HERE - Polynesian Catamaran Association

N EW S FR O M S EA P EO P LEA U ST RA LIA BA R BA D O S EIR EAlex M ilne writes:Ah,Spring! AtIastwinteris over,the clim ate has warmed up a Iitle,and Idon't have to freeze whengetting waterblasted at 15 knotson ourHitia 17,'Jodi'.Unfortunately, my wife Lynnehasn'tbeen outwith m e m uch,aslworkshiftwork,and ourdays offwhen she is working too,don'toften coincide. However, everyweek forthe last6 weeks orso,has seen m e spending a day onour little boat,flitting hither andthitheroverourglorious harbour,sometim es ghosting gently along,or attim es becalmed,at others,flying from wave t0p to wave top,and oh,woe!som etim esploughingthemudbanksjustunderthesurface,andIastweekend scrapingoversome rocks. l'm beginningtothink ofaddingwheels andbecominganam phibian.lfthisspring is anything to go by,it's going to be a greatsum mer,and a wonderfulyearahead.Thusfar,the winds have died down toan average of 10 to 15 knots onm y days off, and the sailing issuperb. Balmy breezes,gentlebrightblue seas,dolphins playing,and Iogger head turtles feedingand eyeing us overbefore sinkingout of sight.And the adrenalinerush as we surfon 2 m etre waves,com ing in through the gap betweenRat and Facing lslands, ldon'tthinkI've gonesofastbefore,and then spearing into the backofthe wave in front,W hoops!W ewon'tdo thatagain!Then puling 'Jodi' up on thebeach atThe Oaks,orW odhingtonIsland,and a Ieisurely Iunchwhile basking in the warm sun andIisteningtothe waves.Iapping theshore,before a pleasantsailbackto the boat ram p and hom e.Justanother average sol't of day inparadise,Iguess.W ishing everyone a pleasantsailingyear,Alex.Dave Hender,Jane and 'Big Tiddlese'arenow in Barbados.DearSteve and everyone at Southdown,HappyChristm as!W e managedaIIthe CanaryIslands exceptLa Palm a and twO of the CapeVerdes,before crossing to Barbadosin twentyone days in time forChristmas!'Big Tiddles'is living welup toexpectations- thanks again!(Exceptforthe bloody outboardwel!YesIKnow !1'1cutitoffoneday) Barbados is great,Iife isgood,have an excellent1997,wewil write again soon , honest!Love Dave and Jane (The out-'board welis the only bitof 'BigTiddles' Dave built unsupervised!SfevelIa m in regularcontactwith BrianCunningham iki26),butunfortunatelya planned sailincompany$, .jq.. .;sj4y.!.(:'Jdt E.4.r.:;,.ëtt.jëgJ:;@.tk),.g;rq.rj:.:.:. .:.l' .:.h.( .:,(k;2jr.1.;:j,;. .4:tqEjptr.$k:'isit91;T' .yjE:. . j;)j .y:jk.y ,ï)j)k3 ').'' . . :r .'k .,. ' . .L . .': .' ' . .. . .' . ,..,,. .trjl.:.!)4j: ṫ:E ;jy.yt1t's.$:t:. EjEtj':q#7k;'.:.' .:.:T.:F,t':r)':.'jtjj 2.,y. ...k$1kHy:y(2.jyj,.t,!(,%.,ji,:j$.j:yoyjiEjyjy.V'.'y.., . y. y.Eg)Lj)q1Ḷ . . , j..ïq . . : .':J:j)kj.y:(,y4y ; .;