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applause. I smiled and blushed like a tomato. I decided to just follow the chords that Rick
played and hoped I would get away with it.
“Do you know “Rhythm of the Falling Rain?” Rick turned and whispered to me.
“Well, I know the song; I'll just follow your chords,” I replied, a bit bewildered.
“Great, here we go then, a one, two, three, four!”
It was fun. Rick was a very good entertainer and a very good musician. I relaxed after a few
songs and began to enjoy myself. Until one of the old salts yelled out for a guitar solo….
I tried one on the song we were playing, “Light My Fire,” and it was a dismal attempt.
I flushed with embarrassment and, after we had finished a few more numbers, I crept off
stage avoiding the friendly, upturned, and smiling faces.
“Hey, that was pretty good,” I heard Esdee generously comment, as I slunk over to the bar
for a much needed beer.
“Oh, I don't know about that; you are very kind. I've got lots of work to do on my lead
playing.”
We played again later and, after we had warmed up to it, I believe the guests at the Crusher
Bar had a fun evening, at least they were entertained. We musicians certainly had fun. I
wasn't asked to play any more solos though. I went back to the boat later that night and
strapped on my guitar, imagining what lead solos I might have played that evening. I cer-
tainly had some work to do. It's good to dream....
After nine days of diving and swimming and going out at night, I was beginning to feel
restless. I needed to remain in the single-hander's realm and its narrow, disciplined world.
Whilst I enjoyed Lynne and Terry's company and loved Aitutaki, I was getting a little
lonely and always felt like the odd man out. I could not relax knowing I had about two and
a half thousand miles still to sail upwind. I was also curious about seeing Penrhyn, the little
atoll and extreme northerly island in the Cooks. Apparently, they had a lot of natural pearls
on the shallow seabed, and I wanted to get permission to dive some up.
Terry and Lynne decided to stay on for a short while more, and I departed on Tuesday, 17 th
September, for Penrhyn.
I decided to accept a tow out through the channel, as I did not want to take a chance in the
narrow channel. I was also worried that I had damaged my engine with the heavy work out
I had given it coming in. Leaving was a lot easier than arriving as it turned out, and I hardly
needed the tow. I set sail soon after, and as I rounded on the north side of Aitutaki I was
met with a healthy northeasterly wind. It was fairly rough, and, for the first time in a while,
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