Day 397: Salvador, Brazil – 07/02/11

I wake up at 4 am and can’t get back to sleep.  Only slightly muzzy from the night before, I get up after an hour of trying to get back to sleep, shut the door on Mike who’s still asleep and go to do some tidying.  I make up the bed in the other bow cabin for Johanne and Steve and give it a quick clean around.  No one else has been in there since Ann and Terry and Ann always leaves it lovely.

My green broom gets whizzed around everywhere and then I start to run out of things to do which won’t make a noise and therefore wake Mike.  He must hear the kettle whistling though as he gets up and sorts out the internet for me and I start to publish a backlog of blog.

I have my phone on waiting for a call or text from Johanne to say they are in the taxi and one comes earlier than I expect.  Paul says that the journey can take anything from an hour to three hours depending on the time of day and if there are any events going on.  I figure the rush hour will be two hours so spend time wandering around on the dock talking to people.

Suddenly I hear the not-so-dulcet Northern tones of Johanne booming across the marina – something about “I come all these thousands of miles to see you and you’re not even there to meet me!”.  And there she is, a happy Northern blur as she runs down the ramp to hug me.  I run to her and witnessing our obvious joy at seeing each other, Rosemary gets a tear in her eye.

We get back to the boat but then have the fun of getting Johanne (not known for her mountain goat prowess with moving objects) onto the boat.  It takes a while and a lot of muttering, but eventually she is on.

We fill them with water, then champagne, then wine.  All this before noon.  How disgusting – I’ve always said she is a bad influence.

Photo:  Surrounded by empties

After some lunch, we all have a nap then go off for showers before attending the prizegiving.  We weren’t part of the race this time as we didn’t leave from Hout Bay in South Africa, but from Cape Town – not that we ever actually race.  Mike is too interested in keeping the boat in one piece and not getting any sails ripped.

We have a lovely evening catching up with everyone and introducing Johanne and Steve to them.  We have more of the local drinks and some taster foods which are very good, and although we had fully intended going out to eat, we decide not to bother.

Photo:  Johanne with the local ladies

Photo:  Johanne, Matt and me

Photo:  Johanne, Steve, me and Mike

  Photo:  Bev and me

Photo:  Bev, Matt, me and Johanne do ‘ blue steel’ – some doing it better than others – I just look pissed off!

Photo:  Rosemary, me and Johanne

Of course, having got Johanne off the boat, walking back to the boat, the hilarity sets in as we realise we now have the spectacle of watching her attempt to get back on after a few drinks.  However, the alcohol seems to make her more nimble and she leaps with almost gay abandon back on (actually the boat had come in to about 12 inches away from the dock for a few seconds).  We have an early night.  Johanne and Steve are definitely jet lagged after 27 hours travelling and Mike and I always take a few nights to get back into our sleep patterns after a long passage.