The Race, Episode 9"

Phil It’s day 61 - and it’s a miracle! I didn’t 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 - Ilove 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 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 us 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.

Phil 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!