Escapade sails again... avec Vladimir
Escapade has set sail on her return voyage. First stop, some place called Chichi Shima which is a bit ironic since I'm not sure I've actually found it on the chart yet. Never mind, in the immortal words of Captain Ron "Its out there somewhere". I'll turn my attention to the charts shortly.
Time 1630 EST May 19. Position 28 56N 138 10E Speed 5.5 Cse 120ish.
ETA Chichi thingo First light/pub opening on Tuesday 21st.
Up until about Four hours ago the wind had been 14 - 20kts close hauled and even then we were 10 degrees off course. Would not have been too bad except for the very unsociable 1.5 metre seas - all three of them. Net result is the waves aren't that big but 20% of them have no backs so its "thump" as you go over and pitch and roll the rest of the time with the odd yaw for good measure. However we are now into proper cruising mode - Main only, engine running at 2500, crew asleep and a decent lunch - which is why I really sat down to drop you an update.
Vladimir has made a welcome reappearance in the galley (pictures available) After three weeks of intense training at the hands of Mr Nakumura and Mr Kondo, Commodore and Vice-Commodore of the Osaka Hokko Yacht Club, in Melbourne House, he has produced Tuna sushi on day 1 (Friday) and the piece de resistance today - Chabu Chabu, complete with the odd drop of sweat and a few body hairs, making use of the first pairs of the pack of 500 chopsticks and the provisioning which was conducted with no less than 3 club members helping push the trolleys around the supermarket. The shopping trip followed a general trend of " my recommendation" followed by me saying arrigato and tossing it in the trolley. Unfortunately the tomato beer was not one of their recommendations and following Felicity's first tasting, its not hers either. Pickled baby squid for happy hour tonight ( just remembered they're in the fridge somewhere, and we better eat them sooner rather than later along with the octopus). After that it's little yum cha pillows and those funny baby sausages along with umpteen packs of noodles.
... and wait til you see the size of the bottles the local whisky comes in.
Cheers Vlad.
