"Pedro the carpenter" is a man of many talents and the person responsible for the work of art that is our platform at the stern of the boat. He... Pedro, has lived a life on the water from a very young age, doing boat deliveries all over the world with his father. I assume in such a family it was a natural progression to then love heading out to work salvaging boats, in a business his father headed up. This lifetime of blue water experience is a blessing and that day when he agreed to join us to be our crew back in Mexico we were happy, little did we know. We now know there is nothing he hasn't already witnessed when it comes to sailing, having recently returned from 3 years as a single handler sailing through Chilean Fjords and around the horn and beyond. I have seen these maps of the Chilean Fjords and it resembles a maze that I can't ever imagine how you could or better still, how you would want to sail those dark, rocky, cold, isolated and dangerous waters for pleasure. He arrived that fortunate day with the typical duffle bag over his shoulder, the sort you would expect from a sailor. Into our adventure, and he who hums was at the helm, called ahead to drop anchor and was halted mid-hum when Pedro disappeared off the side of the bow sprit, just as you would jump a garden gate. It appears this is how he likes to persuade the anchor to free it from the housing where we would normally reach for the boat hook. And... where one would lick ones finger to test the wind direction, he uses his whole face to feel and inhale the changes in the air ..... (as I now do thanks to watching this technique). He is conscientious ~ sailing clearly runs through his veins, he really comes alive when there is a change in the conditions especially when it means action. During night watches he would bolt upright almost sensing urgency and with one swift swipe of the face with his broad hand, like ridding himself from a cobweb; instead he was coming from deep sleep into a situation that needed his full attention, he was near ready. His sure footing took him straight out on the forward deck where it was not your "sure footing" territory. Without safety lines he disappeared into the black mass to front the elements and see what it had in-store. This could be a good 5-10 minutes of silent confrontation between he and "it". One day I will have a d & m with the atmosphere like that. That was then this is now.........
11pm we wake to the sound of rain and the occasional heavy drop blown in from the open hatch in our part of the Opunohu Bay anchorage as if a warning of what is coming. Within minutes the fierce wind clocked 30..... 35.... 40..... 45.... 50 and spiking at 57 knots in our part of the bay before dropping as the rain started, but at the same time we heard a call of distress come over the radio. A female voice panic stricken - she was drifting towards the reef and needed urgent assistance. The once quiet anchorage that welcomed the fleet from the Tahiti Pearl Regatta only yesterday was turned into a nightmare as 2 more boats broke anchor hold in the pelting rain and wild wind and were now adrift. Some boats feared heading for coral reefs and others getting tangled in neighbouring anchor chains to add to the mayhem. From deep sleep we and everyone else were grabbing our wet weather gear, turning on the spreader lights and heading out into the beating rain that partnered the powerful wind to see if we were still holding our anchored position and to fend off any breakaway boats that may be unwillingly coming our way. The flash of pelting rain eerily stopped at one stage as instantly as it started, but the wind and pandemonium didn't. Pedro our crew, was out for drinks this night but soon appeared out of the wild waters, rearing up in a dingy like he was riding on a brumby. Shouting clearly and precisely to he who wasn't humming but franticly tending to our safety, wanting only to be certain that we hadn't any problems or dragged anchor. Once he knew Condesa was still sitting securely he zoomed off and clambered aboard one of the disorientated boats that was now in the blackness if no man's land. The relieved couple accepted his miraculous appearance as if it was the norm, too frayed to even question. Both of them, just needing to be rid of the trauma, and aiming to be relocated away from this mass of confusion, somewhere.... anywhere and eventually into the quiet of the next inlet. This was a story that got around the anchorage quickly and grew to such heights that the nic-name "Super Pedro" was given and he was presented with his well deserved homemade super hero cape today much to his surprise. This is hanging in his cabin and ready to wear next time there is a need to swing on the halyards from boat to boat. Peace reins tonight and many a prayer of thanks that everyone was there at the gathering today to enjoy the sunset like nothing had happened.