Yesterday they worked all day taking excess gear off the boat, such as the dinghy and its outboard motor, the sails that are for cruising rather than racing, the barbecue and anything else that is weighty and easily removed. It's also necessary to remove anything that sails could get could on so Greg went up the mast to take the radar pod off and the dorades (funnels that are air vents on the deck) were also removed. We have hired a large van for the week to store all of this, but it will also serve as a passenger vehicle for 3 people. We have hired a second car as well as the one Greg and I have until racing starts on Tuesday.
It was an extremely hot and muggy day yesterday, made worse by the haze, like a low cloud cover. So copious amounts of water were consumed by all. At the end of the day we all went to the Yacht Club Costa Smerelda in Porto Cervo for a last look at the superyachts that have just finished their regatta. The money involved in those boats is huge; just 4 of the yachts berthed in a row would cost a billion dollars to buy, let alone the costs involved in racing them with professional crew, replacing sails, shipping gear to regattas, keeping the boats in tip-top condition and of course the catering during and after the races and outfitting the crew. I counted 25 crew on the 120 foot Salperton.
Jim, Doug, Greg and I returned to Dream Catcher III for a peaceful dinner on board. Although I am yet to find a butcher or a baker anywhere and the supermarkets have very ordinary food and quite terrible meat/fruit/veges. I have found a roadside stand where they sell fabulous fruit and vegetables so that's keeping me sane at present. Perhaps people visiting the Costa Smerelda area eat out all of the time but it's certainly another reason for Australians to consider what happens to quality when you let the supermarkets take over because the specialty shops are not supported.
Today we have been out for a practice sail and discovered that the new spinaker we just had made by Doyles is not what was ordered and is the wrong kind so we can't use it in the races. According to the race rules any different kind of sail had to be registered with the race organisers by August 29.
As one of our politicians once said, life is not meant to be easy.
It's still very hot and steamy although we had some rain during the night, the first we have seen for nearly 3 months. We have decided to head in and perhaps go somewhere for a swim because there's not enough breeze for good sailing. Let's hope there is more wind when the races start on Tuesday.
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