Friday, May 14, 2010

On The Road Again

We are off again after days of drifting slowly away from Fiji. It feels great and above all it is cooler. Our days had become a routine of swimming round the Bounty Boat, sitting on the bow with my feet in the sea and then steering in the sun. Soaking the shirt in the sea provided regular relief from the intense heat but it wasn't long before the shirt had to be wet again.

The cooler SE trades brought rain which has not only washed the Bounty Boat clean but means there is water in our tanks. A very nice feeling as we head across these latitudes. The temperature dropped markedly and like Bligh I began to feel the cold by dusk last night. The sea water was hot though and I could easily see how Bligh ordered his men to soak there clothes in the sea to warm up.

It is never all plain sailing however and this time the solar panels just aren't putting in what they should. Picking our brains for a solution to that one.

Half way to Vanuatu feels good but a small step in the big scheme. The next step heading out from Vanuatu toward restoration Island is the most daunting. The week ahead looks exciting negotiating the Vanuatu group. Long may these fair breezes last and the odd squall fill our water bottles.

Petit Bateaux, Grande Aventure

Dave Pryce / Quilter

1 comment:

ERIC SHACKLE said...

Hi Don and Stuart

As I right these words I'm watching Jessica Watson arriving in Sydney.

I'd like to tell her that she is a different woman from the 16-year-old laswho sailed from Sydney a few months ago.

But who would listen to a 91-year-old geezer(or even an old fart)?

And, as UNO, we all fart. Sum say they fart 37 times a day, which we all do. U must find it particularly Mbarrassing in your confined quarters.
I'm also a member of support tea, having emailed her once or twice.

Best wishes to everyone on TBB.

Cheers, Eric.

P.S. I'm watching Knot 1, but 2 TV channels (ABC1 and 9) although knot @ the same time.

Best wishes to all the crew of TBB.

BTW UR saling close to the wind these days. Do U no the origin of that phrase?

PS. When I first tried 2 send this mess age 2U, I had 2 rite the words witz edip, which is very like wits edit.

And I'm a copy editor for Anu Garg's A Word A Day, which he sends five days a week to more than 900,000 wordlovers in 200 coutries.

Cheers, Eric.

PPS. Seriously, I hope my readers (that's not true - nay, thousands}of readers adopt your suggestion that they eat the same rations tomorrow as the TBB crew do, then estimate the cost of the meal, and send that amount to SIF (Sheffield Instute for Neuroscience).