30 January, 2007

STUFFED AND TROLLIED

 

This will be brief because I am in a cafe and I "don't love' writing in cafes.  But this is to say that I am now in Wellington.  I sailed on a 55 foot racing sloop from Opua around the north cape and down the west coast to Wellington, which is at the very southernmost point of the North Island.  This means that I got to sail past the beautiful Marlborough Sound and through the infamous Cook Strait.  I also got to sail at 17 knots which is approximately three times the speed of my boat.  Three times!  That's a lot faster.

We had a hilarious crew.  All racers.  We ate lamp and sausage and bacon and steak—we'd have three meats on a plate.  It was out of control feeding.  They boozed a bit much.  I am not into boozing underway and was told by the owner that there wouldn't be any, but alas.  The only one too get seriously trollied couldn't steer the boat sober so it was of little consequence.

We had one serious gale with stupendous rain.  There was a bit of drama involved but we managed.  I am thankful to have a small manageable boat.  Cook Strait was beautiful and calm.  We motored most of it.

 

Now I will stay in Wellington through the week working on Andiamo, the boat I sailed down on.  The owner has some jobs for me to do and the fridge is still full from the trip.  Someone has to eat all that bacon!

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