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Endeavour of Cork - Day 16 - Friday 2nd December




Our last day!!!!!!!!!!

The excitement is high on board - or at least it would be if half the boat wasn't still asleep.

Is it bad to be so unreasonably pleased about nearly being finished?

I mean, it's be a fantastic, interesting, challenging, memorable experience and everything - but I swear if I never see a downwind course again it'll be too soon.

(As an aside, if anyone reading this knows Fintan Cairns, can you please put in a request on my behalf for the last Dublin Bay Turkey Shoot race on 18th December for an upwind-only course. I know he could do it.)

The sound of blissful silence woke me this morning just after 7am - having motored the whole way through last night (and STILL not quite able to keep to course), the engine was finally shut off and silence reigned. Conor and Denise (and she with a bad back if you don't mind) had got the spinny up by themselves (to quote Conor "before Mairead got up and talked me out of it"!!!) and we're chugging along at a respectable 7kts and with 85 miles (yes that's two digits - 85 MILES!!!!!!!) to go, we'll definitely be in the bar for those rum punches tonight. Yeehawww!!!

(To be fair to Conor re the above, there was a lot of debate yesterday about spinny or no spinny - it was reasonably windy (14-16kts the whole day), the sea was moderate so we were getting pulled around the place a bit - there was debate all day long about the spinny, should we or shouldn't we - and in those conditions with the dodgy spreader and trying to avoid gybing or putting the rig under strain I was firmly in the "no" camp - I'm a bit of a chicken at heart when it comes to situations like these - and in the end it never went up. But Chicken Licken himself wouldn't baulk at putting it up on a picture perfect morning like this!)

So.... no more night watches! No more trying to sleep with that damn engine and its noise and heat! No more trying to cook with ever-dwindling ingredients and over-stretched imagination! (on that note, this morning there is one litre of milk left in the stores, no juice, about two dishes-worth of muesli in the last bag.... talk about judging it just right!!!) Dermot did his last watch last night from 12-2am, today is his official "day off" sailing duties.

No more suncream on top of sweat on top of salt on top of yesterday's suncream/sweat/salt, repeat x no. of days since last swim.

Showers! In proper, actual fresh water!

I can take these plaits out of my hair (fair play to the girl who did them, they lasted the pace and did the job, but my goodness I'll be glad to see the back of them).

Next excitement will be the first person to spot "land ahoy" - I have no idea how high St. Lucia is , so haven't a clue when that will be - sometime this afternoon I presume.

Time for a celebratory coffee, and to go up top and enjoy this, our last day at sea!!!!!!

From a seriously excited Endeavour - over and out!!
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