Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Surreal Sailing

Well, my day started off differently! I woke at 4.30am and checked my email for sailing updates. Sue's midnight report suggested a finish around 8.30am unless the forecast wind drop didn't occur. Just in case I decided to head off to Lonnekers and arrived there about 6am. I then watched a sleepy village awaken whilst watching the entrance to Halfmoon Bay in case Surreal, the race leader, arrived.

Early morning looking towards village from Lonnekers

A bit lighter
Neptune's necklace using night-vision mode
Standing on the beach at low tide and listening to the dawn sounds was fascinating. From the quiet throb of a diesel engine to the raucous calls of seabirds; from waves slapping against moored boats to the occasional car driving slowly around the coast road - what a wonderful way to start the day.

All too soon it was 7.30am and time to head off to work; no sign of Surreal which ended up becalmed for a while but finally they crossed the line just before 11am. Woohoo! What an achievement. Now we can do it all again with the next wave of boats (Vingilot, Sunstone and REVS) to arrive.

Almost sunrise over the entrance to Halfmoon Bay
We had two scheduled power cuts today but the Visitor Centre customers took it all in their stride despite the dark shop and no retail system. It was a good chance to have a chat with people and to use our initiative for managing without technology.

So, one more day of work before my weekend - there's some fine weather forecast so hoping to cut more grass around the section and sweep the chimney. We had a maximum of 22.9 deg today and have avoided the bad weather that hit the rest of New Zealand last weekend but I know we'll get cooler weather soon so need to get my fire squeaky clean for the winter.

Enjoy your week...

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