PHUKET TO SRI LANKA
With a big list of jobs to attack
With Murphy at work the list sometimes grows
Two steps forward and three steps back
But at last the yachts are prepared and preened
Clean bottomed for graceful sea motion
The batteries and pumps and belts are all fixed
So it´s now for the Indian Ocean
There´s a last Thai meal at the Sailor´s Rest
Then we start first thing next day
The ocean stretches away to the west
Sri Lanka´s a long way away
There´s some breeze early on and we have a good sail
With our headsail and spinnakers out
But then the wind drops and the forecasters say
That there´s not much more wind about
A large pod of dolphins approaches to play
Some swim and cavort in our swell
Then they turn and they leap and they twist in the air
In a sparkling salute farewell
Some days it is airless,oppressively hot
So the cool of the night is a treat
For the person who stands on the night watch
And the fireworks are hard to beat
You can see the rain storms on the radar
Yellow blobs that converge on our track
And the sky is lit up with the lightning
Which flashes and forks through the black
Or you´re alone with a few million stars
By the sea which reflects their light
When the pale yellow moon ascends up the arc
Of her leisurely glide through the night
She catches the folds of the wake of the yachts
She endows them with jewels of gold
Then the sun breaks through as a white silver ball
And our passage is now four days old
A lone bird swoops low on the water
Though we´re hundreds of miles still from land
Another warm day is building up
This heat wasn´t something we´d planned
By the time the sun reaches the end of the day
It has turned from white silver to red
When it plunges to sea as a fireball
It calls the non watchers to bed
But the ocean then quenches the fireball
(It´s several kilometers deep
Till it shows up again as the silver white ball
To arouse the late watchers from sleep
By day this sea is an inky blue
The blue of an old Parker pen
By night it is black but the foam is pure white
As our bows press it down again
Free Spirit survives some engine room smoke
We perform running sail repairs
One good thing out here is there´s plenty of space
And who could care what one wears
The Admiral is in her element here
She loves the freedom and space
We eat good food and sleep quite well
And it shows in her beautiful face
On our last night out the wind came up
And the headsail filled with glee
As Impulsive leaned over and sliced through the waves
Where else would you rather be(apart from in bed)
We threaded our way through the fishing fleet´s
Confusing array of lights
It was so hard to tell their course and speed
We had a couple of frights
After six nights at sea we made it to Galle
And found a place to anchor
We drank a toast with some scotch and wine
And thought of our tour of Sri Lanka(and of a big sleep)
March 2008
