Rita Savage
21 February 2006
One of the Woodvale support yachts is due to set off soon, and when near enough to Roz will attempt to speak to her by radio. The staff are very confident that all is well, and surprised that the satphone stayed in working order as long as it did!
In September I stayed with Roz in Emsworth to help her prepare for The Voyage. This involved practical jobs on the boat as well as sorting out medical kit, food packages and other administrative tasks.
Roz had planned to pack the food in plastic crates, each one containing enough food for 2 weeks. The crates would be stored in the forward storage compartment, and one by one would be moved to the cabin when needed. All of that was carried out before the boat left to be conveyed by container ship to La Gomera.
Once at La Gomera she was advised to put as much weight as possible below the deck to provide stability in case of capsize. Crates were discarded and I packed the food packages through the round red hatch openings on the deck. Snacks went into a hatch in the sleeping cabin. Looking back on events at sea, it is a good thing that the weight was below deck level. I had tried to pack the packages in such a way that each fortnight