Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
I am making the most of my involuntary confinement to Puerto Vallarta. We were meant to be several miles down the coast by now, anchoring in blue-water harbours and dropping in at picturesque little fishing villages. Instead Eric is still trying to sort out the lightning-fried electronics. His efforts suffered a setback today when the one autopilot available in the whole of PV turned out to be defective…. after it had been fitted to Jangada.
Meanwhile, I have been busy. I have received my editor’s feedback on the first draft of the first few chapters of my Atlantic book, and am busy incorporating them into the manuscript. On Tuesday night I showed my Atlantic video and gave a presentation at the Puerto Vallarta Yacht Club. And today I met Pat Henry, who was one of the first women to sail single-handed around the world, most of the time with only a VHF (line-of-sight) radio for communication. We had a good old chat, comparing notes on the loneliness of the long-distance mariner.
She also gave me a signed copy of her book, By The Grace Of The Sea. I look forward to being inspired – both to get on with my book and to embark on the Pacific. Pat was describing to me the incredible impact she made as she travelled through the islands of the South Pacific. People there had never imagined that sailing an ocean could be done single-handed by anybody, least of all by a woman. She brought the message that a woman could and did. She was urging me to do the same. I would love to. I wonder if an ocean rowboat can…