By midday, we were more or less far enough south to miss the southern tip of Sri Lanka, but not yet south enough to be south of the shipping corridor in this area, which becomes extremely busy with ships joining the corridor from India. As a result we’re continuing on our west-southwest COG (Course Over Ground) as planned.
Elaine’s morning started with the beauty of nature that one can only appreciate at sea; the full moon setting in the west as the sun rose in the east, reminding her of our arrival in Nuka Hiva, in the Marquesas, after our Pacific Ocean crossing in March 2016. This would be another memorable occasion etched in her minds-eye of our Indian Ocean crossing.
As for the rest of the morning, though, Elaine slept through it all, while Roy remained on watch. Fortunately the horrendous squeak that persisted all night, right above Elaine’s cabin, caused by the bauberhauler on the genoa and kept her awake for most of her off-watch time, was rectified when Roy came back on watch this morning, replacing the squeaky block with two soft blocks to split the load, which, thankfully, removed the squeak. It didn’t help matters that Elaine’s attempts to get some sleep by moving to the starboard aft cabin, simply created another issue; it was far more uncomfortable being on the “rougher” side, since we were on a starboard tack. No amount of cushions wedged around her served the purpose! Needless to say, she slept like a baby this morning in the comfort of her own cabin, waking up as fresh as a daisy!
By 1500 we had to put an engine on again. Although the winds would afford us to sail, we’ve had very strange currents since yesterday, setting in directions unusual for the area; in fact 180 degrees in the opposite direction to the norm, all of which had slowed us down.
Of course, even at sea, news of significant world events still reach us; on this occasion, the underwater volcanic eruption and associated tsunami in Tonga. Our hearts go out to the people of this tiny Kingdom in the South Pacific, where we experienced kindness and generosity that will always remain with us; our invite to a potluck dinner at the home of one of the locals; a group of ladies coming aboard for an afternoon so Elaine could teach them how to bake Irish soda bread, the man who stopped to give us half of the most delicious watermelon we have ever tasted, while we were out walking, picked from his plantation that morning, the man who stopped to give us a ride in the back of his truck, where we sat amongst the coconuts he’d picked that afternoon, the delicious meal and the singing goat at one of the restaurants, the traditional feast we attended, where we enjoyed local dancing and singing, the beautiful handmade earrings and hair clip given to Elaine as a gift and the stunning natural beauty of the country, including the wonderful sea-life, particularly the numerous humpback whales we had the good fortune of sighting within a few metres of Paw Paw on numerous occasions.
Our evening net revealed that both Golden Spirit (Caroline and Michael) and Talulah Ruby III (Andy and Paul) were not far behind us after they’d enjoyed an excellent day of sailing.
However, on the eve before Elaine’s 60th birthday, it’s hard not to reflect, once again, on how this pandemic has changed so much of our plans, given that we were supposed to be in Cape Town, South Africa, with family and friends to mark the occasion. Instead, we’re at sea, but nonetheless a gift in that we are continuing west and continuing our circumnavigation. Having birthday wishes sung to her over the satellite phone by her mom and dad this evening certainly added a dash of cheer to the day as well!
