Pretty much all day on deck since 6am and it has been hot from early on. Matt, Howard and I were on the helm in shorts from 8am and it only got hotter since.
The morning started with an unexpected change in wind direction which made our navigation towards St. Lucia difficult so we had to remove pole and move from a run to a reach to stay on a southerly course. We did the, by now well established, routine of 30 mins rotating 30 mins stints at the helm while taking care of other important chores like breakfast, shave, washing, etc... By the time we get to St Lucia we reckon that Matt, Richard and I would have been at the helm for at least 400 nautical miles each in top-end conditions. Good training I'd say.
The rest of the crew started coming on deck around 10am... everyone was hot and it only got hoter. Today we resorted to baguettes for lunch since a cooked hot meal would not have been welcome by anyone.
Easy afternoon drying things out on the boat, preparing spinaker, emptying the bilges, showering in the cockpit and trying to doze around the boat without much success.
Matt tried fishing and while we got a couple of pieces (one Mahi Mahi) we failed to bring them in (partially due to be sailing too fast). We will try again in the next couple of days since we are expecting to hit very low winds and dolldrums... bad for sailing but great for fishing.
I was thinking this morning about this Atlantic crossing challenge. I was thinking about how it was compared with other challenges that people and you hear about: hiking Khilimanjaro, climbing Everest, dessert rally, Ironman races... The one thing that makes this Atlantic crossing challenge different is that YOU CAN'T STOP. There are no pit stops, there are no resting camps, it is not even possible to give up after a few days...Here once you start and make it down the Trade Winds there is NO STOP and if you wanted to turn back it would be harder than continuing since you would go into the wind/sea. I knew this would be the case before I joined but I must admit I had not taken in enough what it would mean to keep moving, rolling and sailing day in and day out, night in and night out.... Yet, once you get over it, it adds to the pleasure of achieving this challenge. One more week ahead of KEEP MOVING.
We shall be having a hot dinner (this time hot as in spicy) since Christian and Tim are already preparing a red thai curry... I guess is good news that I am due to spend most of the night on deck. Nights on watch are now easier with same stress around the dark hours but no need to stress any more about strong winds and high seas...all in all a much more enjoyable experience.
Good nite to all as we watch a nice sunset about 1100 miles away from the Caribbean
Adolfo