Bonvoyage Berri!
Well they’re off. Nearly 24 hours ago in fact. I’m a bit late writing this as the need for sleep finally caught up with me after Wednesday’s midnight dash across from Perth .
After casting off the lines and waving Berri off from CYCA, Hilary & I drove up to North Head to wave them off from the top of the cliff as well. Just a small white triangle moving slowly up the coast. No different to the two or three other boats out there. Looking at Berri from a distance, she could have just been another boat heading up to Pittwater . No sign from that distance of all the planning that has gone into this venture so far, not even a glimpse of all the extra gear stowed into every available space. To be honest, we could barely even see Alex and Corrie on the boat at all. And we’d only hugged them goodbye an hour before!
“Hey, see that boat down there? Yeah, that one with the sail, not the power boat. Well, they’re on their way to Alaska.” Blimey.
Today I’m sitting at a cafe in Manly enjoying a coffee and lazy late breakfast down and looking out looking over the big blue sea. It’s very benign. Flat. Gentle ripples with darker patches where the gusts touch-down. Forecast is looking gentle for the first week of passage. Maybe not quite enough wind to keep heavy-Berri skipping merrily over the waves, but a nice way to ease in to the passage ahead. I can picture them settling in to the swing and sway of their new life, developing the routines and habits that will become “real life” for the next 8 or 9 weeks until Alaska.
And now they’re on their way. What next? What will keep them busy? What funny things will happen on the way? What will they find washed-up on deck at sunrise? Will Corrie survive without ciggies? When will they get the first cold wave down the neck of their jackets? Will they throw the home brew at each other or sip it companionably at sundown?
Guess I’ll just have to read the blogs from my desk at work on Monday morning to find out like everyone else.
