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Northern Child - ARC DAY 12: 8/12



ARC DAY 12: 8/12 (16.4N 47.6W)

I finished my log yesterday saying "As I type this, I am listening to Maverick Sabre singing "A change is gonna come"... I hope he is right"

 
Well guess what ?
 
- 15 mins after sending yesterday's log a storm developed and hell broke out lose
- we had a massive rain down pour and Matt, Tim and I ended up on deck shampoo-showering under the rain. Probably the cleanest shower ever. 
- shortly after that the wind picked up to 20 knots so after a quick trim of sails we were again cruising at 9 knots (what a difference)
- and while we were still addapting to the new conditions, Dietmar got a nice Mahi Mahi which will provide a nice tuna like dinner for the whole crew on Saturday night... 

- to top it all off, good old Christian readied a dessert, Banana and Toffee pie, first dessert since St Lucia. I am not a dessert person but in the circumstances I enjoyed every bit of this 2000 calories bomb
Not bad uh ? Thanks Maverick Savre !! (and thanks XOX for putting his new album on my iTunes before departing).  I think next time I am stucked with something in life I should play that track again and see what happens.
 
Last night was challenging. Helming was particularly difficult with the rolling waves and trying to sail on a reach to St Lucia. One of the waves was so big that managed to actually lify the boat up in the air for a brief yet eternal second. MOre waves than wind at times. I know this is hard to picture just reading a blog but just imagine any of the "white-knuckle"rides in an attraction park, say a big 3 minute long roller coster. Now imagine you have to drive the roller coaster cart for 30-45 minutes, that the roaring sea waves and wind are trying to wrestle away control of the helm from you, all of that in absolute darkness (or a small moon crescent as last night) and that you are there for 4 hours at the time...add a bit of rain for good measure and there you have it: adrenaline rush is an understatement. Hope you get the picture.
 
To add to the fun, we had to endure a massive tropical storm for 1 hour non stop at 2am when on deck. No matter what you were wearing, you ended up wet, very wet and very hacked off.
 
At 6am we were ready to pass on the helm to the next watch and move to our bunks. This morning, after 2.5 hours sleep I got up to to a sunny day and a fast sailing boat at 10 knots with the hoisted spinaker and with another self impossed time change on board. We are now "living" with GMT - 3 to accommodate our progress west.
 
The afternoon has seen us trying to master the spinaker downwind with rolly sea. Kudos to Eckhardt and Gerrit for soft hands and great instint. It certainly not my specialty ;-)
 
And I can already hear Deborah and Howard discuss how to cook the Mahi Mahi tonight. We shall also prepare another round of spanish Rum Punch to celebrate that we will be over the 2000 miles sailed mark.... Amazing ! I am soooo looking forward to it. Not a bad dinner for our second Saturday nite on board Northern Child (at the same time I can't wait to spend next Saturday nite at home with Sarah, Maria and Lara !!!)
 
Less than 700 miles to go. If weather does not play up we should be seeing land (Martinique? Barbados?) by Tuesday and getting to St. Lucia on Tuesday/Wednesday. How bizarre and emotional will that moment be ?
 
Happy weekend everyone !
Adolfo @ Northern Child

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