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Webster - "Wales Ahoy!" , power over time and miscellaneous inconsequences



Thursday 22nd May 2014 Position 36 14' N 44 11' W

What happened on this very day,
is that Charlie - the mighty Skipper - decided that he may,
do everything his way,
and that on time there is no lock,
so - just upon his wish - he changed O'clock.

And so on Webster yacht,
sailing at some 8+ knot,
he declared: be it twelve - and this at ten,
for entire boat, both things and men.

Igor 'Mustard' Bele - 22/05/2014

Yes we changed the clocks today - much to mutterings from Neal who thought he was being done somehow but couldn't quite work out how, or who by! Actually it was all of us that benefited by moving the clocks forward, but me especially as I did a double watch which was two hours shorter. It has just occurred to me how to win this leg to Horta given that there is no way we are as fast as Sparta to whom we have to give time on handicap and she is already 50 miles ahead of us - we change time. Brilliant!!! We put the clock back a day, finish then go back to UTC. We have a time machine and never knew it.....

Neal was on watch this morning whilst Igor had popped below and spotted what he thought were Orca whales, "Whales!!" was the cry, to which we all sprung up on deck to look but alas no whales to be seen. We considered he had definitely seen something to get him all excited, something wet and grey perhaps - Wales maybe? "Could it have been Scotland, that's wet and grey as well?" Neal insists that he did in fact see the Orcas and that he is not dillusionary, but the local jury is out on the matter, to be discussed and resolved after a shed load of Mojitos when should he see a pink elephant or two we will have our answer.

We have been bombing along today in a steady SE breeze of 15-20 knots under two reefs, on a close reach direct to destination on 090M watching the miles to go dialling down rapidly. I worked out eventually why a straight line drawn on a gnomonic chart did not represent where we were necessarily heading - a bit of a pain therefore to use but interesting if you are into that sort of thing, but give me a Mercator projection where you can draw a straight line and read off your bearing any time.

The problem with this boat on starboard tack in a breeze becomes apparent at dinner time. Open the cupboards, all starboard side, and you are immediately wearing the entire contents - even an octopus does not have sufficient hands to hold back the tsunami of dishes, condiments or whatever happens to be in that cupboard, and its impossible to push back in. Very frustrating and is a cause of much amusement or irritation depending on whether its you on the receiving end or a spectator improving his lexicon of bad language.

Igor assumed the food prep position this evening, sat on the floor with knife and chopping board, wedged into a corner. Gordon Ramsey would have a fit! We could ask him to open the cupboards though and again improve even further our lexicon? The product though was great - Slovenian spaghetti; spicy sausage, garlic, spaghetti, onion, garlic, salt, garlic, pepper, and a touch of garlic to finish fried in oil. There will no vampires on this boat tonight nor any visitors either. We proved this by a luxury superyacht hoving into view over the horizon from our starboard quarter, slowing down for a look and zooming off again - and he was even upwind!!

Back to reality. The wind looks pretty constant for the next couple of days at least so if we do end up having the promised soft patch we are coming into a range where we can motor home should we need to, a comfortable thought.

Right, that's enough drivel from me back to life on the high side on deck.......


Charlie

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