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And
so, with only a brief stopover at anchorage, we are underway again.
For once, the skipper didn't need to warn us not to drink too much
the night before we sailed. With 1 bottle of beer per person being
all we could buy off the local fisherman, there was never much fear
of hangovers. Even for Frank.
The
decision not to visit Shanghai is a big disappointment to all. The
silver lining, if any, is the fact that we will have more time in
Hong Kong, and are scheduled to arrive in time for the HK rugby
sevens. So having ordered some tickets, it was all but inevitable
that the wind should leave us with an uphill struggle to get there
in time to use them.
After a La Mans
start, we spent the first night with lightweight up and the wind
just forward of the beam. An exciting 8 hours saw us pass Glasgow
and Liverpool, and then Bristol. The wind has been consistently
light, but very inconsistent in direction.
The
wind holes we encountered in the Pacific on our way to Japan were
immensely frustrating. But add into a scenario of no wind, with
little steerage, a fleet of fishing vessels demonstrating Browning
Motion at it's best, and you have some interesting times.
Avoiding
the fishing boats
We
encountered plenty of fishing vessels on our way to China, but it
hasn't nearly prepared us for the amount we are now constantly dodging.
Yesterday, with only average visibility, John counted that we were
surrounded by no less than 72 boats.
During
the day, we have a reasonable chance of seeing the many buoys that
are randomly scattered about the seas. During the night, we only
ever see them when we pass far too close to them. The beautiful
starlight night skies have been replaced by cloudy nights with hundreds
of multi-coloured lights in every direction. And as each boat has
many different lights in no particular order, it is impossible to
tell in what direction they are heading. In fairness, I'm not sure
they know either.
I'm
not sure whether they are waving 'hello' or 'get away from my nets'.
At night if we get too close, their spotlight comes on us,
and I'm sure they are all unbelievably confused as to what we are
doing in the middle of their nets.
More
fishing boats......
Overnight,
Bristol eat away our 5 mile lead, and by the morning were slightly
ahead. Since then we have been drifting about 0.5 mile apart, through
yet another fleet of fishing vessels, averaging probably 1 knot.
I would love to know what these fisherman think is going on. No
wind of any strength is expected for at least another day, and so
it is vital that we react to every wind shift, and make the most
of each short period of wind.
Hong
Kong seems a long way away right now. And what concerns me most
is the fact that the fishing activity is expected to pick up as
we enter the Taiwan Strait. How there can be any fish left is a
complete mystery.
Howard
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