Crew Blog

Made in Taiwan

11 February 2008

From early childhood everything I had was made in Taiwan. Toy cars, tennis rackets, live ammunition. Now we have discovered where the wind is made too. Two nights ago we were being thrown around like a bobbing cork in a flatulent cat’s bathtub. Standing in the dark at the wheel, unable to see the horizon (only the breaking crests of waves above us) was a reminder of why we are here (and of the need to stay on the boat, Carlo). And did I mention the cold rain? That’s right – we have mysteriously crossed an invisible line from warm weather to colder weather. No-one’s sure where it happened but someone’s sleeveless vest was the unmistakable sign that we were transitioning. No longer is this a holiday for four in Majorca – it’s a far more serious endeavour.

But forget the weather. We could bore for our countries on the topic. The real excitement has been sailing past Taiwan with an enormous Chinese flag on our mainsail. We anxiously awaited a coastguard - or Uncle Sam - escort back to international waters, and one or two likely suspects emerged in the dark last night bearing down on us at speed. Not to worry: these were just the tankers with whom we regularly play chicken when visibility is restricted (it’s more fun that way). To be truthful, it comforts us to discover that most of these boats actually do keep a lookout. Must have been a boring episode of Desperate Housewives on the bridge I guess.

Amidst all the salty old seadog tales, the real prize for heroics this week goes to our resident shrink, Kay, who in addition to having her work cut out generally (clearly) managed to turn the waxed (no, we don’t know either) chicken into something edible for dinner last night. Science can’t explain it but it is in fact easier to synthesise pure protein out of thin air. And that’s precisely what we’ll have to do if we don’t get to Qingdao soon and the food runs out.

Christian Lambie