Day 17 Almost there - and a fish!
Just 50 miles left so we expect to be moored by midnight local time. The past 24 hours have been disappointing from a sailing perspective. Instead of the usual trade wind romp to the finish we have had another day of little, or no, wind and have motored most of the time. This is a real shame as it has spoilt what was a fascinating competition. At the time the wind died, the Swan 46 in the racing division was 15 miles ahead of us and 2nd in its division. We were second in our 'cruising' division, just 10 miles ahead of another Swan 46, and a day ahead of the 4th boat so we feel we have sailed well, and it has certainly felt pretty 'full on'. The motoring rules may make a lottery of the final results, but we feel for the guys in the racing division who are not allowed to use engines - they will now have had two days drifting with St Lucia getting no closer.
Highlight of today - the guys have just landed a 17.5lb dorado. It looks magnificent and is destined for tonight's supper!
It has been great fun writing this blog, and I hope it has conveyed to you some of the excitment of an ocean passage. In summary:
Highlights
-The team spirit, banter and fun amongst the crew
-The downwind sailing in mostly perfect conditions
-The wildlife - esp the whales and jumping dolphins
-Sundowners with spectacular sunsets and Sam's musical interlude
-Great freshly made (and caught!) food
Difficulties
-Catching fish - it's now fish 10: humans 2
-Night watches and broken sleep (although the sailing and spectacular stars make it worthwhile)
All of us agree that this has been a wonderful experience we would not have missed for the world (although we have no idea what has happened in the world in the past 2 weeks; and does it really matter anyway?)
Special mention must go to Cochise who has looked after us wonderfully, and to Nick, an excellent skipper who has kept us safe and on our toes.
I am sure beer, showers and bed will beckon when we arrive, but I will try to add just a couple of lines to confirm our arrival.
The Cochise crew: Nick, Simon, Joel, Jakob; Isak, Fredrik and Sam
14.00 (St L time). 6 Dec