted that with
only a few exceptions I can sail with my family in a yacht and arrive in almost
any country on any continent anywhere in the world and be welcomed and
allowed to travel around freely and safely. It is
miraculous!
What does now seem so banal in contrast was the
aspirations and values of the Uk and our own, so termed 'sucessful', city
life...working and living in London..... the same in New York or probably
any City...spending lots of money on fancy meals, designer labels, Nannies,
gym memberships and trendy (but useless) private schools, working all
hours like crazy..being shouted at by thugs in vans, fined by traffic
wardens and pretending to be environmentally aware whilst
drinking completely unnecessary bottled mineral water and paying £3.50 for
a cup of coffeee with a stupid name. trying to out-do your neighbours in a
self indulgent frenzy of materialism!!
...........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhh......... . all
for what (okay okay except a Swan 57 and 5 years off...yes! except that)..Great
fun for a short time but terribly hollow and as for the children it would
prepared them only to live that very same type of life and I want a lot more for
them now than that! I am a lot more ambitous now!
Sorry.. but Mike asked!
Okay where were we, then...ah yes late afternoon
and Tot time, a salute to the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda,
a tribute to departed (absent) friends, an acknowledgement of
ourachievements of the day and than a warm feeling of family (or was that
the rum!). Then guitars and percussion out for a sing song in the
cockpit after dinner and night watch beneath clear starlit sky talking
quietly with ones children about the latest learnings from Horrile History or a
list of what I want for my birthday. Perfection!
Actually it has been three very eventful
days...just very different type of events.
Goodnight from a small ship sailing on a
smooth sea on a glorious pacific night.
Graham
SY Nakesa
904 miles from Marquesas
|