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La Contenta - La Contenta Day 7: Ship to shore do you hear me any more?



La Contenta Day 7: Ship to shore do you hear me any more?
 
Well what a night!  We settled down after supper to some boat games and introduced Ewen and Cal to ‘Dobble’.  For any of you who like a fast and furious card game check it out.  It could be a good stocking filler for Christmas (hint to Jenny!).  We then had a couple of rounds of a game the Irish call ‘shit face’.  During both of these the boat was rolling so much we had to keep the cards constrained in a plastic container.  We had changed our clocks earlier in the day and gained a 26 hour day.  This combined with the mental exertion and competitiveness around the table sent us exhausted to bed.
 
Mid way through Ewens watch he called Dave as the wind indicator was showing wind speeds of 40 knots.  Though very windy this reading seemed high.  M-C was on the next watch and saw consistent winds of 46 knots which the boat handled beautifully.  This morning we all woke to light winds with an indicated speed of 17 knots.  Humm something was not quite right.  Boat inspection and a rig check showed that the Sea Me antennae on the mast head was at a precarious angle.  Dave was sent up the mast to investigate.  The Sea Me bracket had sheared and detached.  A temporary repair later, and a host of bruises and Dave was rewarded with a well earned shower.
 
We tried a couple of radio checks but no one responded.  Ship to shore do you hear me anymore?  Then Dave had an inspired thought and quietly picked up his personal VHF and sneaked to the forward heads and radioed the boat.  There was great excitement on deck that someone had picked up our message.  Also a huge relief that we are still in communication.
 
A breakfast later, and the sun is out, the cruising chute is flying and we are all once again ‘la contenta’.


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