DAY 4:
I wasn't going to post a log: not much has happened, yet (we're only 280 miles out: another 2700 nautical miles to go). A few broken shackles but no serious gear failure; light winds, unsuitable for our moderately heavy boat and therefore requiring some nocturnal motoring. Sunshine, good food, equally good company but nothing really noteworthy; nothing much to write about.
However, I've realised there may be some advantages in doing this: First of all, I can convince the crew I'm being industrious at last though - since I'm typing in the cockpit at 3 am whilst they are asleep - this strategy might be doomed to fail. Posting an ARC log should go some way to alleviating any feelings of guilt I have about not keeping up with my email correspondence to home (If you lot can't be bothered to look up the website I gave you, don't blame me for being incommunicado!)
I'm far from bored but, should ennui enfold me, compiling a log may keep me awake. Finally, this will suffice as my ship's log - a legal requirement as we all know. Admittedly, I'll need to jot down a few arcane numbers, coordinates, plots and times on scraps of paper to complete requirements but posting this log should keep me well afloat.
So, what can I write about? Well, actually, not much has happened. Not, that is, since our departure from Las Palmas where preparations, protocols, provisioning and partying were all perfectly purveyed by World Cruising Club. All four crew are well, though suffering from a virulent respiratory virus imported from Belfast by our last crew member, Jim. I'm breaking out the yellow quarantine flag as the boat is already taking on the appearance of a tubercular sanatorium.
Glyn caught a small benito yesterday which was cooked and on our plates within twenty minutes. It was rather a small fish and I toyed with the idea of boosting his angling prowess using photoshop but I think I downloaded our Caribbean charts over the adobe file. I even considered an action shot but … have you ever seen a broken shackle? Not very exciting. Oh yes, we changed sail a couple of times yesterday - and got our breaths back afterward by lounging in the sunny cockpit (I gather you have snow back home).
I know this complacency tempts providence so you can look forward to the next instalment describing broaches, gales, collisions and waterspouts!