After a couple of legs with wind, we have now reverted to norm, no wind and miserably watching the fuel tank being drained to the background noise of "Mr. Stinky", our engine. We now have 320 miles to go to Bali, which means we've covered about 600. They have certainly been 600 of the most frustrating miles we've had to sail so far - sails up, sails down, spinnaker up, motor on, motor off, sails back up again. It seems a lot of effort for very little return.
To add to the fun, the sore throat that had been threatening to develop into something more in Darwin turned into a nasty full blown cold, giving me (Heather) a nasty aversion to being upright for more than 10 seconds, turning my nose into a tap and acquiring my own personal climate - a good deal warmer than the already hot and humid conditions. Forever the stoic, I suffered in silence, other than the several times an hour update on how much tissue I had expended, the philosophical debate on why of why me, and in moments of severe feeling sorry for myself, begging (only twice) to be put our of my misery and what a shame we didn't pack a gun like some other cruisers we had heard about.
I seem to be over the worst, just in time for Jonathan to start showing symptoms - damn, its going to be pay-back time. For the past few days Jonathan has had to put up with all of the above whilst mopping my fevered brow, ensuring we both ate well and we didn't plonk Matilda on an oil rig, or ram any of the unlit fishing boats littered about the place. I am not sure I can play the roles of Naked Chef, Florence Nightingale and Captain Ahab with as much grace (or any at all) Bali cannot come soon enough.
There have been some lighter moments - Umineko passed us yesterday afternoon with the skipper serenading us on his saxophone from the coach roof - fair winds chaps, you certainly raised our spirits. We also saw Trompeta this morning, they were, like us, having trouble filling their parasail. Fortunately, although we are not breaking any speed records, we do seem to be filling it now but would dearly like some more wind if I have any hope of meeting up with my brother in Bali for any length of time. I doubt we will be winning any prizes this time, I very much doubt we will make the finishing line before it closes on Thursday (at 3pm Darwin time).
The upside of a windless passage is a smooth sea, so it has at least been easy to move about the boat and get things done. Although we seem to spend most of our time these days laying about reading books when we're not changing sails...