ylang-ylang; high tide jobs at night; Ellen Macarthur

A few days ago Rose told me we had an ylang-ylang tree in our lot. We had both been wondering why we smelled the distinctive scent of ylang-ylang as we passed the corner of the lot. The tree is 15-20 feet tall and the flowers are green. They give off their scent most in the evening. Rose picked some of the lower flowers and brought them indoors, the scent fills the whole house.

It's new moon soon, that means high tides (at night this time of the year). Sanny and I will go to the river tonight around 10 p.m. and put the catamaran up on its stand, it has already been in the water a long time and has probably collected a coat of barnacles, which will have to be cleaned off.

I have been reading about Ellen Macarthur's round-the-world-non-stop single-handed exploit in the big B&Q trimaran. What a woman that is! Imagine climbing a madly swaying 30-metre mast in a rough sea in the southern ocean to effect repairs ... something I could never have done, even in port on a calm day. 27,000 miles in 72 days, an average of over 15 knots, about 18 miles per hour or 29 km per hour. My catamaran feels fast when it's doing 10 km per hour!