Hi from Ruby and Jenny,
For those of you who aren't already aware of Bruce,
he is our weather router, and as of yet, has never let us down. He tells us how
to avoid storms, what rain clouds will be coming and even what sun factor to
wear - in our case at the moment - none!! This is to the extent that a conversation over
dinner one evening went along the lines of this:
'If god were to have a name, do you think it would
be Bruce...?'
So naturally, when Bruce told us that we had past
the risk of any more squalls, and that the rest of our journey to Fiji would be
a pleasant, but yet again a wet one, we naturally believed him! The result of this was a slightly more relaxed attitude when
on watch, as we took to watching our books instead. So when Jen was busy watching her book, and another one of the many rain
clouds passed our way, it was of no surprise then that she didn't bat an
eyelid simply expecting another down pour.
However, this particular rain cloud decided, in the
space of 2 seconds, to deliver 50 knot winds with it. As a slightly panicked Jen, not realising she
was experiencing her first squall, ran down to the saloon shouting 'Steve, Ruby,
Storm!' Both who were sound asleep were rudely awoken by a boat that was out of
control, as were the sails, the waves, the wind, rain, and of course Jenny,
who was still running around shouting 'Storm'. Nothing like some lashing rain and a storm to snap you out of sleep,
unless you're Ruby who slept through all of this, even Jen's shouting until it
was in her ear, and still then she rolled over and said 'what's all the shouting
about, is dinner ready?'
But with Skipper Steve, who had now stumbled on to
the deck bleary eyed, in charge and issuing orders with cigar and brandy in
hand, we realised that perhaps it was a little more than just that dinner
was ready.
We no longer think that if God had a name it would
be Bruce!
However, we lived to tell the tale, and after a six
hour storm and 3 weeks of cloud since leaving Bora Bora, we finally arrived in
Fiji. It totally lives up to all the guide books, films
and programmes, with it's glorious blue skys, sunshine, white sandy beaches
and at last still waters. And of course lets not forget the pina colada's at sun
down.
Skipper's now off home, leaving the girls in this
paradise and in charge of his boat.............! And oh yes, we almost forgot,
there are 23 New Zealand racing yachts also moored up alongside us at Muscot
Cove. We calculated that with 23 boats averaging 8 crew that means 184 men
between us all. Well Kate's taken so that's actually 92 each! I don't think
you'll be hearing from us for a while...we might be busy.
Love Jen, Ruby, and
Skipper
xx
ps. HA HA HA HA I missed the
storm, too busy having a romantic mini break in Fiji.................!!!
love Kate.x