Thursday 27
th
November
The weather keeps us guessing. We’d
anticipated classic trade wind sailing with twin headsails, but what we’ve been
given is a beam/ broad reach all the way so far. That’s not strictly true, we
tacked downwind on leaving Las Palmas as it would have been too uncomfortable
sailing dead downwind given the heavy seas.
Today is the first day I’ve awoken,
bounded onto deck to find out what’s happened (since I went to bed 3 hours ago)
and thought ‘it’s a little warmer’. This is especially welcome because whilst
the days are not cold, the nights certainly are. Our shifts comprise 3 hours on
standby/ lookout (on deck) followed by 3 hours at the helm. By the end of 6
hours on watch at night, it’s very chilly despite multiple layers. At the start
of a 6 hour night watch it’s all enthusiasm, but by the end of the watch
response mechanisms are shutting down, performing only the most necessary
functions. Sadly, conversation is one of those higher order functions that
ceases quite quickly and before long you’re in your own bubble, simply
communicating when necessary.
The daytime watches are easier, if
only because your visual world extends to the horizon, whereas by night your
world is restricted to the confines of the cockpit which is dimly lit by the
eerie green glow of the instruments. Not that there’s much to see. I’m told on
good authority (by George who is an ornithologist) that the occasional small
black birds we disturb are shearwaters. To me this seems incredible since we are
approximately 500 miles from land, but apparently that’s what they do; they live
out at sea and only return to land to breed. Last night we did see the lights of
another solitary yacht just beyond the horizon and the loom of another’s light
beyond the horizon but that is all!!!!
Whilst this is not supposed to be a
personal log, I’d just like to thank my dear wife for the lemon and ginger tea
bags which I was allowed to open on my second week – it is a blessed relief from
peppermint. This brings me neatly to the subject of food; I can’t say we’re
stinting on the calories because we are eating like Kings. We had a fabulous
chicken stew last night cooked by Alastair. I was more than a little shamefaced
because I was on the helm when the stew went flying across the galley floor. We
extended the 5 second rule for dinner; it still tasted great, but then
everything does when you are sailing!
We made really good progress
yesterday; 192 nm which was an average of 8 knots, a record we are unlikely to
surpass unless we catch the tail end of some strong northerlies which are
forecasted for Friday.
Winds a little lighter today, which
combined with sunshine and slightly less swell means we’re all doing jobs whilst
the engine charges the batteries. For my sins I’ve just spent a smelly and
frustrating 2 hours taking the WC to pieces in an attempt to get it to work, all
to no avail! It’s a fortunate thing that I don’t easily get sea sick as it was
all very gross! The only upside is the heads at least smell sweet even if they
don’t work. Bored with the main, genoa and decreasing wind, we’ve just launched
the ‘code 0’ sail and are now flying along at 7-8 knots again. The dolphins
clearly appreciated the speed – I’ve never seen such a large pod of
approximately 50 in my life. The gambolled around the boat playing ‘bet you
can’t keep up with us’ for around 25 minutes and then disappeared.
Believe me dolphins are difficult to
photograph; there are some I
promise!