Fidelis of London - Day 19 by Lon

180 miles to go!!! The countdown has started!!!
We just hope our engine won´t decide to give up, because there is
absolutely no wind. The engine stopped twice in the past 2 days, we had to
change the filters ourselves for the first time. I don´t think it was easy
crawling into a boiling engine room while the boat was rolling a lot. Mum
and dad only had the 3 of us for assistance as Robert fell quite badly just
before. As always the 3 of us weren´t exactly taking things very serious so
our help was pretty useless, we basically just handed them buckets and
threw things overboard. Luckily the second time we had to change a
filter Robert was able to help out, and the rest of us just slept right
through it. For some reason these things always happen at the most
inconvenient times, like during dinner or in the middle of the night. It
will be a real change to have an undisturbed dinner and a good night´s
sleep! The engine is running perfectly now and we hope it remains to do so!
Today, for the first time, the ocean is what we thought it would be like.
The waves are very calm and long. Definitely makes things easier! But don´t
think that you can just leave your drink standing on the table for a
second, because it will fall. The weather is boiling today, I fell asleep
in the sun for just a bit too long... But luckily I didn´t get sunburnt!
We´re all getting very impatient to arrive, it´s all we talk and think
about. Dad is imitating what it´s like to drink cold beer. Our fridge
finally looks normal again with lots of wine in it, it was weird seeing it
filled without any alcoholic beverages in it. Arriving without any cold
champagne to celebrate is unthinkable! We´re turning into a floating Betty
Fort clinic and we´ve all had enough of it. We´re ready to arrive in st
lucia!!!