BLOG 2
12 Dec 08
Hello everybody. It is some time since our last blog (of 29 Nov), but as you will read below, we have been very busy and therefore our blog activities have taken a low priority of late.
OK - we have made fair progress towards the Caribbean, over 2,000 miles covered with a tad over 600 remaining. Our ETA in Rodney Bay is late 17 or early 18th Dec (hopefully in 2008....), but we have noticed a distinct lack of strong winds during this ARC, and notably a wind hole from 38-43 degrees West where the seas were like a billiard table. Good for the sun tan, but not ideal for energising an 11 ton yacht across an ocean. However, things are now looking up and we are making good progress at around 5-5.5 knots.
A few days ago, Clarke was sunning himself by the wheel whilst Tim and Nick were working hard down below. Tim and Nick heard the cry of "Quick - Look at the dolphin..." Upon arrival on deck, the dolphin had immediately submerged (never to reappear), which was hardly surprising as it was in fact a killer whale (or the Wolrd's scariest dolphin)which we can only assume took great offence to being called a dolphin!! All future swimming activities and Hands to Bathe are now being reviewed under Health and Safety guidelines!!!
Anyone seen a buoy lately? We received a SECURITE message advising of a large yellow and black buoy with "lots of aerials" adrift in the mid-Atlantic. However a check of the paper chart quickly revealed that this was in fact the Mid Atlantic Hurricane warning buoy, presumably very securely tethered to the seabed by its owner, the US Government meteorological authority. Plate tectonics may be responsible for a small buoy drift rate, but we are pretty confident it is where it should be. Thank goodness for paper charts!!
Birthdays should never pass without celebration, and it was with much festivity and candlelight that we celebrated Tims (??) birthday with an Italian pasta dish and a martini cocktail. It should be noted that the martini bottle was a stowaway, not listed on our inventory, and was found by accident by the skipper when he was actually looking for some of the chocolate biscuits hidden by Tim and Clarke...
Having reached favourable sailing winds, we also entered squall territory and have spent the last 48 hours in squall avoidance mode. A 360 degree scan of the horizon revealed an ominous series of line squalls that seemingly offered no easy way out. However, the application of good seamanship, fine boat handling (and downright good luck) saw us through our "Perfect Storm" moment. We were fortunate to witness (at a distance) a very impressive demonstration of the power of nature in an overnight electrical storm that lasted for about 4 hours. It is an awesome experience to be mid-Atlantic and to witness such an unleashing of nature's energy.
In our last blog we outlined our aspirations to catch a fish for supper!! Well, shock horror - Atlantic fish stocks are in danger (of not being caught by Crew SOMA). There are 3 ways to kill a fish:
i. Knife to the head (once you have got it in a bucket)
ii. Bludgeon (with a pick axe handle)(in aforesaid bucket)
iii. Or a more humane method which Nick read about - spray the gills with alcoholic spirit from a Homebase garden flower sprayer - instant death! However, the distillers in Islay may be somewhat amused at this rather unusual use for their finest 12 year old malt!!
We managed to catch one fish 2 nights ago (or rather, it caught us!!). A flying fish jumped out of the water and flew into Clarkes' chest before landing in the cockpit sole (no pun intended). It was quickly returned to its natural element unharmed.
And finally, whilst we are happy to have found some winds, they are much lighter than the pilot books would have you expect at this time of year - around 10-15 knots only. Perhaps the global economic climate is having an adverse effect on the "TRADE" winds.....
Watch this space for our continuing adventures.
Nick, Clarke and Tim