The day I am sort of dreading arrives – the day we start the biggest open water sail of the whole rally – the Pacific crossing to French Polynesia. I have always regarded this bit with a mixture of terror and excitement and now it is here I feel no different.
Mike wakes me up at 7.15 am and I do a little tidying and washing up. I get start to get myself tidied and washed as well when Sara and Rolando arrive in their dinghy to have a look at our new rigging and say to goodbye.
As Sara is as uninterested in the rigging as I am, she comes into the boat to have a look and compare it to Malikalalou. Seeing how I use all the shelving for storage makes her realise that she can store lots more things that she thought. She and Rolando have bought us some gifts from Lebanon – a lovely handbag mirror for me in a pretty handmade case, and a box of Lebanese baklava – I wonder how long the latter will last before Mike and I dive into that and finish it (we are both very partial to baklava)?
I am really sorry to say goodbye to them. They are such a lovely couple and it’s not often you find people you get along with so easily. Hopefully we will be able to get together in the Marquesas as they are heading there next weekend. I will keep in touch by e-mail and let them know where we are.
We do some last minute preparations – fill the water tank and drinking bottles, stow things away etc – and Mike suddenly realises that the water maker has stopped of its own accord. He discovers that it has tripped its switch and goes to investigate. He changes the filter and it starts up again. We can do without last minute hitches like that thank you very much!
We start to pull the anchor up and as the bridle chain appears we find it and the rope covered in a thick, greasy, brown gunk, which smells very distinctly of fish. I go and grab a bucket and fill it with hot soapy water and Mike attempts to wash it off. It is on the anchor chain too but only at the place where the chain was at the water line so this stuff is probably all around the hulls’ water line too – lovely.
After a cursory wash, we pull the anchor up completely then head out for the start line. There’s the usual milling around with everyone getting their sails up, most of them hovering as close to the start line as they can. Although Mike doesn’t bother with trying to get near it we find ourselves in the middle of the pack when the start sounds.
Photo: Over the start line
I hate it when we are so close to so many boats. It’s so dammed dangerous, and am relieved when at last the boats start to separate and go their different ways. However, today the wind co-operates and most of the boats go on the same course, just at different speeds.
I make some lunch, have an afternoon nap, and Mike, who isn’t tired, lets me sleep most of the afternoon. I get up at 5.30 pm to find that there are just six or seven boats around us.
Mike is taking the first four hour watch starting at 8 pm so theoretically it is time for me to go to bed. Surprisingly (or not so) I can’t sleep, and have only just drifted off when he comes to wake me for my watch at midnight.
Our position is: 01 deg 19 min S, 91 deg 22 min W
Distance so far: 2708 nautical miles
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