Bulletin: 17th February 2008

Final curtain for TEMENOS II this evening

Barring mishap, TEMENOS II is set to cross the finish line this evening at around 1900 UT. With a lead of 237 miles over their pursuer, all things being well Michèle and Dominique are ensured of holding onto 3rd place, even if in sailing nothing is certain until the finish line is crossed...
We can well imagine that emotions will be running high in the minds of the two co-skippers on this rather special day; sentiments midway between excitement, impatience and happiness, the latter possibly mixed with a tinge of nostalgia.

The Mediterranean seems to want to leave the duo with a good impression after what Michèle humorously referred to as the "Land-based Gibraltar fury" and for their final night at sea they were served a calm breeze and smooth seas. Contacted early this morning, Michèle recognised that the night had been a rather remarkable one and admitted that she and Dominique had gently begun to close the door on this Barcelona World Race.

“We didn’t want to spend the last night without catching a glimpse of each other so we didn’t really sleep much and we did fewer watches than usual so the three of us could be together. We wanted to share the moment together on deck, watching the moon go down, keen for a little poetry in this cruel world! (laughs)

We didn’t really talk much. We looked at each other and said to ourselves that well, that’s that, we’ve done it. We left a little room for emotion and it was as if we were closing the door on the race.

Right now we’re concentrating on trying to go fast so we can rediscover our friends. Our minds are already on land with them and we’re in arrival mode. We're hoping to arrive at restaurant time this evening and we’re keen to indulge in the pleasures of land and above all see everyone again."

A circumnavigation of the planet, 6 oceans, and only 200 miles of the Mediterranean before us... A trifling matter some would say, but for me, I’m keen to make the most of these last 200 miles, in the tradition of what will have been a circumnavigation in the search for adventure and performance.
I’m not letting anything pass by me unnoticed, and yet I'm already beginning to look further forward, keen to assess it all, draw the nectar from this adventure, but we have to remain in the race, 'connected' to my 'darling' counters and speed polars...

The analysis will be made on terra firma.

In this respect, I wonder if we’ll be victims of land sickness? Do others suffer from that, or do they simply reel under the effects of the first beer, or maybe both. Some landlubbers believe that land sickness was something invented by sailors, to conceal a state of growing intoxication! For my part it's nothing to do with alcohol I can assure you, so could it be psychosomatic then? In general, each trip lasting more than a week at sea causes this curious ‘illness’. At its base it’s not unpleasant; it’s a bit like walking on something soft, you zigzag about and you tend to take up the whole road or the whole pontoon at least!

After passing the straits, with a real land-based Gibraltar fury, we were happy to be able to come out of the survival-preservation mode, which we had adopted for this rather laborious passage slap bang in the middle of the cargo ships. The latter became almost ferocious in this 16 mile wide channel.

A gift from heaven, the following day has been calm and we've been able to recuperate and consolidate the small repairs, including a rip in the mainsail and a damaged batten car. As for me, well I've been able to rediscover the Mediterranean that I love so much...

According to the whims of the weather, the first day in the Mediterranean has been unanimously decreed as a day of minimum service. Our brief encounters on deck that day were very furtive, as were our dialogues which, for a spell of nearly 24 hours, went along the lines of:

Did you sleep well?

Yes

See you later, sleep well

Thanks

So, did you sleep well?

Yes

Sleep well…

The proximity of the Spanish coast is enabling us to close inexorably on the ‘exit’ and the reflexes of life on land, like charging mobile phones, are putting in brief appearances again. It’s a bit disconcerting to see the Spanish telephone networks flash up. They spotted us very quickly, which is reminiscent of "Big brother is watching you"! We’d lost the habit, although thinking about it maybe...

See you soon on terra firma!

Michèle , Dominique and TEMENOS II