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Annabella - Log 14 - Monday 9th January



Position @ 1000GMT 13 06.16N
42 43.22W
Distance to St Lucia: 1064NM
Distance made good last 24 hrs: 132NM


At last we are heading almost directly for St Lucia and we will break the 1000 nm this evening. The wind during yesterday was light where we were making between 4 and 5 knots. At 6 local time yesterday (GMT - 2) we gybed the spinnaker and the wind picked uo allowing us to sail in a westerly direction at around 7 knots which was in line with expectation. It started to rain at about 2300 LT. At 0130 this morning the wind died and was variable for a while swinging 90 to 120 degrees on the other side. It suddenly went forward of the beam so all hands were called to drop the spinny ( after 5 great days). Simultaneously, a monsoon appeared and Otto (autohelm) decided to switch off. Consternation for a while until we had the spinny down and the genoa unfurled. All five of us were saturated from head to toe and literally had to wring out our clothes. At least it was warm rain and if it had happened during the day we would have had shampoo and shower gel out.

We expect good winds today from N NE which should have us reaching at good speeds to our destination. Tomorrow looks promising as well. Are these the trade winds? should really be more easterly. The twin head sails are waiting patiently for their opportunity to show what they can do.We are on a starboard tack which will make the galley duties more challenging because the cooker is facing downhill. Gimbal is not working that well.

Murphy was around last night as well because when we tried to light the gas for a deserved beverage after all the activity we discovered the cylinder had run out.

The sun is shining again today and clothes, pillows, cushions, and crew etc are out drying.

Wounds are healing well despite losing the dressings during the downpour. When applying the dressing Peter brought out a cathether in case the dressing didn't do the job. I think he was trying to take the piss!

Food is becoming interesting without fresh veg. We had the last carrots in the stew last night. We now have to become creative with our tins. Fresh spuds, onions and garlic still in abundance. There are four eggs left which we intend to use for french toast tomorrow. Lots of oranges and apples left as well. Craig baked a carrot cake yesterday which was delicious and partially made up for the loss of the fruit cakes. We have some bread mix which we will try today.

Development of the 'Binimi Bimini' concept continues apace, funding to sought from various sources, prospectus in draft form, variety of design permutations for different markets being mooted - eg The Oligarch for Russia, The Bikini Binimi Bimini for France, The 'No Worries Mon' for Caribbean etc. Any suggestions gratefully received by design team c/o this email address.

Out local time is now GMT (UT) - 3 hours. That means I will have to get up at 7am to record our daily progress which has been happening daily at 1000 GMT (local time Ireland).

Best regards until Log 15.

The Annabella Team

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