Friday, 29th October 2010
07.00hrs Skipper dragged himself out of the scratcher and had a shower, shave etc.
07.30hrs Aileen got out of the scratcher and went for a short walk.
10.00hrs Skipper and Terry drove the two girls to St. Gilles-les-Bains so they could do the beach for the day, while Terry and Skipper returned to the boat via the supermarket for some provisions.
We had to undo the whole inside of the boom and reload the mainsail outhaul. As outlined previously, this outhaul was replaced in Mackay and the rigger made a complete mess, the outhaul not only crossed a steel bar that cause it to fray, but the rope was crossed a number of times inside the boom, thus causing further chafing along the outhaul. All this today took another 3 hours, but we were happy when finished that it worked well. It also made no more noise when the sail was being pulled out the boom, no ropes crossing and were clear of all steel bars (and we are not riggers). It seems to be a real boat thing, paying big money to mess up your boat.
15.00hrs We returned to the beach and collected the girls, while Neil remained behind and attended the skippers briefing. The weather was cloudy and at times we had a few drops.............. RAIN ohhhhhh no, and all the clothes hanging out on board the boat.
16.30 Skipper returned the rent a "sardine can" to Weils, which was located in the center of town. Surprisingly few taxis around this place, so in fairness to the owner of the rent a "Sardine Can" offered Skip a lift back to the boat, which he readily accepted.
18.00hrs Free drinks and prizegiving at the "Dodo Bar" just 50 yards away, if even that. A Lady won her class again on the leg from Mauritius to Reunion, there were lots of prizes and funny prizes as well. We got a bottle of white wine for our prize, which we consumed rapidly with the dinner which followed the prizegiving. The starters were a bit too spicy for most, so the dogs outside the door were going to have a spicy night! However the dinner itself was very good. Again we had a goat dish which was delicious, along with big beans and rice. Then we had a dessert and this was followed with plenty of night caps on board.
We were, at this stage looking forward to leaving for South Africa tomorrow, and giving our bodies a rest from all the drink and parties.
This was another great night organised by rally control.
That's enough eating for today. Funny thing, as I type this, I am surrounded by heavy snoring... zzzZZZZZZZZZzzzZZZZZZzzz. A real sign of too many late nights...
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)