The Chief Engineer, known to be a bit odd at the
best of times, seems to have taken a turn for the worse. There are
worrying signs of obsession. Last night his head appeared in the
companionway demanding to check the engine oil. What's wrong with
that? you might say. "He is Chief Engineer after all". Well, nothing
except that it was around midnight and the oil had been checked just a
few hours earlier. Thinking he must have been having
a nightmare about engine failure with a massive supertanker
baring down upon us at a rate of knots - or something of the sort - I
reassured him everything was OK and suggested he go back to bed, which he
eventually did. But not, unfortunately, before waking the Judge who
had been sleeping in his usual lair on the leeward settee in the
saloon. It is never a wise thing to wake the Judge, who
greatly values his sleep! Oh dear! Could it be that 6 weeks
at sea in the company of strangers is too long for
some? Suffice it to say peace, harmony, goodwill and what passes as
'normality' have all been restored.
Meantime, the young whipper-snapper has written a
song. It could make his fortune. Hope so because he doesn't show much
aptitude for actually working for a living. Here are the words;
to be sung to a lively, hillbilly, sort of
beat with guitar accompaniment. He has asked me to point out that it is
still a 'work' in progress!
We slipped our lines and slipped across the rolly
open sea,
No man aboard asked " Is there rum enough for
me",
For our skipper may be ruthless, but he's a fair
man bye-and-bye,
'Cos when we get to Horta we'll be drunk enough to
fly.
Chorus:
Are we there yet?
How long does it take
To sail across the face of this damp and windy
lake?
Dolphins, whales and jellies all helped us on our
way'
And each and every morning we'd sit and watch them
play,
Except for me and Michael, who were always fast
asleep,
Whilst everybody else enjoyed the treasures of the
deep.
Chorus
We put the fishing lines out at the start of every
day,
But the fishes were too wise to take the bate of Mr
Fay,
He picked up a bird one morning but he had to throw
her back,
'Cos Carole wasn't keen on winged and feathered
flapping snacks
Chorus
Where did the wind go? Does anybody
know?
And while we're on the subject; why is the
Captain's chocolate low?
The answer to these questions are both mysteries of
the deep,
But the guilty man, I'll say, leaves wrappers
around him while he sleeps.
Chorus.
Should do very well in the charts I'm
thinking!
As to sailing matters: Yesterday was sunny and
breezy and we had a good downwind sail 'Goosewinged' with 'poled-
out' genoa. For the uninitiated this means that the wind was behind us and we
had one sail out on one side and the other held out on a pole on the other
in order to hasten our progress by catching as much of it as possible. We
made 146 NM and remain on target to reach Benalmadena late in the day
on Tuesday. Not a moment too soon for some.
Log authored by Peter.