Walkabout - Day 15 - Hot Hot Hot

S08:15 W126:19

By around 8am yesterday we we already sweating up on deck.

Due to the lower winds we don’t get any breeze on the boat at all. With no clouds in the sky the sun was beating down, we are all very grateful for the Bimini keeping the sun off of us. We managed to make some good progress with the BWR (Blue Water Runner, a sail for dead downwind) in the morning even with the light winds (around 7-9 knots). But at around midday we were bobbing around a bit to much for our liking. The engine went on and we had to get used to the low drone of 2000 revs again. Throughout the day we kept an eye on the wind, but as soon as the wind would pick up again and we would talk about sailing, sure enough the wind would drop back to the point it wouldn’t be worth it. Because of the low wind the sea is flat calm and we were able to play cards, firstly because of the low wind they wouldn’t just blow away. Secondly because the majority of the time the boat was flat. Apart from the odd bit of swell where we scramble for the cards so they wouldn’t fall off of the table. We played Traci’s “crazy whist” in which she managed to win 2 rounds out of 10 at her own game!!! It was a bit closer with Andrew and I, this was until halfway through where it all seemed to go wrong for him. So unfortunately I had to take the lead and win. We moved on to MD (Monopoly Deal) after that, in which Traci managed to win the first round and I managed to win the second. There was some debate over the rules though, I think its impossible not to play that game for the first time in a while and not question the rule book.

We did try sailing when the wind picked up to a good 10/11 knots at around 9pm. But 30 minutes after this the wind dropped off, there was then a cross over between mine and Traci’s shift and we discussed the low wind and what we would do. We nearly decided to cut the Governance and Strategy jobsworth committee or whatever it is called out of the equation and stick the engine on and motor. Traci did however go down and inform the CEO/'Skipsy' of the plan we had made (who was still in bed at this stage and asleep!). It makes for a much more relaxed shift. We hoped to sail into the night as it would be quieter but it seems that we all sleep very well onboard with the engine running. All of us struggled to get up with our alarms for our night shift. Think there must be something about the constant noise and lack of sails occasionally flapping that is comforting and sends you to sleep and the gentle rock of the boat does a good job of that as well or we are all just extremely tired.

With 760 miles to go now we are really on the countdown. We sat on the bow eating Wahoo and Cous Cous last night, the question of meal time was what are we most looking forward to when we get to land again?
We spoke about fresh fruit, a BBQ on the beach, weather we would kiss the land or not, a night without getting up for a night shift or two and

Jodi on ‘Into the Mystic’ has been sending out a quiz the past two days for us all to try, its been a great morning activity to try and get it answered before the answers come in and we need to mark it and send our results in. We would like to know who the most decorated British olympian is? We said Laura Kenny. We were told this is wrong and that the answer was Bradley Wiggins. An update from google would be great please.

The sun is now rising, its 6am here, we are hoping for some wind so that we won’t be motoring all day but we do feel that might be pushing our luck and we might have the engine running for another 24hrs from now. Think its porridge for breakfast today again, it was so good yesterday we thought we would have it again. A lovely winter warmer to start the day off in the 30 degree heat that we eat breakfast in!

On my night shift last night, I was looking up at the stars and milky way when a incredibly bright shooting star caught my eye, heading down towards the horizon. It left a bright trail behind it and then seemed to explode in a enormous green flash that lit up the night sky. It was similar to the flare when you strike a match just 100 times bigger. We assumed it was a meteor hitting the atmosphere and burning up. Does anyone know if that is correct?

Hope all is well in your respective homes, I'll just finish my cup of tea as the sun rises,

Tom,T and A x