hit any rocks and we’re safe in the harbour at Papeete on the island of Tahiti.
It’s just a quick stop to clean up the yacht and take on fresh water. I’m going to find one more
souvenir to take home as part of my challenge – some type of musical instrument – hmmm.
And how are my travelling companions?
Well, they’re not under the weather anymore –
I mean, they aren’t feeling ill – they’ve recovered from the food poisoning that I unfortunately
gave them – but strangely, they still seem very pleased with me.
SOPHIA ‘Aloha’ Phil! There you are, we were looking for you.
PHIL Hi. I thought you two should rest, so I went off to buy something. Look, I’ve bought a
‘pahu’ – it’s a traditional Tahitian drum. I need some kind of exotic instrument as part
of my challenge – so here we go. And my credit card works here, so I’ve bought us
all some colourful Polynesian shirts – don’t they look great?
SOPHIA Brilliant – I love the palm trees…
PP I suppose I could wear it at sea where nobody
could see me.
PHIL And I’ve got some food for Peggy. Now look you two, I’m really sorry about the lobsters
and…
SOPHIA Be quiet Phil! In fact, well done – you’re my hero. You did really well sailing the yacht
all by yourself. Look, I found this old captain’s hat in the back of a drawer in the galley
– go on Phil, put it on. You’re in charge now! Let me take a photograph. I’m going to
put that on Facebook.
PP Yes, well done old chap. You’ve proved me wrong – you’re not as useless as you look!
Just don’t cook any more of your ‘special meals’…
PHIL OK, I’ll stick to making the tea.
PP Perhaps you could sail us home now?
PHIL I think we should work together as a team.
I’d love to stay here for longer – it’s so beautiful… but we have a job to do. We need
to set sail and head for the Panama Canal.
PP and SOPHIA Aye aye, captain!
PP He’s not really in charge is he?
PHIL Day 65 and we’ve had the wind in our sails. We’re now passing through the Panama Canal.
It’s an incredible construction and luckily for us saves us thousands of kilometres of
sailing around South America. We’re not cheating – we are still sailing around the world
– but will we do it in 80 days? My companions seem quite confident…
SOPHIA Phil, what are you going to spend all the
money on when you get home?
PP Maybe you could pay me a bit more? Or buy a few more drinks in the pub?
PHIL I haven’t thought about it and anyway, we’ve
got to win this race first, which is looking very unlikely. But I am going to write about
our adventures and I hope that this time, someone will buy my book. What about you Sophia,
what are you going to do?
SOPHIA I really don’t know. I sold everything to pay for my trip. I’m going to have to find
somewhere to live as soon as I get back to the UK.
PP Don’t worry Sophia. Phil has a sofa you can
sleep on! There’s room for that parrot too. And I’m going to start looking for a new job
as soon as we get home – Captain of the QE2 maybe?
PHIL Ah look, we’re finally out of the canal. This
must be the Caribbean Sea. It’s beautiful and it’s calm too – there aren’t any waves.
Look, it looks like a swimming pool.
PP That’s because there’s no wind. We’ll have to use the engine for a while until the wind
gets up.
PHIL Day 71 – it’s windy. Very, very windy. A radio message has warned us of a hurricane
heading our way. The sea is already getting rough. It’s time to batten down the hatches
and prepare for another very bumpy ride. I’m getting quite used to this!
SOPHIA This is wild! We’ve got to change course – find some shelter.
PP Yes, you’re right. Our sails will just rip
to pieces in this weather.
PHIL No – I think we should carry on. We’ve been in worse seas than this. And we can’t waste
any more time. Come on everyone, we can’t let this little storm beat us. We’re going
to get through this.
SOPHIA Are you feeling ok Phil?
PHIL I’m feeling great.
For once I feel like I know what I’m doing.
I’m not scared. I’ve got Passepartout, Sophia and our lucky parrot Peggy with me – and that
makes me think everything is going to be ok. I hope I’m right!
PP OK Phil, maybe it’s the captain’s hat – but
you really are a changed man. Come on then, let’s ride this storm.
SOPHIA Hold on tight – there’s a huge wave coming.
All Whoooahhhh!
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