Are you on a dry boat?
Well, in a sense, yes. Other than the occasional ritual or 'team-bonding' beer to go with a passage milestone, the consumption of alcoholic beverages, while not being ruled out completely, is regulated through subtle social pressures. Rumor has it that some boats of our competition saw themselves forced to decide between beer and whine when thinking about how the added weight would reflect on their race performance, but Engelen is different. Reminiscent of the House of a Thousand Beers in Berlin, golden delicatessen from all over the Mediterranean are hidden under most pillows, floorboards, inside cupboards and the fridge. Now, I don't know whether it is the eighteen days spent at sea, the running out of cold soft drinks about four days ago or my Bavarian roots, but a refreshing beer has become one of the iconic things to look forward to when arriving in St. Lucia.
Roel said it is mostly due to the one- (or few-) dimensional mindset of a student. But this is the same man i also overheard commenting on me sleeping in after a long night shift from 2 to 5 am: "one really notices how the youngsters do not yet have a place in society". I think that is a positive thing and I will in fact have a toast on that, with a refreshing beer obviously.
I have just come off my 12 to 4 shift and the wind has finally picked up after almost 24 hours under engine. Having to resort to motoring was, the race penalty aside, a bit of an anti-climax after sixteen days under sail but, on the other hand, chances are that you will have to motor at some point when travelling for almost 3000 miles across the Atlantic. The wind has now picked up, we are under full sail and, slightly heeled over on a close reach, are sailing into the sun set on a calm and gentle sea.
With two days to go, we can almost smell St. Lucia. It really is time to get there,stand on land, have rum punch and some fresh fruit. A sweetwater shower is also needed badly but with the exact sequence of these things yet to be decided, I fear showering might be of overall least importance. We are looking forward to linking up with other participants to hear how they fared during the course of the rally. I am sure there are many interesting stories to hear but I guess that only a few of them will compare to the live on Engelen we have documented for you on a regular basis in this blog.
So, here goes my (andy's) last blog entry. My beer is cold. Over and out!