Or should I say the tortoise, and only the tortoise. A slow tortoise at that, one that has one of those GPS boxes in its car to get discount off its insurance premium because it’s such a safe driver. The sort of chelonian that thinks snails are dragsters and for whom watching paint dry is an action movie. Yes, it’s been a slow day waiting for the promised wind to fill in. Once again it teases us, lots of shifts in angle and strength have us fiddling with the rig in the hot sun just to hover around the 5 knot mark. So we continue to wait patiently for the wind to help us on our way - such is a sailor’s lot.
23 days into 21 days of provisions and the daily bill of fayre is beginning to get “interesting”. Lunch was sausages & pasta with a cup-a-soup sauce. Those that know the caterers at my workplace (and probably several others too) would appreciate that with a little artistic license this would be presented as “Artisan spiced pork, pasta al forno-microwavo with a minestrone reduction: £3.80”. “Pea Risotto” is on the menu tomorrow apparently - good luck selling rice and peas with a fancy description! I’m lucky. I’m still enjoying my morning Weetabix and nobody else is keen on them. There were tears over the last bowl of cornflakes, but a whole box of Weetabix remains - nom, nom, nom.
Not too much other news from onboard today. Jake continues to watch bloodthirsty movies between shifts (“The Mechanic - Resurrection” is playing as I type this). The skipper has finally brought his game with him to the chess table and beaten Jake a couple of times. ARC committee updates tell us that we’re in the last 5% of boats - even a boat that lost her mast is a couple of hundred miles ahead of us (please can we keep this bit just between you and me?) but at least NoStress seems to make something like the pace she should now she’s no longer dragging a judge’s wig from her prop - I don’t like to think how much time that cost us.
I’m hoping to start tomorrow’s blog with news of a new top cruising speed achieved and the remarkable solid wind that filled in from the East this evening. Alternatively, if anyone knows how to turbocharge a tortoise then please get in touch.
Until tomorrow, thanks for reading,
Alex & the NoStress Crew
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