Daily Report #51

Good evening readers of great adventures,

It was nice arriving in Le Port. Our many fans stood on the dock, chanting our names and carrying banners. 'Welcome to La Reunion', 'What a journey!' And 1 banner was hilarious; 'nicely sent?'. After the flowers, the beautiful French girls and the interviews we were left with the mess and after a thorough cleaning, the Maitre de la Port was not going to do it, we went to get a beer at the Boucanier. The home port for every pirate. My liver disagreed.

We are now sailing again. It feels a bit mundane. When we left La Reunion where we didn't have a reunion, the wind was incredibly tame at first and then it picked up again. From full sail to maximum reef and a cutter jib. And wind against current. But a fairly favorable rate. Not everything has to go wrong. Parting is such sweet sorrow because actually I didn't want to leave at all. I would have liked to really enjoy the island for a few more days without that huge shopping list and chore list. But yeah. Then you have to come by plane.
Incidentally, it is very nice that you have to go to the farmer to find the right people to help you (for a fee). My thanks certainly go to Ian with his golden hands from Waterland in Le Port and to EURL Lourme in the fishing port who can do anything with metal. Pascal from the local water sports shop also thought it was terrible that we left. He had a penchant for writing invoices. Always nice how you slowly integrate into the social environment and start to know a whole group of people just somewhere on an island.
By now I've been sleeping more than anything else. Apparently that country life is quite tiring. Now we are on the Indian Ocean just after sunset - BEAUTIFUL! - with a 10 knot wind from the south-east, looking at a fairly flat sea and we expect a calm night. With a brilliant moon. The second day at sea. You put it on like an old coat. The routine is back. Just cooked a pasta - the first hot meal - and did the dishes. Yesterday we were still eating the baguette. My liver enjoys the peace and regularity. Nothing has broken yet. No, I'm not going to knock on the wood, that won't help anyway. Soon I will turn into a Nadal (the tennis player) who has a whole bunch of moves before he hits a ball. Makes no sense does it? Although he has become a wealthy man with it. With tennis probably, not with that fidgeting. By the way, my visit to the French has left me quite disappointed. But so far it seems to be paying off. Everything works better than it did.

On with the great adventure.