colouring the morning skies. Soft shades of pastel on the palette as the
night gently makes way for the day. I wish I had words to describe our
360* view out here but my words pale in comparison as the scenery
changes and the streaks of clouds behind us is now being set on fire by
the rising sun. And the clouds ahead of us that was shrouded in hues of
grey is also now blushing at the beauty of the sun. Dramatic scenes are
being performed by the clouds all around us, whisperings of a love once
had, a love once lost,a love once found. I can see how the Greeks could
spin their woeful tales of the pathos of it all. The endless cycle of
life and death. I am at a crossroads here. Should I mediate a poem right
here and now, open myself to the Muse and just record what I hear and
what I see ? Pure poetry I guess is not everyones cup of tea so I shall
doso but only in private.
On with the show. The wind has been very kind to us and we are making
way even better than expected. And the bonus is that we have two tanks
nearly full of diesel should we run out of wind. To make our ETA in
Tahiti we have to maintain a very easy and do-able 6kts, we are in fact
sailing and maintaining a much faster speed and will perhaps even be
able to cut another day from our ETA. At the moment it looks like we
will be arriving at Tahiti on the 10th of April. And that includes a
stop at Fatu Hiva for a few hours and time our arrival at Tahiti for an
early morning entrance. We have also received news that our journey will
probably terminate here and not Raiatea as mentioned before. Suits us
better as we then fly straight from Tahiti, and won't have to fly a
small hop from Raiatea back to Tahiti. Distance to Fatu Hiva is 700nm
and from there to Tahiti 800nm. Can you believe it, eleven more days and
the trip will be over, but it ain't over yet. In fact, it is not over
until the fat lady sings another beautiful nautical slice of history.
But our expression, the first one in a while, is 'Figure Head'. Nominal
leader with no real power but large in the public eye. The word is taken
from the carved and ornamental figure which was carried at the stem of
sailing ships. Primarily for decoration, figureheads also expressed the
belief that a ship was a living thing(as I do), and needed someone up
front with eyes to see where it was going; ships from the Mediterranean
and China had eyes painted on each bow. Symbolism too played a part and
throughout the ages there have been an assortment of fierce and fast
animals of which lions were probably the most common. About the time of
the fast clipper ships it was felt that something more in keeping with
their slender lines was required and the bare-breasted lady became
fashionable. She has probably remained the number one choice ever since
and not least because of a convenient superstition which has it that
topless ladies calm the stormy seas.
Our position at 7am our time is 07*46'S/126*56'W. I received calls from
both the yachts behind me and they are also reporting excellent winds,
which in turn means more good winds coming our way. They were a bit
stressed for a while as they had no wind and running low on fuel. They
requested my assistance with checking the weather for them as they don't
have the facilities we have on board, and our weather guru back home had
the weather for the in no time at all, thanks mom. I was very happy to
relay the good news to them that their worries should be over in 24hrs.
If that was not the case I am not sure what I would have advised them.
They are however not gaining on us but neither are they loosing ground,
staying at a steady 800nm astern. Which is darn good as they are on the
slower and smaller 39's and we are on the faster 46. So well done to the
boys behind.
Hope you are having a day and a half.
Paul
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