Prize Giving, But None For Us!

Good African music

After every leg of the World ARC, which is a friendly competition event, there is a prize-giving dinner. It is usually hosted by the local community and we experience cultural demonstrations, greetings from the dignitaries and a meal of traditional cuisine. It is always a very nice event. This time, as most, the meal was marvelous and bursting with flavors. It was a traditional stew made with Kudu (their venison) and cooked all day over an open fire.

There was a wonderful dance and drum exhibition before dinner. The welcome speeches were short and sweet. And the prize-giving was fun. There are always the fastest boats who usually win everything and every time. The rest of us vie for second and third places and smaller prizes. If the weather or wind is not conducive to good sailing, the Yellow Shirts have the option to restructure the competition - even after the finish! This way others have a chance to win.

S/Y Firefly took first for mono-hulls. Surprising, but not surprising. Paul is one of the best sailors out here, but he is also the boat that sailed with damaged rigging after a collision with a freighter. Somehow, they managed to keep the boat "healthy" enough to get them across one of the toughest passages. Therefore, the prize was extra special!

I have to say that we came in second in a category of which one should not be too proud: Number of Hours Motored! We were ahead of S/Y Brizo, but four hours behind S/Y Caduceus for this "not so honorable distinction!" Not a great showing for the three boats who started together in January 2014. Do you think we are at the point of just wanting to get there?

Pat from S/Y Brizo trying to win the contest.

All in all, it was another great evening. However, this venue had a new twist and apparently it was something they started for earlier WARC fleets and it has become tradition. I actually think it is done just to see if these silly sailors will actually take part in the event to entertain the locals!


What is it? It was referred to as a "Shit Spitting Contest!" The host actually showed us a video of the collection of dung in the bush. We are talking balls of dung ranging from the size of an M&M to the size of a softball! It is collected from various animals and we were told there was no ebola or other types of bacterial infectious ingredients in it! The guy speaking was a doctor (maybe a veterinarian?).

I did not bite on the offer to participate, but Dennis and almost everyone else did. I think it required more alcohol consumption than I usually have. Just maybe! Anyway, the participants put the ball of dung in their mouths, rolled it around and then spit it with great force to see who's went the furthest! There was a winner for females and one for males. Dennis had the lead for a while! (No good night kiss tonight, Dear!)

And the ladies' winner was our little British doctor, Elizabeth, who had earlier told me she wasn't going to do that! Huh! It must have been the wine! I am sure we provided a great deal of laughter for the locals! One of the younger guys won for the men. At least it made for a lot of laughter and a great ending for a fun night.