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Aislig Bheag - Day 1- 2nd leg, off to a good start (phew)



Hi Folks,
 
Firstly we apologise for not updating you on the first leg of our sail from Tortola to Bermuda.  To say it was quite eventful is putting it quite mildly.  On the third night, just as all the crew were finding their sea legs, John our Skipper, became very dizzy.  He spent a torrid night below decks vomiting and was so dizzy that he couldn’t sit up or hold down water or food. What was wonderful though was the way the rest of the crew rallied round, taking on the watches and finding their sea legs during the ordeal. 
 
Still, the following morning things were not looking good and John was still unable to keep down fluids.  The decision had been taken after the first 12 hours to contact the Arc rally support who in turn put us in touch with medical assistance in Bermuda. (A big thanks to all – the support really made a difference!).  The initial diagnosis didn’t sound promising and Initially the consulting physician thought that John would have to be taken off the boat for medical treatment.  As there were no suitable cruise or cargo ships in the vicinity it was looking like a helicopter lift off job. 
 
Luckily the weather that day was good and the  visibility clear and at one point it looked like a helicopter rescue was imminent with preparations being made including taking the Bimini covers off and the enthusiastic discussion of who would deploy smoke grenades and flares. John even managed to summon up the energy to give the crew a rousing William Wallace esq. address on what was expected to get the boat to Bermuda.  Much to my distress they even joked about adding to Bermuda’s wrecks! obviously the crew were in good cheer! At one point Gaetano’s voice could be heard above the wind asking Eilidh if she liked to wear high-heels! Despite the emergency morale generally remained high and according to John the sailing even improved! Although Gaetano’s renditions of Pavarotti apparently didn’t assist the skipper either did his speedos! As John had stopped vomiting and wasn’t running a fever, we just kept him hydrated and continued sailing. 
 
Unfortunately on the fourth day the wind died completely and we had to resort to the engine arriving in Bermuda on Thursday 14th May.  Owen, Marianne and Michael managed to find some local accommodation (and a beer) leaving space in the boat for John, Eilidh, Gaetano and I. John visited the hospital as soon as we arrived and was diagnosed with some form of laberynthitis.  They said it should subside in a few days but John remained very dizzy so we decided to seek a Skipper who could stand in or support John if necessary.  David very kindly flew out to join us from Mobil, Alabama.  (Thanks to Andy for putting us in touch).
 
Despite John’s illness and proving the worrying stereotype about Italian swimwear fashion we had some other notable events including covering over 200 NM in the first 24 hours (a record for the boat!) and finding out that the friendly (uhumm) shop assistant in Tortola had played a wonderful practical joke on us by fobbing off plantain for bananas! interestingly the last food john ate before falling ill was a slice of fried plantain – read into that what you will! And finally, while Michael was still finding his sea legs, he had the delightful experience of accidentally brushing his teeth with insect sting lotion! A very unpleasant experience but very amusing for the rest of the crew!
 
So here we are on day 1 of 2nd leg and again we’re off to a flying start! We have just had our first whale sighting – well spotted Eilidh.  Unfortunately  Marianne had to leave us in Bermuda (slightly dejected back at work i’m told) and we now have David, so we are still 7 and going strong with John at the helm! 
 
Bye for now
Alison
(and Owen assisting!)
 
 
 


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