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Ballytrim - Ballytrim Day 11 23rd to 24th May 2014



Noon 23rd to noon 24th - 198 nautical miles travelled. ( equals the record from the last leg to Bermuda).

The last 24 hours has seen some hard work go into maintaining speed and attempting to 'open the gap' between ourselves and the other yachts around us. The effort put in by the boys appears to have paid and we have for our second day in a row exceeded 190 miles in 24 hours.
Well down the team ...... Its an achievement in itself, to gain the miles we have, but more so because the seas/wave patterns are often at variance with the wind direction which adds to the challenge of making the boat steer in the right direction. Surfing down a wave in pitch black does make for an exciting time!

This morning was fun. It was Tony's birthday, so the watch before he got up blew up balloons and generally created a carnival atmosphere to celebrate the occasion. Break fast became a brunch of scrambled egg and bacon ( that's a first for me racing across an Ocean). Sadly the promised black pudding, sausages, toast and marmalade didn't make it to the table - "In your dreams" is a pretty good expression for expecting that sort of provisioning on a yacht'!!!
There seems to be a lot of dreaming about food, beer and wine going on at the moment, with almost hourly calculations taking place to decide what time will we arrive in Horta and will the pubs still be open? If the pubs weren't open could we perhaps book a hotel room for one of us and the rest be invited as guests to drink at the bar??!! There's all sorts of thoughts, but you know they are all in fun. We have had a tough time, but the companionship has been awesome. No doubt there will be a small celebration.

During the afternoon today, as we took it in turns at helming and surfing the boat down waves, there was a 'moment' for us all I believe.... Some music had been playing into the cockpit, and it changed to "Bolero" the signature tune/classic for Toriville and Dean. As the music started to play and find its tempo the dolphins started to arrive and surround the yacht. We suddenly were surfing to classic music with a display of dolphins surround us. Quite special and all of a sudden all of the effort put in over the last few days was worthwhile. (We didn't get a sudden crescendo of dolphins diving out of the water as the music came to its conclusion, but it was a great moment none the less.)

So, the last few hours has seen us back into the 'grinding it out mode', pushing along and making ground toward our final destination just over 200 miles away now. ETA is approx 0400 Monday morning 26th May, but could take longer of the wind slows down.

Im not sure if the chance will arise to get anything out tomorrow as we will be focused on a safe landfall, in the dark. Im sure we will be fine as we have the best navigation equipment available, but its always a testing time making a landfall in a strange destination in the dark. Apparently we have to tie up to a customs dock and await immigration and customs formalities in the morning. It will be good to be there.

The good news is, that we still have food aboard, so it won't be necessary to eat Laurie on this occasion!!!
No alcohol has passed our lips since we start of this adventure. Im sure we will make up for it now, but all. In the best possible taste!!!

We look forward to see our friends and competitors arriving behind us. There's a tradition amongst sailors to take the lines of a yacht arriving and it will be our pleasure to meet and greet with this age old tradition.
Until next time.
Keep well all.
Geoff



Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad

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