Civilization as we
know it and the skipper is chilled; so this blog, my first, is from
Charlie - the new boy on the block. Until I arrived in Las Palmas I
had not met any of the crew - it was a leap of faith and one that I have no
regrets. Day 15, week 2 and my god what an experience it has all
been. We have just eaten the most fabulous Sunday Lunch thanks to
skipper Simon, with more than a little help from our talented Julian.
Roast lamb (laced with knobs of garlic), roast potatoes, cauliflower, leeks in a
white sauce and gravy; and this was all consumed with hardly a movement
from Casamara. She was bowling along at 7.5 knots on the most delicious
broad reach, stable, powerful and purposeful. For we are up against
it. The weather is changing. For 14 days we have enjoyed the trade
winds which, to quote the book, in November are "almost guaranteed to blow at 15
- 20 knots"' ... until now. We are 450 nm from St Lucia but the
winds are forecast to turn light and fluky and possibly disappear
altogether. There was lots of debate on board this morning as to whether
we should continue on our current strategy - a northerly hook into Rodney Bay,
or whether a southern approach would be more fruitful. Our goal is still
to complete the crossing without using our engine. I suspect that this may
be reviewed if we have to sit motionless for 24 hours!
I have been the
radio op for the trip reporting in to the net controller and taking down the
progress of our friends in the radio group on a daily basis; you guys at
home are far better informed being able to study progress on the ARC
website. I am very much looking forward to meeting some of the voices in
the flesh in St Lucia as there are some interesting sounding characters.
There have been a couple of Happy Birthday serenades transmitted;
although we haven't had any birthdays on board, Simon's son Alex and my son Olli
are both turning 20 tomorrow and December 7 respectively. Amazingly, both
are in their first year at Newcastle University, so Happy Birthday boys - have
you met each other yet?
So what of Casamara
- she is quite the most outstanding yacht, safe, seaworthy and very
comfortable. What do I particularly like? The ability to make fresh
water and to to have a shower every day. It is very humid even out at sea
and as I type I am glowing gently; so having a shower makes such a
difference. And we have a big fridge, and freezer so everything is
cool! Time has flown; it's been a great crew with lots of
laughs. Thank you Simon and thanks Casamara for a wonderful
experience. Love to all our families at home and see you soon - have all
the Christmas cards been written? Charlie.
What a wonderful
blog from our guest blogger! There is very little to add on the food front, as
following on from our mega Sunday lunch, we have all just been helping ourselves
to light snacks this evening and watching a few movies between watches. The
general feeling of anticipation now that we are closing on St Lucia is growing
by the minute. We have started to think about awards for each other (all very
comical) and will no doubt be in a position to enlighten you more, once we have
agreed the final categories! Fish have continued to elude us these past few
days, but we have still not yet launched our secret weapon! I think I will
finally unleash that tomorrow and can confidently predict a fish supper tomorrow
night!! JK