After our last log Edo received an astounding number of emails and phonecalls through the satphone. Most were from close relatives of one of our crew. They mostly acknowledged the log description of their loved one crew member as typical and not to be worried about. Comments and suggestions followed as to how to deal with the person in question. These tips were not wasted on Edo. After having put them into practise the general behavement of the crew has improved remarkably and the atmosphere on board can now be described as 'tentatively positive'.
Thomas for instance has recovered miraculously after reluctantly accepting toasted bread topped with thinly sliced compressed life raft food rations. Neptune is helping Thomas to stay alert by splashing him liberally with sea water. Wherever Thomas sits in the cockpit, salt water will find him and those in his immediate surroundings. Thomas takes these regular showers well, although sometimes he still gets into this Gilles de la Tourette kind of rage, emitting a series of German obscenities that make even Davide blush.
Maria has visibly relaxed upon the news that her boyfriend has booked a ticket and will be amongst the welcoming committee in St. Lucia. She wasn't even fussed when a 30 cm flying fish hit her just below the chin when she was sitting in the cockpit at last night. Helming the yacht through choppy seas has become second nature to her by now, being one of the few to sail a straight course and to be able to sail the ship nearly into the wind but not just in tacking mode.
Davide proved a hard nut to crack. Cold Turkey mode was reluctantly chosen for him so we forced Davide to start reading the biography of Captain Cook. That will keep him focussed for a while. And should he finish this any time soon, we still have 6500 pages of Patrick o'Brians brilliant 'Master and Commander' books.
After having dug up from his luggage a box of anti ADHD pills and after having forced these upon Frank, he is happily fishing, doing the laundry and the thing with his sextant as if there is no tomorrow. He even served us some over baked potatoes today. They would have been great with fresh Dorado or Tuna but somehow Frank failed to catch one.
Having had an active role in the repairs of the mainsail today, Ronald has perked up wonderfully. Involuntary gybes completely forgotten. Full of self confidence he has been teaching his fellow crew members ever since how to stear a straight course.
Fritze has been trying hard to reduce his daily Net Total F**k Up Time. Admitting defeat and handing over the importing of the fleet position datainto MaxSea to Frank helped a lot in this respect. And on those rare occasions that we spot another sail on the horizon he wisely retreats to his cabin only to come out after the word 'yacht overtaken' has reached him.
Ingo in the mean time is still our happy ballerina, waltzing with the boat owners manual or pirouetting with five filled coffee mugs from the galley to the cockpit. But there is no harm in that really. That is as long as he keeps wearing his 'Acht Tage Pampers' (a strange plus fours like sort of heavy weather trousers that stop short just below his knees) rather then a tutu.
All in all, we are getting there. Getting to know one another and learning how to cooperate. After some great sailing with daily logs of in between 180 and 200 miles, we passed our midway point early this morning. We have sailed half the ocean with only once having had to put in the second reef and with only three (voluntary) gybes. We duly celebrated at happy hour with some well deserved champagne. While sipping our glasses Maria, at the helm at the time, managed to miss an unidentified floating whale by a couple of centimeters. So we are doing good and luck is with us.
In ARC terms that means: No further assistance required.