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Opportunity - Almost there!



Hi Everybody,

It's Friday morning, the 12 day out, and we are within 60 miles of Tortola! It is promising to be another warm sunny day, our 12th in a row. The moon is now on the wane, but has also been a faithful presence each night, as have many many stars. 

We have been making rather slow progress the last 5 days, as the wind is just now starting to think about coming from a direction other than southeast - that being the direction of our destination. So we have had to tack back and forth to get upwind. It hasn't helped that we have lost use of the headsail. On Tuesday it tore from leach to luff, and to top it off, we have been unable to get it down! It is firmly attached to the furler track, and resists all efforts to pull and even winch down. Without the large headsail it is difficult to sail upwind in the light to moderate breezes of the last few days, so we have had to resort to using the iron sail, otherwise known as the engine. It is running well, but alas the fuel system has sprung a leak and will have to be repaired in Tortola. It is not a fire hazard, but doesn't improve our mileage! One thing that has not sprung a leak is the holding tank for the forward head. It is a quite plugged with something or other, constipated as it were, and resists all efforts to be pumped out. Been looking all over the boat, but it looks like we didn't anticipate needing a roto-rooter, and so do not have one on board. Well, we three gentlemen sailors are resourceful and can manage without the head for a few days.

They say that boats head into port mostly in order to do repairs, and we will have a few to undertake on arrival! 

Nevertheless, the sailing has been great. We are delighted to be surrounded by sea and sky, only occasionally seeing the odd freighter. The water is a beautiful shade of blue and quite warm, we stopped for a swim the other day. The flying fish are a delight to watch, and we have had a number of seabirds hanging around the boat from time to time. Our provisions are holding out well, we had our last greek salad last night. We have one more mahi-mahi meal left from Duncan's catch, and have been enjoying it a number of ways: sushi style, lightly seared, grilled, and pan-fried. I believe tonight will be a fish stew version. We have also been able to have a daily cold beer, so all is good.

The next posting will be from Tortola! 

Willi, Duncan, Geoff




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