Saturday, April 05, 2008

Are we there yet?

Well so much for optimism! Good thing we still have a sense of humour or we'd be chasing each other around with butcher knives....VHF (short range) radio fun with Brian and Cathy on 'Tarun'....revolves around his latest comparison of sailing to being a toddler again....first, you eat your food out of a bowl and are lucky not to drop some, second, you take baby steps and hang onto things, third, your language is incomprehensible to most people...." itcz axis forming at 04 north, 0000zulu.. copy that,
va7dxf clear....etc", fourthly going to the potty is sooooo satisfying and you're so proud of yourself...when you can work it in.... and last but not least....must have that nap in the afternoon or you get cranky!!!
So the night from hell has ended! Started out pretty tame but soon torrential rains engulfed us to the point where we radioed Tarun, exchanged positions and moved apart because we could not see each other's lights and did not know what kind of wind was in the beastie! Turned out to be not much wind except for the brief 20 knots to keep us on our toes...literally. The rest of the night was heavy rain and light wind off and on so we motored when we had to and sailed when we could...anything to get
through this thing. Not sure if everyone gets beaten up this way in the ITCZ but we are weary of it now. Lost radio contact with Tarun and calculated their DR (estimated) position based on last course and speed. Had it to within a few miles and made contact before dawn. And a glorious dawn it was! Still clouds all around but blue skies ahead and a beautiful 12-15 knots breeze from the SE to greet us. Soon have all sail set and chugging along directly towards Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas.....two
hours later wind has died and we are drifting with sails slatting....oh well it's still a beautiful day and we think the worst is behind us....the coffee is great as always. Two slices of Linda's home made cheese bread and we are set for another day.....
"...now bring me that horizon......"

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