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Free & BrEasy - Atlantic Jacuzzi



The World ARC 'pack' is getting nearer St Helena. We are 500 or so nautical miles away surrounded by other members of the fleet although we have only glimpsed one of our fleet of 23 boats, on the distant horizon. We know they are there because of the daily single side band radio net where each boat reports their position and weather. We also receive, every day, an email from World Cruising Club headquarters back in Cowes, UK, detailing the positions of every boat which they know because of the yellow brick satellite transmitters strapped to each boat. It's a case of boats, boats everywhere but not one can be seen.

We have briefly seen a few large cargo ships and tankers heading up the African coast. One enormous cargo ship was headed across our bows and the Automatic Identification System predicted they would be just over half a mile ahead when we crossed. Free & Breasy is completely dwarfed by these monsters and when they are travelling at 17knots, its best to give them a safety margin of at least a mile. We contacted the ship by radio and after some delay we were advised to go round the stern of the ship. The lady was not for turning!

The fleet has stayed together as a 'pack' because we have experienced light winds due to the dominant affect of the South Atlantic high pressure zone. After Cape Town we took a northerly route following the African coast line in search for more wind but also to take advantage of the Benguela current which adds up to 1 knot of speed. But there was no escaping the high pressure which moved inexorably north to give us a few days of light winds.

We have reached the limit of the bananas. After making a crumble pie with the last edible mushy ones, the rest were jettisoned to the fishes. The fridge which was brimming full of fresh produce when we left Cape Town is already half empty. We know St Helena can supply diesel but will they have fresh fruit and vegetables? If not, it will be a long way to Brazil just eating out of cans and the freezer. Does not seem much of a hardship!

Marco has made a very welcome change to our menu with several delicious Italian dishes. His real dream is to catch, cook and eat a fish on the same day. Both he and Roger are keen fishermen but have different approaches. Roger uses a 25 pound breaking strain line on a rod while Marco uses an shark catching 80 pound line tied to the boat with a piece of bungy rope. They both use artificial lures that look like a squid or octopus. So we are having a fishing competition. Let the Great Fish Off commence! So far the score is 0 : 0. Marco has resorted to feeding the fish little bits of dough with the aim of attracting them to the lure but surely this will blunt their appetite and is that not a shoal of fishes gathering in our wake at fish feeding time? Maybe the problem is that they both use pink lures! Michael is not a fisherman and rather takes the view that fish are our friends and that we should be kind to fishkind, at least until a plate of freshly caught fish, fried in butter and garlic with sauté potatoes is served mmmmmmmm…!

The new boom is performing well although there have been a few teething problems (why did the contractors use such puny shackles to make high load connections and why did they not think through the route of reefing lines to prevent chafe on boom fittings??). The new adjustable vang (to control the boom height) is now loose (before we had a rigid vang) allowing more flexibility so that the boom can ride up in gusts of wind. This has allowed us to keep the mainsail up in light winds. The autohelm is still working but worryingly sounds like it has bronchial pneumonia. We have been sailing with the wind from nearly astern to take the pressure off the autohelm in the hope that the pneumonia won't be terminal! To do this we have been sailing with the jib on the other side to the mainsail, a sail plan known for obvious reasons as 'wing on wing' or 'butterfly' or 'goose wing'.

Roger went through a worrying period with a chest infection but recovered, only to pass it on to Marco who is also now getting better. Michael is looking at them very nervously! Marco decided that the best cure was a dip in the Atlantic. One of the things that attracted him to Free & Breasy was the staircase down to the water line at the stern of both hulls (so called sugar scoops). This allows him to sit with his legs in the Atlantic (he is securely fastened to the boat I hasten to say) with the turbulence produced by our wake giving him an Atlantic Jacuzzi bath. All that is needed to complete his happiness is a few bucketfuls of cold Atlantic dumped over his head. Take twice daily to cure chest infections and prolong active life!


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