I'm having trouble with the lyrics of two new songs.
The first - bound to be a hit with someone like Gene Pitney - starts "My Booby Doesn't Lurve me Anymore". The second - a revivalist Scottish Air - starts "My Booby Lies Over the Ocean", and has a wonderful chorus (also not quite right yet) which goes "Bring Back, Bring Back, oh Bring Back my Booby to me". And neither of them seems quite right yet. So any of you guys out there can send me helpful suggestions please. You will get a credit, honest.
But as you can see, things are not well on the Booby front. We've all got fed up with the frightful mess on the foredeck, and the Skipper was not best pleased to be honked at and pecked when attending essential duties on the foredeck in the middle of the night. So after all these days and miles, we've decided that he has over stayed his welcome, and he must fly back to join all the other boy and girl Boobies in Boobysville in Booby County, Boobyland. Unfortunatly in our ire and haste, we forgot to consult properly with our Bernard, and he has taken great exception to this plan. Norfy - brave, bold and quick-thinking as usual - spearheaded our campaign. Without even pausing for breakfast, he set forth for the Foredeck, armed only with a hose and a long handled brush. Bernard yielded without a struggle, but neatly camouflaged his flight by pretending he was off as usual to fish for his breakfast (his invariable diet - fish are the porridge of Boobies*). Several times he tried to land back on the deck, using the arrester wires and full flap as normal. But the hose and brush put paid to these counter attacks, bold as they were. Norfy found the battle hard pounding, and once the foredeck was reasonably clean, he retired to the Heads (he goes there every morning. I wonder what for? - Ed). This left only the Skipper and Elizabeth to carry on the battle. The Skipper drove off two more futile attempts, but by this time, Bernard was well inside our decision-making cycle, and he landed back on the Spreaders - the bastard (sorry bustard). But we countered swiftly by flicking the halyards at him (he was off like a shot, and I know what to do if he tries the mast-head trick again), and at the moment he's still away. The first battle may have been won, but I doubt the war is over yet.
It's been a difficult day on the sailing front, and the crew have all been very busy. The wind has gone light and variable, and the only way to make our mileage was to set as much sail as possible. So for most of yesterday we flew the Spinnaker as well as the Mizzen Staysail. This combination has required great concentration from the helmsmen, but it has enabled us to return a half-decent mileage total. Boldly we kept the spinnaker up until one o'clock in the morning, when a gust lured us into lowering it. This was just as the Skipper took over, and the wind promptly died, leaving him and Cleone to wallow around making only 3 or 4 knots. He tried everything, even poling-out the Genoa, only to have to un-pole it again half an hour or so later. Finally he went to bed, leaving Norfy with slightly more wind. At breakfast time, we re-set the spinnaker, which tactic promptly bought the wind back. So we are now back to the plain sails, and managing to keep up 6 knots or so through the water. We are well over half way now, and as I write the GPS shows less than 1100 miles to go. Any luck, the GPS repeater in the cockpit will one day soon move off the '999 miles to go' that it has shown ever since we left the Galapagos. Then we will know we are really making progress!
The fleet is now well spread out, with the front runners now some 600 miles or more ahead of us. They'll be arriving in the next couple of days or so, and we're worried that the cold beer will run out before we get there. The morning Roll Call is becoming an increasing challenge, but we are all getting much more skilled at using the SSB, so generally we get the positions of the majority of the fleet. There are still 3 or 4 boats left in the Galapagos for various reasons, and some of the late starters are still behind us. So the fleet will be spread over nearly 3000 miles by the time the first boats arrive in Hiva Oa. But that's the fun of being part of a Rally, and it makes us concentrate on navigating and sailing the boat efficiently.
A very happy Easter to you all; enjoy your Easter Egg Hunt wherever you happen to be.
All well and happy on board - Norfy Omlettes for lunch, so we should be!
Best wishes,
James, Chris & Elizabeth
Yacht Cleone
At sea
08.15S 120.28W