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EH01 - In the middle of the Atlantic... no one can hear you scream



Bonjourno, Hallo, Bonjour etc etc

The day has arrived when we are pretty much the furthest point away from
land we will be this trip. Over the next couple of days the nearest landfall
will be the best part of 1000 miles away. A lot of the crew have said they
have been looking forward to this point the most, to really feel like they
are in the middle of no where. Although we are racing, the next nearest boat
is currently 35 miles away and after that I don't think we have another boat
for over 60 miles. Here we are floating in our little mobile world on our
own patch of planet earth (population 11).

Since yesterdays blog we have had some more fantastic sailing. We had a
beautiful evening yesterday with wall to wall broken cumulus clouds (the
fluffy variety) followed by a fantastic sunset. As the sun set and the moon
rose we sailed into the night under the fractional spinnaker and full main
continuing to blast along nicely at 8-9 knots. We had just received the
latest overall position report stating that we are now 7th out of 28 and
after a short crew meeting decided that everyone is keen to push through the
tiredness and keep trimming sails to keep the good ship rolling. Its at this
stage in the trip when everyone (including myself) is feeling that natural
inclination to slow down and go into a vegetative state. Everyone has been
working extremely hard for over a week now but everyone is sure it will be
worth it to carry on pushing (the faster we go, the sooner we hit rum).

At around midnight last night the crew made me aware we had some large black
clouds approaching. We decided to drop the spinnaker and re hoist the head
sail. When the squall hit, it hit hard. It is probably the first proper
squall we have had all trip. The rain came down sideways and the wind
picked up to around 30 knots. Luckily the wind was on our beam and we
screamed off down our course for a good few hours. The crew discovered how
waterproof they were and the skipper was forced to shout directions from the
companion way stairs!

As usual the wind died just before the sun rose and we were left trying to
push for the best speed in vaguely the right direction for a couple of
hours. The sun rose in spectacular fashion creating multiple rainbows
through the broken rain storms surrounding us this morning. As the soon as
the breeze filled we were quick to hoist our spinnaker again and the daily
routine begins again...

As we are almost at the halfway point of our trip, The crew want to say a
few words in the blog again! Here they are...

First of December, I will always remember - midpoint in the Atlantic! Still
smiling :) Drive gum going down treat on night watch xxx Marissa

OMG 1500 nautical miles to go, averaging 7 1/2 knots, weather warming up,
crossing time zones, sunrise was 8.30am we will adjust our watches back 1
hour today - very weird..... sleeping like being in a washing machine!
Having a great time with such a fab bunch of people.
Karen x

The Caribbean temperatures are now kicking in and counter the rainstorms at
night. The flying fish have not hit me in the face for a couple of nights
now. This is such a fantastic experience and now St Lucia at a distance of
HALF of the Atlantic is looking so attractive. I wish Alec could have been
here to see it all too. So looking forward to seeing Sue Gemma and Matt in
the villa at St Lucia
Chris

Team Ulster request funding for the up and coming drinks challenge between
Ulster & Russia in St Lucia. Derek & Jessie .Stand up for the Ulster men .

Almost half way through out trip, right in the middle of the Atlantic; one
boat; 6 nations; one goal...smash this race and get those rum punches as
soon as...Come on EH01, we love you! x Andras

About as far as we can be from land now and it feels great. Enjoyed my
birthday at sea yesterday. Nothing in sight apart from a sea pigeon type of
bird and the odd flying fish. 28 degrees today, EH01 looks like a laundry
with oilskins drying out from last night. Atmosphere on-board is very
positive we are all keen to do well in this race. Lots of love to everyone,
I'm loving this and hope you are all well. Sara xx

Moskva-Vladivostok, obshiy vagon. Priehali. Seli snova. Edem obratno. :)))
Passajiry te je. Nochiy poluchili svouy dozy vetra i livnya. Mokrye naskvoz.
"A v ostalnom vse horosho, prekrasnaya markiza!!!" :))))))

Vash, Yashnik

Great test for waterproofs last night but drying out now, flying fish
around,tried fishing yesterday but need to work on my technique. Counting
the miles down from today! Trevor

Well that's all for today everyone. Stay tuned for tomorrows update!





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