Home » United States » VALE 'LA CUENTA'

I did want to call this one "obssessive-compulsive, anal-retentive, power-tripping, control freak...ie everything you want in a ship's captain" but things have transpired...as they always do...yes, my beloved bike, my home and heart for 14 months, 75,000 kms, longest, most stable and rewarding relationship of my life (except for a couple of notable others...and you know who you are)
Yes "La Cuenta" has ben sold...despite all the forebodings of doom and hard work (always my nemesis) it all turned out to be pretty straightforward.....after the generous insurance pay-out I was able to discount the sale price and one of the Bro's buddies snapped it up...

VALE 'LA CUENTA'

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 16:41:17

Displayed times (last time: )

swing the boat around, all of a sudden, with a huge snap, the sails fill, we lurch forward, slicing thru’ the waves, the frothy hiss of the waves curling away from the hull…this is what this boat was designed for, we slip thru’ the water, so smooth and sleek…and silent…just mind boggling, (almost) better than any drug, like a reverse rush, everyone just chills, we’re all smiling, it is such a buzz, beers are broken out, we’re running with the wind so it’s an uncanny stillness, so bizarre, no sense of wind and we’re hitting 8 knots….it’s a bit harder to steer as there’s constant control needed under sail….but it is soo cool!…this is what it’s all about…did I say somewhere earlier that I seem to be spending more time on water than on land?…slowing down…140kph to 10kph…but it’s curious how even at 5 or 6 knots things can happen quickly…watching a ferry coming across our bows, maybe 5 miles away. But doing 20 something knots, inexorably our paths come together, do we keep going or pull up and cross behind them, ferry 3 miles away, the enormous bow wave clearly,

At anchor in a little hole-in-the-walland frighteningly, visible, we are right in front, pushing on the wheel to get another few inches per hour, ferry at less than a mile, I can see people on the deck, are they looking forward to running over us?…everyone on the yacht playing soo cool, I’m starting to sh*t myself……then at last, I can see the other side of the ferry, we have crossed their path…jesus wept!
Also, as we get underway under sail, all of a sudden you realise how important it was (if you thought of it) to tie things down...once under sail, I mean seriously, the rail in the water, seriously leaning over, almost impossible to scramble across the deck to grab a loose line, fender lost over the side, no way to stop, down below the cook has been speared in the leg by a flying packet of pasta....cupbard door not fastened, thermos 'torpedoes' ...