Sam's lists

Sam Davies - Crédit : Eloi Stichelbaut

A little news whilst I am waiting, waiting, waiting for the wind to change so that we can bring Saveol "home" to France…..

Really that is the problem – I have to be PATIENT. The wind is forecast to blow strong Northerlies for at least the next week and without our mast Saveol and I cannot make safe headway in these head-winds. The Portugese coast is very wild, with few ports to shelter and huge waves that break on dangerous shores (big-wave surfer paradise!) So we must be careful.

At least it is not a race and though I really want to get Saveol home as soon as possible, there is no dead-line, and seamanship must come first. In the meantime, Erwan is looking after Saveol in Cascais and I am having a little rest and catching up with "my boys" at home.

So if everyone could have a word with the "Wind Gods" and find us a few days of light winds in not too long that would be great :-)

This waiting makes me think more about the race and makes me even more sad not to still be out there, so  I have compiled some lists that I have tried to use to bring a smile back to my face:

Things I can do because I am not on the Vendee Globe:
- See Ruben's first steps
- Christmas with my boys
- Sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time (in a warm bed that does not move)
- Maybe go ski-ing this winter

Things I don't regret missing:
- Wet feet
- The 2 seasons of "Gossip Girl" that I had downloaded to watch during the race (in quiet moments) and then regretted it!!
- Flying fish "kamikaze" attacks (especially the direct hit in the face at night)
- The "CLAXON" alarm to wake me up every 30 minutes
- The "bucket" (!)

Things that have made me smile since the dismasting:
- All the messages from everyone all over the world – THANK YOU – it really really helps
- The welcome in Madera
- The welcome in Cascais
- Managing to build a jury rig and get safely to Cascais!
- Getting to go through all the food bags and eating all the best things from my three months food (Rocher Suchard, Toblerone, Cheese, all the Torino Tomatoes, Spanish Lomo, Mum's cake……!!!)
- Getting invited into the cockpit of the flight from Lisbon to Paris for the night time landing (thanks Air France ;-))

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