Day 19
Nearly 3 weeks at sea.
Following the route which took over 3 million slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, on the surface of a sea perhaps 5 kilometres above the seabed and below a cloudless night sky revealing galaxies unknown it is poignant to consider the microscopic scale of the daily life to which some of us will return?
Apart from those we love and hold dear what do we miss- the traffic, the compliance officer, marketing and sales oppos, the latest health scare, newspapers, the Today programme, X Factor, supermarket trollies, and perhaps most of all the mobile phone!
Imagine taking four adults and confining them to a space no greater than a small studio flat comprising perhaps 300 sq feet and a small garden patio of 100 sq feet and requiring them to stock it with all nourishment for a 3 week period and to store all waste save for biodegradables within the confines of the space? Never to be allowed out of that space during the 3 weeks would be tantamount to a serious breach of the declaration of human rights as now interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights. What comparison could you make with ‘Big Brother’.
This crew are content fit and well and having fun. You couldn’t hang out a line and bring in a Tuna from the first floor of a tenement block in Hampstead. Conor makes incomparable bread in his machine and all members of the crew make a meal in rotation. Fresh food has lasted nearly 3 weeks and caught fish has produced 12 meals or more. The trade winds are rocking us and Marion swears she can smell land –now 600 miles away. Sharing a boat with two hairy neathanderals and your spouse of some vintage must make her long for some soft sheets and female chat.
We have seen more flying fish and the odd bird. The storm petrels are no longer with us. A beautiful flying machine being a Shearwater (Great Shearwater or Corey Shearwater?) paid a short visit on Wednesday. Four smaller shearwaters also investigate the lures on the towed lines on the same day.
Conor’s one eyed squid was lost at sea when a humongous fish bit through the end of his trace line. That was the second lure lost to him and Simon has also lost one for the same reason so Conor has now reverted to using his marigold glove lure once again.
Two small moths appeared in the cockpit and the only explanation seemed to be that Henry had opened his wallet. A very attractive butterfly also appeared and fluttered by. The one disappointment is that we have not seen a whale. Simon and Henry were on watch one night and a flume of water shot up to 10 feet within 10 feet of the boat. Perhaps a baby whale but it was too dark to see. We had a full moon 17 days ago and then lost all moonlight about 8 days ago but now have the new moon which is shedding a surprising amount of light.
Weather is warm with only occasional days of squalls. One major tropical downpour in the early hours last week produced over 4 inches in 2 hours –empty drinking glasses in the cockpit testify to this.
Winds are now 18/25 knots daily and occasionally 30 knots. The sail plan is sometimes poled out headsail and 2/3 reefs in the main as the waves are possibly 10 feet or more and throw the boat about on its downwind course.
It is important to maintain a lookout. A largish commercial vessel crossed close last night and we have only had one or two days and nights when there has not been a yacht on the horizon or closer. There are also weather buoys stationed in various parts of the ocean and nobody seems to know exactly where they are. The are lit at night (apparently) but I doubt you would see one in the seas that we are currently experiencing.
Some of the daily chores consist of charging batteries, making water and bread, rigging check, the usual food preparation, washing and drying of dishes and clothing, the daily Arc Net that is broadcast each day at 1300 GMT, this is the main source of live entertainment with chit chat and singing exchanged amongst the crews that participate. Yacht positions (longitude & latitude) and winds experienced by each boat, speed etc. are exchanged here. The lap top is available to all the crew to send and receive emails from friends and loved ones and these are normally downloaded once or twice per day. Weather reports also received over the satellite phone and computer combination and processed and printed for the crew to drool over. Today Conor had to go up the mast to retrieve a couple of lazy jacks that broke in the night. No mean feet with mountainous swells and wind speeds of up to 30 knots. All done successfully with no bruises to write home about.