The Zeno Project

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

I attach a copy of the most recent communication from Laura Zola who, as
can be
gathered, is holed up in Gibraltar with her very sick dog, 
Stella.  Being an animal
lover myself, I can imagine her distress at the illness of her
four-legged friend of 15
years which makes Stella a very old dog indeed.

I had rather hoped that Laura would have been able to spend some time in
Portugal
looking at some of the Templar buildings there but, as she seems to be
keen to make
up for lost time, we will have to await her arrival in La Rochelle which
was one of the
main Templar ports in France.

I have told Laura that we are all watching her progress with great
interest.

                                        7 Roses, Gibraltar, 2000-04-23

Dear Niven,

Jack and I, we wish you and all your family a serene and happy Easter Day.

As you can see from date and place we are still in Gibraltar.  Since the last message the weather has been nothing more then continuously strong westerly gales. Our progress have been as good as 10 miles a day for nearly two weeks, and some time of 20 miles hard west going, to be again push back from where we start. Nothing exceptional, these things at sea are quite common, less common, such a persistent heavy weather system in the Mediterranean areas. 

To make my morale slip under my shoes, it is a very ill Stella.  During five days she have been sick, not been eating and going very weak. The vet in Gibraltar gives her few injections to help the liver that seem to be damage by some sort of food poison.  At the veterinary clinic they can’t do any analysis until next Tuesday 25th. It is only one Veterinary here, and with the Easter Holiday, life seem to be stop since Thursday afternoon. I am feeling very distress and anxious for my four legged friend.  For more than ten years She have been my every day companion in the hard and in the easy time. She is a strong dog for her age and I really hope she will be able to recover in the better possible way. Today I felt a little bit more optimistic, her eyes are brighter and She shows more interest in what is around her. 

With our voyage we have now, more than two weeks delay, but we will catch some of the time up, as soon as Stella will feel better. Most of the port of call in Portugal and Spain can be avoid, but we can not by pass La Rochelle where we have got some meeting with the historical museum.

I hope you will understand the circumstance and excuse the long silence.

Kindest regards

Laura    

P.S.  I don’t know if you wish this letter to go on the Sinclair list address, so I let you decide.