24 October 2010
The start to leg 18 began with a blessing ceremony for the fleet, held on the quayside with representatives from six faiths, Jewish, Hindu, Catholic, Muslim, Christian and Buddhism. A lovely quotation was read from the bible, the book of Matthew, the gist of which was that with Jesus asleep down below, his disciples were in mortal fear of the boat sinking in a storm. It made me smile. It was straight from a scene aboard Voyageur during our rough weather crossing from the Cocos Islands! Crossing the start line for once was not the stressful situation that I had anticipated. We kept to the back of the fleet and glided over it just five minutes after the starting signal. The wind was from astern, easterly, and we poled out the genoa and unfurled the mizzen. In the lee of the island we found ourselves in the grip of a counter current and with a cross swell made for a lumpy, bumpy afternoon. Then, suddenly, we found ourselves slopping about as the wind died and we motored for the next hour and a half. Finally a 180 degree wind shift left us scratching our heads. This was not what was forecast but we had noted a three point fall in the barometric pressure which left us to wonder. Before we knew it the wind had backed to the south and increased to force five, gusting six. Off we went. It does not take long for the Indian Ocean to cut up rough and one wave splashing over the side was enough for us to dig the cockpit curtain out of the locker. Now we were wind and watertight and ready to settle down for the night. The moon came up early and was full and round. What a pleasure it was to have his company again. It had been such a long time since he had graced us with his presence. The seas became less confused and we ended up having a really cracking sail for the 138m passage across to La Reunion.
Twitter!
In just two short weeks, most of the fleet have forgotten that channel 77 is the hailing channel and NOT.... for chat. Many times during the night there was irrelevant chatter while one of us was trying to rest! It really drives us nuts! Unless there is a genuine emergency or risk of a collision at sea, night time chatter should be kept to a minimum or at least on another working channel. It is something that multi crewed boats should take time to think about. Sleep is a precious commodity for us double handers, and lack of it could endanger our decision making process and/or our reactions to difficult situations on board......
It does not matter what time of the day or night your arrival, Paul or Suzana are always on hand ready to welcome us in and take the mooring lines. I know this is all part of what we pay for in the WARC fees but it is a great service nevertheless and removes the uncertainty and the stress that goes with that of arriving at an unfamiliar location of a new landfall. Rafted alongside Tzigane once more, we went straight to the Dodo Cafe a few yards from the boat for our first French style breakfast courtesy of Andrew Bishop. He is back amongst the fold once more sailing aboard Crazy Horse. The port of Le Port, cannot be compared with the waterfront complex of Port Louis but we have what we need, shore power and water, a friendly local cafe with internet access and the most fantastic "demi-tasse" French coffee. This island looks ripe for exploration and we are content......
The quay was buzzing with activity. There was to be a welcome party the evening of our arrival and everyone knows how I love a party! After the customary all over shampoo, David and I grabbed a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon before the festivities began. All day long the quayside had seen a procession of local people parading, interested and admiring the boats at the same time. With most of the fleet dressed overall, we did make for a pretty sight. A marquee was set up and the music blasted forth. The first group had WARC crews dancing. After the speeches and presentations, local rum and buffet style finger food was on offer. It mattered not a jot that the local people were ahead of us in the queue, for there was a drummer band, eighteen strong, with three little ones at the front that would have made any parent proud. One lady, wheelchair bound, bopped and gyrated to the music. She was having so much fun I thought her chair might topple! Their timing and rhythm was perfect and more than worth missing the barbeque chicken legs that had been devoured during their performance. At least there was plenty of rum left! We returned to Voyageur to find a plague of moths in the cabin. Normally it would be mosquitoes but these were definitely moths. David has had a look at the grib files for next Tuesday. A low sweeping across from the south west with six to seven metre seas. I am not even going to think about it. It is our 41st wedding anniversary tomorrow and we are going to find a nice hotel somewhere and celebrate the occasion with John and Jenny. We will worry about the weather on our return but then again, what can you do about it when you are out there. I say, trust the boat, trust the skipper, trust in God......
Susan Mackay