Crazy Horse - Sundeer Challenge - Day 2

After some cracking sailing yesterday afternoon Vanuatu soon disappeared
over the horizon, leaving behind an archipelago which we had all enjoyed so
much. Our memories of our varying experiences and the friendly people will
remain with us all for years to come, and I am sure many will be back to
explore further. At some point during the afternoon the menu for dinner had
been decided, and Matt turned to task to produce excellent ground beef
(mince for us Europeans) burridos, which we enjoyed as dusk fell. The
avacados and sour cream picked up as a whim on our last shopping trip came
in handy to make delicious guacemole to ensure a messy dinner!

Our biggest challenge of this trip, apart from getting to the finsh line
ahead of OJ, is to arrive with no fresh fruit, vegetables, meat or dairy
products, without having to waste any by throwing them away before arrival.
The Australian Quarantine service is strict at enforcing their complicated
and seemingly ever changing rules. Rightly in place to protect their
agricultural industry from infection from overseas, the rules are somewhat
complicated and open to interpretation. To be on the safe side, and to avoid
too much waste, all WARC yachts provisioned with care for this leg, keen to
avoid having to hand over any foodstuffs which could have been eaten on
voyage. I am sure there will be some inventive menus to eat through those
suspect items in the freezer, as well as using all fresh produce. From the
freezer today we are tackling some lovely looking mussels (from New
Zealand), some fish (from our friends on OJ), and fresh vegetables; we
realise we have perhaps over done the fresh egg supply, especially as Andrew
is encouraging us to eat ground oats (porridge) for breakfast! Matt has a
penchant for hard boiled eggs so we have a solution what to do with any
unused eggs before we arrive and loose them, or have an egg throwing
competition as we close the finish line!

Taking of competition I will tomorrow issue a new challemge to the WARC
fleet - a prize to be awarded for any boat that has nothing confiscated by
Australian Quarantine! A bottle of Australian Chardonnay for the winner - or
perhaps some beautiful Australian honey (to replace honey lost, as it's not
is allowed into Australia). On out last provisioning trip I was sorely
tempted to buy what looked like a lovely jar of Australian honey just to see
if that too would have been confiscated. Better judgement ruled and I
decided against the idea!

Our other competition continues - on the water with Ocean Jasper. Up until
dusk we were sailing in sight of one another, each keeping an eye on what
the other would do about the sail configuration for the night. Following a
discussion on board Crazy Horse Bill (our skipper) took the decision that
given the lighter airs forecast for the night the spinnaker would stay up.
(But which one I hear Rosemary ask?!) Well the forecast was right and as the
wind died through the night we ghosted along pleased we had the lighter
fuller sail to keep us sailing towards our first waypoint, now 180 miles
away, to keep us clear of D'Entrecasteuz Reefs. As the night passed the
courses of the Sundeers diverged - with OJ opting for speed against
direction. We stayed slightly further off the wind and although we had a
marginally slower speed at times, our distance to the waypoint probably
reduced by most. Time will tell! The friendly competition is certainly
adding a new dimension to the sailing, but hasn't stopped the two skippers
Bill and Jim having their regular twice daily radio chats to discuss weather
and tactics!

I have taken over the 4-8 watch from Rosemary - it's also my favourite as I
love being up as dawn breaks, often with beautiful colours in the sky
similar, but in some way softer, to those seen at sunset. There's a special
feeling to seeing the start of a new day; today's was not that special due
to some low clouds, but there's always tomorrow. We are working out our own
on board routines - having not woken Matt for breakfast today I was in big
trouble (not really - but I'll wake him tomorrow!); as a result Bill
benefitted from two breakfasts - rolled oats and then an hour later
scrambled eggs! Suffice to say we are all getting along really well, but we
all miss not having you with us Rosemary...and hope you are having a ball
back home!

Winds are frustrating today, due to stay light, building later. Maybe enough
to change the spinnaker for tonight, or maybe not! In the meantime we'll
carry on sailing, resting and eating!

Greetings from all on board Crazy Horse, Bill, Matt and Andrew