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Starblazer - Starblazer 28 November Reasons to be happy



Tonight’s blog should be more like a list with brief explanations, rather
than an essay. That is the intention anyway.

A pod of dolphins came and played around the boat for about 15 minutes late
this afternoon. You could see them just below the surface, hurtling along
like missiles, suddenly turning and diving, popping out of the water. Why
are these creatures so mesmerising?

The night sky is cloudless with so many stars that they light up the
horizon, even the Milky Way is clear. The rapidly waning moon is not much
more than a sliver and is due to rise at about 0300, during John’s watch.

At sea level the phosphorescence sparkles in our wake, like handfuls of
diamonds scattered on the surface.

About 5 miles ahead we can see the lights of another ARC boat. Four years
ago I think we saw the lights of only a handful of yachts after the first
night and only one daytime sighting, this year other boats have been visible
most of the time so we are not alone out here!

We are sailing. Yes I know that is the object but when the wind drops to 5
knots the boat drifts at about 2 knots if we are lucky. We currently have
2,329 miles to go so we have used the engine for two spells. Today we have
had a fairly constant 10 knots with flattish seas, miraculously our heavily
loaded cruising yacht has managed speeds of up to 6 knots. Surprising and
impressive (to me at least)!

There are a few downsides to consider, though.

Did I mention the dolphins? They perform best, leaping highest, when there
are biggish waves which they seem to use as a launch pad. Our seas are
relatively flat which has helped with our speed but not with the dolphins’
aerobatics.

The wind is forward of the beam, not quite what we signed up for! This
means the boat heels, it’s meant to. What is not meant to happen is that
our water tank overflow started spurting some of our precious water into the
sink. Also the computer, TV, printer, vacuum sealer etc., which are stowed
on shelves behind the portside seat, decided to shift and push the seat back
on top of me as I tried to sleep. I decamped to starboard.

Dinner was prepared during some of our fastest sailing, i.e. well heeled, so
quite a challenge. The resulting sausage casserole was very good even if I
was a bit heavy handed with the Tabasco.

Joyce (Ship’s Blogger & Galley Slave & Admiral & Nurse)



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