0850hrs 03 Dec 2005 UTC 45’28”S 120’09”E Ref 614
My second last salute is to all y’all out there. It’s a sad one because it marks the beginning of the end of the journey for all of us. This has been an incredible experience for both Pete and me, enormously enhanced by your interest, support, enthusiasm, often fascinating contributions and advice, useful information, poems, jokes and puzzles, many sometimes deeply moving personal stories and responses to our updates and just by knowing that you were there when things were difficult. To all the gusts who have signed on – big thanks for giving us real people to write to. We have been sustained and uplifted and enabled. Some of you we know well, some of you I hope we will meet in Consultation when we get back and some of you, perhaps, we will never meet – or even know about. Some – many of you – seem to have jumped aboard in the UK after Hugh, Jo and Ed wrote about us; some of you have been with us all the way – Malcom, Peter, Heggie, Tim, Kim ‘n Carol, Siobhan, Kevin, Kris and I’m sure, many more, as well as the members of Berrimilla’s growing group of ex Barri crew members, the Bashers; the BOGgers, and the runners. I’ve been specially chuffed by all of you who have latched on to the jokes and run with them and bounced them back and forth – great fun for me out here.
Our particular thanks to all of you who have bought shirts and sent us donations and offered or given other help. I don’t yet know who you are. This has been perhaps the most surprising and unexpected of all – I’m speechless – beyond belief grateful and thoroughly humbled by the whole experience. Thank you all. Also, if I might presume on behalf of CanTeen, to the generous person who bought the shirt at the auction and then gave it back, thank you too.
Dangerous to make lists but I feel that I should make some exceptions – for the Australians who helped us to get started especially the members at RANSA and CYC, for Fenwick who has done so much to support the cause; for the kids and teachers at Belmore South Primary in Sydney for all those interesting questions; Jeremy, John, Dave and Ian and the RCYC in Falmouth; for Jane and David and a candle on a Cornish cliff; the RLYC, Peter, Hugh, Rousy, Joe and James and Jane and the Warborne crew in Lymington; for Caro, for deputising; for Janet, Peter and the team and members at RORC; Roger and the sailing office at CYC, to Ed Gorman at The Times and Jo at YW; for Martin in the Bahamas and Paul in Brunei; for Arlette, Mike, JMB and the troops in the Falklands; for Sue and Jim and the people at Sailmail and Marc who set it up for me who, above all, made having all y’all aboard with us possible, our deepest gratitude and thanks. To coin a cliche’ – couldn’t have done it without you, guys. Thanks.
A very special thanks to Dr. Leroy Chiao, PhD, who was the Commander of the International Space Station when we were in the Southern Pacific and the South Atlantic, for his vision and his ability to see instantly the broad similarities and the vast contrasts between our two voyages and for being sufficiently interested during what must have been a difficult program to contact us between space-walks (sorry, Leroy, EVA’s!) and play games with us – Onya Leroy! And Onya, Karen!
And, inevitably, I will have missed some of you – my sincere apologies – decrepitude my only excuse. I’ll try and make amends in The Book.
DB: dmg 123, gps 124, dtg 1145, margin 526+3=529, day 105, 24 to start, 15 to TI. Still waiting for ther bashing. Feel we just might sneak out from under the4 edgr – must do some plotting after this.
Dave W in Poole – right on about the noise – I think the maths error was a typo. Sorry! Hope my first reply was useful.
Will try to reply to the rest of you asap – a bit stretched at the mo.