Finish +2
Zahara: The story so far......
Ron Dunn
Thu 17 Dec 2009 19:30
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Appologies for the sudden ending of blog updates.
Two reasons really.
1.... after the last one on 22nd, life got a little
hectic as we approached St Lucia with the last two hours, probably having the
worst conditions of the whole trip. We had broken a whisker pole in the morning
then the wind died which put us behind schedule.Then just as we thought we could
hear 'the fat lady' warming up and had the lights of St Lucia ahead, we had
big rain showers and some serious winds with 45kts recored at one time. At the
same time, seas were getting big and confused and I was getting concerned. The
most surreal part was, when in the middle of all this, lots of flying fish
started coming on board. The next day we had to offload around 30 from the
cockpit. Larry missed all this by being below, navigating. I was in the
cockpit sheltereing best I could and I kept thinking, O)K the wind we can
handle, the rain we can handly, maybe even the breaking seas but PLEASE STOP
THROWING FISH AT ME! Anyway we survived though , sadly, we had no choice but to
use the engine for the last two hours.
2.... We arrived about midnight (local time) and
couldn't believe the reception we received. So many people had stayed up or left
parties to welcome us in. A local guy gave us rum punch and fruit and the drinks
just stated flowing. Around 4am we realised that 'Cantare' the other small boat
was coming in around 6 so we stayed up to welcome them as well, which took us to
around 9 by which point I had to go to bed!
Waking up from a deep stupour about 4 hrs later, I
didn't feel very well and spent all that day just trying to survive!....Larry
wasn't much better.
Still after three weeaks with very little sleep and
vitually no alchohol, it wasn't the most sensible way to act.It has taken us
since then to get back to some kind of level where we can function. The boat is
slowly being put back together and cleaned up and we are having a lot of fun at
the same time. Last night we took the Ladies of 'Cantare' out to dinner.
Although we won on the water, on handicap we lost. Still they were a delight to
be with and I am full of admiration for what they have achieved. It was a bet I
certainly didn't mind losing. It was also really nice to go and eat on a table
where the food stayed on the plate. Perhaps now, dog bowls are a thing of the
past!
The atmosphere here is amazing with everyone on a
'high' and so many strangers coming over to congratulate us. The final party and
prizegiving is on the 19th then I suppose many people will drift away. It will
be hard to see them go. We've made so many friends of so many nationalites and
we've all shared something really special. We, certainly, will never forget
it.
I guess that I'll then have to start thinking about
what I'm going to do next. I'll certainly stay in the Caribbean for the next 5
months but then?........
I'll be keeping the blog going though reading about
one Tropical island after another might prove a bit tedious after a while. I
don't think visiting them will be though. Although I've not had a chance to see
St Lucia yet, I love the feel of the place. Waking up to the strains of Bob
Marley is pretty good and the locals are sooooo chilled It's amazing.
Thanks everyone for your support overthe last few
weeks..... It was a great help to know that here were some many people out there
who were som interested in our adventure.... You were great....
thanks.
Ron and Larry
----- Original Message --From: Ron Dunn
To:
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 1:28 PM
Subject: Day 22...... The line awaits! Team effort for the last day....
Well, I (Ron) don't know what to say really. At the
moment we have just 59nm to St Lucia plus another 5 or so to the finish line.
The weather has been difficult these last couple of days with quite strong and
shifty winds and with showers and squalls coming through. This means we are
always adding or removing sail. We have been reasonably cautious as having too
much sail up as the squall hit could cause damage both to the boat and my bank
balance. So, more sail and speed when we are able and accepting a slower spell
when required. I think this approach has cost us a few miles each day but
breaking things would cost a lot more. We are looking at 22 1/2 days in total
which far exceeds my expectations when we started out. However, the constant
strong winds has helped the bigger boats so, even afetr handicaps are applied,
we won't have done too well. Do I care?....... Noooo!
We expect to be moored up sometime this evening and
the prospect is quite unreal. I'm not sure I believe this is happening at the
moment as we are still doing all the practical things and we need to make sure
that in all the euphoria we don't go in without fenders etc! Sometime this
afetrnoon St Lucia should appear over the horizon, maybe then I'll start to
believe....
Over to Larry ....
Well, caution or not, it's just hit the pocket!
Whilst Ron was finishing his bit above, a big squall came through and broke one
of the whisker poles (sticky out thing like a spinnaker pole). We then had fun
between squalls detaching the pole (which by this stage was trying to break the
hatch on the foredeck) from the mast and sail.
Still, job done and now wait for the latest Squall
to clear before resetting the sails to match the new configuration. In the
meantime, we're headed toward the finish line with the loss of about one knot of
speed.We'll try to recoup that in about 30 mins when time it's fit to get on the
foredeck
again.
Whatever happens, the line isn't far away, and I
think it is fair to say that it will be very welcome!
We'll enter the results on the blog tomorrow, when
we've recovered.
Larry and Ron
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