MONDAY 17th May 2010 ( Presently in Bora bora, ) Constitution day, Norway,
Usless information, 10pm here in Bora Bora, is 9am the following morning at home in Ireland or the UK. So it seems that the UK has a new government, led by the Conservatives, Bora Bora, is a wonderfull place, very relaxing, and spectacular scenery, mind you, most of the places we have been so far have that... the scenery.
We got up very late, like 08.30am... the skipper had a very bad night, sore throat. Even Donal was getting concerned, so we found a box of biofloxcin and shoveled a few into the boss to help control the situation.
09.00hrs, Laurent and Roma called to the boat, firstly to give an estimate for repairing the damage caused to the hull and toe rail by the french blokes on the first day of the regatta when they were pulling out of the dock... dumb drivers. Secondly, to look at, and reseal the cover on the fuel tank. They did both, only time at sea will tell if the fuel cover is done properly, but it looks right, so now , we were left to screw the table back in place and put down the floors.. Boats, never ending work. As our friend " Roddy Hogan " says about racing and sailing boats, " Its just another form of stress " tis no wonder the boss is wrecked.
Actually, the whole trip is all go, there never seems to be two minutes to relax, despite my earlier comments about Bora Bora. Donal spent the morning preparing a potatoe salad and other veggie things for the BBQ tonight. The skipper , of course loves potatoe salad, so Donal had to put a lock and key on his creations , to protect them when he went for his Nap.( siesta)
John , the Scot, joined the boat and will sail with us to Mackay in Australia. He has been on " Jeannius" for the last couple of weeks. Donal went to town, and Skipper went to the Pass in the rib ( to take a few photo shoots...... that sounds so professional ! wow ) and later motored to the town and did some scouting around, went to an Internet Cafe and got into the other email system on Gmail. Sarah had sent some smart pictures of " Jamie " our new grandson, on the gmail yoke, and that Aileen went home to Christen... God bless her !
18.00hrs skipper returned to " A Lady" to find Donal and John had already left for the BBQ in the Yacht Club, so a quick shower, some powder puffing and off ashore to join the others, it was a great night, the Steaks were provided by the Yacht club and all the salads, potatoes, etc were provided by the different yachts, including our " Donal's masterpiece, that he kept under lock and key all day... ( for fear of insider trading by skipper )
We mingled with all the other crews, and watched the prize giving for the dingy race during the afternoon, this event was hosted by the Yacht Club, In fact the Y,C, were great host's allround, and really looked after the World ARC fleet , as if they were family. We gave Snorre & Stian a ribbing over wearing pink nickers , it seems its the in thing in Norway these days and skipper flashed a photo of Snorre wearing a matching pink flower in his ear to stir things up even more.
Skipper retired to the scratcher early, to give his infectious throat a rest and a chance to heal.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
thats all for now,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde ( skipper )