Enterprising Emerson - Friday 9 January 2009

Emerson, Emerson what an enterprising fella!

We both had a bit of a restless night, understandable I guess with all that has happened! We watched Entrapment for a bit of escapism before hitting the sack, hoping it might distract our thoughts from the great loss of RITA. My mind is all over the place at the moment, just cannot believe the continuous run of bad luck. It just feels like nothing went right for us but I do know we are very lucky that we are here to tell the tale. If the Maersk Varsberg had crossed us during the night we wouldn't have stood a chance and they would have gone straight over us not knowing a thing. Moreover if Ken had not woken up when he did, (the man that can sleep for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) it might also have been goodnight Vienna!
The loss feels immeasurable. I'm gutted. I was so looking forward to continuing the challenge from Cape Verde. I knew that once we had the new Solar Panels sorted and we were far enough south, with the weather on our side, things could only get better. Ken and I had had a pretty tough start but having battled through the past twenty odd days the next thirty-five or more would be easier. We'd both had a massive experience in such a short time. I certainly learnt a lot from Ken and his knowledge of the seas and we had worked well as a team (even if he did eat all the Snicker bars).

So here we are in Sao Vicente and we've been befriended by Emerson. On the day we docked we were immediately escorted to a room on the ship and interviewed by the police. This was followed by an introduction to Emerson, a local fella it seemed with his fingers in lots of pies. It was like having our own personal tourist guide and advisor. He turned out to be far more helpful than the British Consul, even if the taxi driver, the travel agent, hotelier and restauranteur turned out to be his good friends! Hey it's not what you know but who you know!

Having sorted our accommodation he was there to greet us in the morning to take us to the travel agent. Getting home to ol' Blighty was our priority now! How much???? You're having a larf! The tickets home near on a thousand pounds each and no direct flights. I could see it was going to be another eventful journey. The adventure was far from over.