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Jus'Do It 3 - a bouncy night!



Wednesday 28th May

It’s a grey overcast day – and it’s a bit chilly! We get the laundry picked up as arranged , Ian and Stewy go off to organise the duty free booze dropping Annie at the supermarket on the way. We do a big shop.get it all aboard and stowed. Stewy has  a frustrating morning with his computer – Skype delight – not! Brian is off hiking again,having agreed to take Petra from Viva on the cross country walk.. We lunch aboard, then have a look at the charts and weather – we’re thinking of going to Palmerston Atoll. It only extends our journey to Nuie by 56 miles so, if the conditions are right we’ll go there. When the laundry man returns Ian gets chatting to him – he’s a 70 year old New Zealander who arrived here on a yacht with his wife 20 years ago. They never left . He tells us to go to Palmerston as it’ll be an experience and we’ll be made very welcome. We do a run round some shops – it’s pouring with rain now – then stop in Trader Jacks  for a few drinks before returning to the boat. The wind’s up now – we check our lines before heading out to the Tamarind Restaurant for a meal with Tallulah Ruby and Andreas from Strega. Tamarind is in one of the oldest colonial houses on the island, boasts the islands best chef and is right on the beach. Due to the weather , the screens are down and we watch as the wind builds – the palm trees getting a battering from the NW. We’ve just ordered when Paul and Ian decide they better go and check the boats. Cuko goes too. They find that the wind is blowing straight into the harbour (again!)  and there’s danger of the sterns banging off the harbour wall. They take up a few metres of anchor chain and tie on some additional warps before heading back to the restaurant. As Jens and Johanna are aboard Strega, they agree to call us on the VHF if conditions deteriorate. We’ve just finished our main courses when Jens and Johanna call to say TR now very close to the harbour wall. Paul and Cuko run off immediately, then there’s a call for Jus Do It so Andreas runs Ian and Annie back to the boat. There’s a huge swell in the harbour  - all the boats are bouncing around and it’s fun and games getting onto the bouncing boat off the bouncing dinghy! The wind has now increased to 25 knots and there’s torrential rain. We start the engine, Annie takes up some more anchor chain and we plan an exit strategy should the anchor start to drag. Stewy and Brian soon arrive back and we agree to keep an anchor watch on shifts until things calm down. About 1am, while Stewy and Annie on watch , the wind starts to swing to the NE and abate. By 1.30-2am the swell has lessened, the wind has dropped and we all go to bed.




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