So onwards we go after the huge
excitement of the first fish catch (Wahoo!) and the use of Spice No4 and some
flavoured couscous to give it a good send off at dinner last night. The wind
overnight had been a bit variable but was freshening a little this morning, so a
new sail plan was to be tried out using the Cruising Chute - a light sail that
is hoisted in a sausage looking shape which then has its skin peeled upwards so
that its inside quickly unfurls as it is opened to the wind. It was a whole team
event to change the sail plan and it went well, with morale much improved by the
log reading increasing to over 7, and occasionally 8 knots in 14 knots of
wind.
After lunch, we settled down to watch the
end of The Cruel Sea, which is, of course, a vital part of Ronan's ongoing
preparation for the Admiralty Interview Board when he moves on to his second
career. It is important that he learns the traditional battle cries such 'Snorkers, goodoh!'. Unfortunately, as the title of the movie suggests, when at
sea life doesn't always go as planned, and not long after the breaking out of
some special chocolate cookie biscuits and a cup of tea, the cruising chute
sail, having given its all, split itself asunder requiring all hands on deck at
the rush to deal with our first 'machinery breakdown'.
While there were no FOST* staff present,
if they had been the immediate post incident report may have read: 'Immediate
Action Drills by all involved were Good with a Loud and Clear verbal alarm call
from the Navigator on the wheel, followed by swift mustering of the crew on
deck; positive attention to detail was demonstrated by the pausing of the
training movie by the last crew member to leave the saloon. Secondary actions to
restore the previous sail plan were well coordinated and swift, including the
donning of lifejackets by the second wave of crew proceeding forward towards the
pointy end proving that a sound and effective safety culture is in
place.'
So now we are proceeding again at a
slightly slower than 'cruising chute' (RIP) pace but, on the positive side, have
finally successfully completed the training movie (Spoiler alert - the Royal
Navy wins again! Hurrah!) . Supper tonight is to be a repeat of last night's
with chef Simon performing a slightly different kind of wonder in the galley
with the fillets of Wahoo.
Now I don't wish to cause any concern,
but I think it only fair to inform our regular readers that we now have two
further crew members. They are not stowaways, and thankfully do not require
feeding or watering, but, in their own ways, do require some special attention.
I would like to introduce you to George and Mildred. George is the autopilot,
and while I like to imagine him as an inflatable sailor who expands into the
space behind the wheel when switched on, he is actually a set of electronics
that keeps the boat on a set course by using hydraulic rams to operate the
rudder. Mildred is a Windvane, who steers a course relative to the wind using
her own rudder. Both are vital members of the team, allowing watchkeepers to
maintain a lookout overnight without having to steer though both have their
positive and negative traits. They will no doubt continue to keep us on (or at
least close to) track for the remainder of the adventure.
Note: * For non-RN connected readers FOST
staff were members of the Royal Navy who were employed by the Flag Officer Sea
Training to develop ships companies from a group of individuals into a working,
fighting team, by starting simply and introducing gradually more and complex
situations for the team to combat over an intense 6-week period. Entry into the
staff required any staff member to undergo surgical removal of any glands
associated with empathy or a sense of humour.