6 v happy
menfolk & one v happy girl on board with some fine tradewind sailing
FINALLY happening…well, for half a
day then it went away again. ‘Big
yellow’ spinnaker billowing with mid Atlantic beautiful blue as the backdrop. Many squalls,
1 lightning storm & plenty of doldrums has seen a much slower crossing than
crew expected but spirits are extremely high with good humour, lots of amazing
sights, some good sailing, some even greater fishing, good company & hot,
yummy meals breaking up our days at sea.
Highlights: Fishing -
1.33m long heavy Mahi Mahi & a 1m long Barracouta - plenty of yum meals from
these two.
Dolphins,
whales & more whales - one just swam alongside us - magnificent
Beautiful
skies - three double rainbows in a row this morning & plenty more double
rainbows, jaw-dropping sunsets & sunrises, dramatic storm cells &
squalls & cloud formations we have never experienced before.
‘Hugo’ in
beautiful condition & sailing well - converted all monohull sailors on board
to catamarans now!
We have been
besieged by squadrons of Kamikaze Flying Fish which launch at our boat hulls,
decks & our helmsmen - most active on our night watches. Despite repeated attempts of invasion,
the enemy has retreated & now developing different tactics.
We saw a yacht
appear on our AIS two nights ago & got excited but it disappeared
quickly. We haven’t seen a boat for
10 days.
Some breakages
- a very sad torn Code Zero occurred before half way - slower wind angles now
with use of jib & asymmetrical spinnaker only.
Starboard
blackwater pump stopped working.
3 days of getting up close & personal with our toilet system did not
get us anywhere. Thankful for 2
other back-up toilets with this many blokes on board! We now think a kamikazi flying fish has
sailed into blackwater outlet.
Broken
preventer after a heavy fourteen days of sloshing about in light winds &
messy seas.
‘Ray’ our
trusty auto-helmsman bled to death a week ago (hydraulic leakage spraying
everywhere). Our ‘phone a friend’
saved the day. Thankful for ARC team helping relay info on how to revive Ray
& happy to say that he is back in 90% health & is good on our night time
slower watches.
Mr Bean, our
espresso machine, is our hardest working crew member & never complains.
Finally
experiencing the sailing that was promised in the brochure & crew all have
their shirts off (except me) & soaking up the tropical sun. Counting down the n.m. to our
destination & dreaming of lobster, rum & a swim in turquoise tropical
water. (DTW:776.1nm as I write this) although we are loving every minute of
being on the big blue (well maybe not the part in the bilge with the blackwater
pump…boats!).
The wind has
gone MIA again as I write this so half the crew have taken a mid-Atlantic dip in
the ocean – apparently very refreshing !!
Tina
(and all on
board - Russ, Peter, Stu, Mark, Simon and
Tim)