Day 10!
What a day, the wind picked up and we started getting some decent speed on.
The intense heat of the sun has now became a bit of a problem, 2 of the crew struggled really badly with the heat today, nothing to worry about, Just uncomfortably warm and dehydrated. Some fluids in them and they are ok now. The whole crew are now more aware of just how quickly it can go from being nice in the sun to really uncomfortable and how important it is to make sure they are taking enough water.
A boost late on in the afternoon came when Andrew informed us we had hit the halfway mark!! Neil popped a bottled of bubbly for us to enjoy on deck before dinner.
Dinner was beef stroganoff, made by Iain and Alan it went down really well.
Dinner has become a focal point of the day and we have been really lucky, eating fresh food every night so far and having some fantastic meals.
At 18:00 the wind picks up to 25knots and remains like this for most of the night. Which is great is you are on watch at the helm, not so good if you are down below trying to sleep.
Day 11
Today has been hard. Probably the hardest day of the trip so far.
We are all enjoying the strong sea and wind when we are at the helm but when you are down below it’s a bit too much. Trying to do simple things like wash, walk from one end of the galley to another, change your clothes, all these become massive tasks because you are just knocked around so much while you’re tired and frustrated from a lack of sleep.
Although we grumble about it, the weather has helped us make some great progress today, and the competition to see who can get the highest speed on the mast screen has become a fearless fought battle!!
Bill FB and myself reign supreme with the highest speed, witnessed by an independent adjudicator (Neil) of 15 Knots! This was a surfing down a large wave before that the title was held by Alan T and Iain for 10.5knots
Alan and Iain were also lucky enough to see a humpback whale splash out of the water only 250 yards off the stern!
Today is the first of December! Christmas count down is on!! And like every good boat in the ARC we have come prepared (thanks to Aynslie and Heather) with our own Sponge Bob Square pants advent calendar.
Bill FB was nominated to be the first lucky crew member to open the door on the advent calendar, and behind door one was……………………………………….
A Chocolate Rabbit!
It’s the little silly things like an advent calendar, what veg with dinner, who’s iPod do we listen to tonight, or even the announcement of a new cloud, that become very important focal points of the days that help pass the time.
Everyone is settling down to the night watches now. Will update again soon.
Alan