Umiko - Blog 2 day 4 Thursday the 27th November Dolphins and Flying Fish (Brian Blog)

Dear UMIKO Fans,

I hope this blog finds you well. Some of you will know that this ship attracted many flying fish strikes last year. Including causing a broach, a couple of crotch and head shots... Well the first ones have been sighted so we are back in the Danger Zone!!

We also had something happen that I have not seen before... We were going along nicely with the spinnaker foot just out of the water. A dolphin playing on the wake jumped out of the water and landed on the foot. Luckily dolphin and kite both survived said encounter.

Initial issues with our mast locking system have been figured out and the system is working great now. The lock means that (in theory) we don't have and chafe issues as you get with a traditional halyard set up. Despite the new system we have still been going aloft to check the rig. Teddy did this this evening. His first time aloft at sea. He reported that all looked in order.

The calm conditions mean we have been moving between the A2 and A4 depending on wind strength. Las night was tricky witht he wind varying in strength and direction regularly making the helm and trimmers work hard for their miles. Luckily no squalls yet encountered.

Crew are now well into the sail, eat, sleep, repeat routine....

Tonight Brian has done a blog...

As day four comes to an end aboard SV Umiko the crew have settled into the watch system and now the thought of a maximum of 3 hours sleep at a time is starting to feel normal.

Ocean sailing is not for everyone but it has to be said that if you are going to do it, this is the way. It’s hard to believe the standard of the meals that are coming out of the small galley and if a ship sails on it’s stomach we are going to do well.

Our third night at sea was something special. When tasked with writing the blog for today I had a quick look over the ships log. I couldn’t help but notice the mention of a dolphin clearing the windward rail and crashing into the kite… I feel the Knight’s watch need to lay off the stugeron, which, by the way, is clearly psychoactive. For me, our third night at sea was all about the stars. Apart from the desert there’s no place like the ocean to appreciate our insignificance amongst the heavens. Both watches were treated to a number of spectacular shooting stars. I had been told that it’s possible to see our closest galactic neighbour, Andromeda, with the naked eye. Last night I proved that theory to be correct, even with my eyes. When, for confirmation, I took a bead on it with the ships binoculars and was treated to a view of a hundred billion stars at an unimaginable distance from us the two thousand two hundred miles we have left to our destination was put into perspective. That said, if I and my eleven intrepid crewmates had not set off across this ocean I may never have seen that most mind bending of sights. I am already starting to think that this voyage will end too soon. There is however, one star that we have yet to set eyes upon. The fabled ‘Lewmar star’, the general consensus on board at present is that it is most likely to be seen on the forehead of Sir Baz the Confounded, but that is another story…
signing off: Brian Uniacke, Crime watch, SV Umiko, Atlantic Ocean.

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