Saturday, 10 Dec 2011
We learned yesterday around noon for the first time about the untimely passing of Andrew Nash. A very sad and tragic event our deepest sympathies to his family and fellow crew members. I looked at Tom and he said to me we’ve got some extra diesel – an email was sent to rally control offering our services – we were not the closest – I believe we are a bit behind, but if there are further developments – we stand ready to assist.
Yesterday was Ben’s (our first mate) 27th birthday. It pays to have your girl friend aboard for an event such as this – especially since she’s an excellent cook. We had a wonderful meal – even a Birthday Cake and an ice cream bar (it’s wonderful to have a freezer at sea). Earlier in the day we saw a schooner on its way to Venezuela which called us for weather information. Felt bad for them – as you are all well aware the winds at the moment are very light and its difficult to make much headway. To add to their problems their diesel engine was not functioning.
Yesterday – on his birthday – Ben caught his second Dorado – about a 16 to 17 pound male. A beautiful fish – we probably won’t eat it for a couple of days instead we plan to eat Gretchen’s meat loaf today at noon. Gretchen’s meat loaf is special – 1/3 ground chuck, 1/3 ground veal and the final third ground pork loin – so this is going to be a treat. I need to help Tarryn peal and mash the potatoes and we’ll add some vegetables and bread.
We are making our plans for arrival in St Lucia. It will probably be late Sunday – so we will probably be on the “hook” and do some swimming before entering the marina the next morning. Tarryn is excited about seeing her first Caribbean beach while us older fellows are thinking about renting a car and doing some exploring of the island. Guy’s wife Tory (short for Victoria) arrives the 13th so his time with Tom and Bruce will be limited. We’ll hopefully be able to have dinner and meet her one night. We’ve also got a number of things to do on the boat – cleaning – laundry – and other important items.
Tom and Guy continue to have fun scaring Bruce when he’s on the “dog watch” (early morning). He stands often at night in front of the wheel leaning on top of the dodger (spray hood) they pop out the other side or from the hatches trying to scare him – it works – it’s usually very dark and quiet and he jumps about a foot. Needless to say it’s been a couple of good weeks at sea.
Ciao