Cleone - Fw: CLEONE Leg 22A Day 4 - Team Beards

Apparently not received by some

 

I'd be grateful if JDA, WRA, AGA and Alastair Wood could let me know whether or not your received this first time round as a check.  Too  many e-mails have gone astray of late!

 

James

Cleone

 

Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 1:37 PM

Subject: CLEONE Leg 22A Day 4 - Team Beards

The day dawned cloudily on our first spinnakerless morning.

 

But Cleone did not seem to mind.  She sailed serenely on under full plain sail, with the Genoa poled out familiarly and the miles mounting steadily.  The Skipper, of course, was seen to let a tear or two fall into his morning cup of Earl Grey, but this was only to be expected.  What Scotsman (is he really? - Ed) likes to contemplate a four-figure bill in these straitened times?  Bruce is forecasting lighter winds today, but as ever, a forecast is only that, and we may be blessed with something a bit stronger.  Meanwhile, we are busy deriving strategies - we can pole out the delicate Ghoster (but supposing we get a gust?), and maybe we can fly the Skipper's favourite, the Mizzen Staysail - but with the wind directly behind us as it is, this won't work.  The wind was variable during the night, but picked up again towards the morning, and has remained reasonably steady since.  It won't be a spectacular day's progress, and with over 1350 miles to go, our chances of reaching Salvador before the Bahia Race cut-off date of 31st January are slim.  But who cares - it's great sailing and a great way to travel.

 

Jenni cooked a huge, delicious cottage pie last night.  Big enough to feed an average family of eight, Shayne took it as a challenge and we managed to finish it in one sitting.  Sailing is hungry work, though yachtsmen tend to be proportionally bitter in the upper body than the lower.  There's not much room to run around on even the biggest yachts, but there is plenty of pulling and heaving and grinding in on winches.  And we using our testosterone to develop in other ways, too.  Under Mandy's supervision, the beards are coming on well (though they don't have total support from all our fans), and we hope to present a decent showing at the judging in Salvador.  With ginger to the fore in Shayne's beard, Graham's all-white display and the Skipper's subtle combination of the two, we are thinking of entering into the Teambeard competition - we must be dead certs to scoop the silverware.  We will keep you posted.

 

Meanwhile, all is well with us, and very best wishes to you all.

 

James, Graham, Jenni, Shayne and Mandy