From dusk till dawn

There we go, the clock ticks and the mile counter drops slowly but
surely... As I write i assume at least the first 3 or 4 boats have
crossed the line if not more. I still have 65 miles or so to go and
since this afternoon the wind swung north west so i have the extra
pleasure of beating to Chausse de Sein before freeing the sails and
speed off to the finish line, I'm sure the guys at the bar with a cold
beer in their hands are really gelous of the privilege of another
extra hours of bashing to windward in 15-20 knots of wind - at the end
we paid the same entry fees but i got 10% extra free in my deal. I'm not
sure what the currents are doing as the beautiful Reed almanac didnt
quite think it necessary to give details of this area or perhaps i
couldnt find the right page. Anyhow, "get there" seems a rather accurate
summary of my current strategy as anyway it's not like i have a lot of
choices other than pressing on. If all goes well i'll be in for
breakfast, pain au chocolat, espresso, freshly squeezed orange juice and
a glass of sparkling water... how continental, what happened to a good
fry up to fill me up?
I dozed and slept most of the day, the boat goes unattended to windward
(just the opposite of the nightmare ride of going downwind with an IOR
pinched-ends designed boat with a broken autopilot (yes again) and
trying to balance the windvane, a bit like tight rope walking. Getting
fresh to this last night and finish was quite important, i dont know why
but i'm always paranoid that you let your guards go just because you're
almost there and in five minutes you transform triumph in disaster.
I might have some more fishing friends along the way and the approach to
the finish line, i've never been around these places so i'll take the
due care.
Anyhow, got to go, the wind seems to have dropped and i need to go and
shake the reefs out.

Ciao,
Marco
British Beagle