13:07 Local LEA
time
Yesterday was December 1st, but with our
bikinis on and 30 degrees in the cockpit, it just doesn’t feel like December.
The squalls gave us a break for the day and with the comfortable speed of 4-5
knots, yesterday was by far the best day we’ve had on this entire crossing. The
sea was calm, the sun was out and we took turns taking naps in the cockpit in
between reading, being look out and having porridge (the traditional, Norwegian
rice-version) and Christmas cookies for lunch. With my turn as cook of the day,
chili con carne was served for dinner, followed by an outdoor movie night in the
cockpit. This seemed like a great idea, and it was, until about an hour into the
movie when we were slightly interrupted by pouring squall-rain catching up with
us. Not that we minded at all, the windy situation was just what we needed to
speed things up.
The
British boat Hejira, who we kind of had our own little regatta with on the first
leg from Las Palmas to Cape Verde, have again appeared to be our main competitor
and are fighting us for 6th place. The past few days we’ve kept
catching up with each other, and I really think it’ll be a close call on who
crosses the finish line first. To gain some extra speed, we pulled up our
storm-jib yesterday to help out the foresail, and it actually seemed to give us
an extra knot or two. Hopefully it’ll give us just that little extra we need to
discover Saint Lucia before the British.
Today
is another favorable day of calm sea and comfortable speed; though a few squalls
make an appearance every now and then to make sure we don’t get too comfortable
and just stay out here forever. Yes, I can make jokes too. All though I can
truly say that if every day had been like these past few days, I can understand
why people dread going to shore.
The
wonderfulness of the Caribbean is at our feet, and I’m pretty sure there won’t
be enough words to describe the feeling of seeing land again in just a few
hours, after two weeks at sea, knowing we made it. Little Lea, who left Bergen
six months ago, is now about to embark on the adventure of these magical
islands. I’m excited to explore this side of the pond, the places to see and
people to meet. And you can believe I’m counting the days for the wonderful
friends of mine coming to visit.
The
Atlantic Ocean; it’s been great, but we couldn’t be more ready that rum punch
waiting for us at the finish line. 54 nautical miles to go!
Sail fast, live
slow.
-Lene