As I’m typing this the breeze has dropped off from the stronger head winds
and squally conditions that we have had for the past few days. This has made
life aboard alot more comfortable, perhaps not as nice as it will be in a few
days when we start to head downwind but better never the less.
Yesterday afternoon was fairly uneventful, quite warm with splashes coming
over the deck which are nice relief to the person helming to cool them down. We
have at last been joined by the squadrons of flying fish, interesting fish
that fly out of the water to avoid predators but seem to lack the ability to
miss a 40ft sailing boat at night. We had our first fish land on the deck last
night whilst I was below decks checking the weather on the computer, the first I
knew of it was a discussion between Teresa, Matt and Rob wondering what the
strange flapping noise was coming from the side deck. Matt put his hand around
the spray hood to investigate and proceeded to squeal like a little girl as he
got a handful of slimy, smelly fish that carried on flapping around (he claims
the squeal was more of a Manly roar but we know better!!). After depositing the
fish (still alive!) back to its natural environment, and having a laugh at Matts
expense, we carried on our way!
At around 7pm last night we caught site of Quokka (one of the boats we are
racing against and friends from the UK) sailing just ahead of us by a few miles.
I had a chat with them to find out all was well aboard their boat, apart from
being a little damp and smelly. They too are looking forward to the more natural
ARC conditions of tradewinds and following seas so the hatches can be opened and
boats aired out. We have kept them in site all night which is good and hope that
they have a great second half of the race.
This morning we are greeted by lighter winds again, but winds that have
meant we can ease the sails out and point straight at St Lucia at a relatively
good speed. In a few hours time I am sure we will be under Frankenstein again
(our patched together spinnaker!!). As the sea had flattened off this morning I
took the opportunity to cook bacon and egg sandwiches for our watch whilst the
others slept... I am sure when they wake up in another hour the hob will be back
on with the lovely aroma of bacon frying in the pan! We also checked out the
navigation computer issues but where unable to resolve the problem at the moment
but I have narrowed the issue down to two possibilities, one I can fix, the
other might be more of a challenge but I am sure we will come up with a
solution.
I am looking forward to this afternoon as it is nice calm seas and it will
give us a chance to have a good clean through of the boat, crew have already
started the sea water showers on the back of the boat this morning and I am sure
by the end of the day we will all be smelling fresh and feeling even
better!!
Hopefully all is well back at home and you have beautiful sunshine like we
do, just to make you jealous its a bit too hot for T-shirts now and sun cream
and hats are definitely required!
Love to those back at home and speak soon I am sure
Jacko xx
and the crew of Lancelot II