Thursday, 13th May 2010 (Presently in Raiatea, Tahiti)06.00hrs Skipper got into emails and the blog, the daily penance, but it does give time alone before the rest get out of the scratchers, and start serving things like breakfast and tea, and generally take over your day, but its all great discipline, and we are enjoying the whole experience, even the small things like, leaking diesel, leaking water,
frayed ropes, and frayed nerves,,... who would want to be without this bless!
07.30hrs We discussed race tactics before we left the dock, this is the first race of the "Pearl Regatta" and starts in Raiatea and ends in Bora Bora, a distance of 27 miles, some of which is inside the lagoons.
08.30hrs The race began, and the wind was from behind and light, we goosewinged down the lagoon and watched some of the flash boats hang themselves on the coral reef... trying to take shortcuts, never pays in places like this...and particularly with the kite flying.
There were about 50 boats taking part in the regatta, about 8 multihulls, and 12 World ARC boats.
The wind shifted all over the place all day and in the end, we motored the last 2 miles as the wind had virtually disappeared, but we had a very enjoyable day on the boat. It seems that Snorre and Stian had really never raced a boat in their lives before so they really enjoyed the cut and trust of the whole thing.
We passed a pod of Pilot Whales on the way past " Tahaa", a fantastic sight, and this had the cameras clicking like grasshoppers. The sea was that beautiful deep prussian blue color, and the sun was screeching down on us poor souls for most of the day. However, that all changed as soon as we dropped anchor in Bora Bora, we jumped into the lagoon for a swim and no sooner were we in the water, than the heavens opened and it started to rain for an hour or so ... The landscape of Bora Bora is just magnificent, and it looks very busy in comparison to the visit Aileen and the skipper had to this Island 15 years ago on a chartered yacht, as mentioned already.
We really soaked up the whole scene before we were collected and brought to a " Motu " for a white night out, run by the " Hilton Hotel " (by the way, the Hilton Hotel in Tahiti is closed because of Union and worker trouble). We had a great night, even if it was a bit like faulty towers, it took some people about 2 hours to get their food, but it was worth the wait, and again the bottom wriggling by the girls was very impressive, plus all the male dancing and fire works.
A MOTU is a small little Island, separated from the main Island by water and mostly on a coral reef.
22.00hrs We got the organized ferry back to " A Lady " and had a night cap before hitting the scratchers.
A great day, all things taken into consideration,
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That's it for now
Stephen Hyde (Skipper)