Apologies to our avid readers for not blogging yesterday but we had an
eventful night and decided to take a day off to get our sea legs as the
seas have bult a bit more. So what do the following have in common:
1. The ARC meterologist who said unlikey to encounter squalls this side of
the Atlantic
2. The plymouth rigger who said "That track is fine for your boat"
3. The bloke in the pub who said "dont worry they are over in seconds"
4. The skipper who said " Dan you kip in the saloon tonight it will be
more comfortable"
We hit our first squall last night so the answers to these questions are
1. Yes we did
2 No its not
3. Maybe but you didnt tell me lot of them come together
4. Forgot to mention the flying pilot books, pressure cookers and tech manuals.
So there we were quietly cruising along in great conditions thinking this
Atlantic Crossing malarkey is a piece of cake when nightfalls (and fall it
does here light one minute dark the next) when the wind goes from 9 knots
to 24 knots instantly "Golly" says I to my Geordie watchmate "what do you
think that flipping was?" "well gosh im not sure" he says "Exciting isnt
it but why are we now pointing the other way" or words to that effect.
Spending the next five minute fighting the steering it did dawn on us that
something was maybe wrong so we took the precaution of looking behind us
to find the the ever reliable Warren the Hydovane Beatty had formed a
relationship with Willy the whirly thing (the Wind generator) sorry about
these names but it keeps us amused. Anyway having disentangled them we
were under way again contemplating the meaning of life etc and finally
switching on the radar so we could see the squalls not so much approaching
but disappearing over the horizon. Whilst the squalls were compartively
minor it has been a steep learning curve especially as later that night in
bigger seas than we have so far experienced our Spinnaker pole managed to
rip itself off tacking the track with it. The Arc man was right when he
said these things only seem to happen at night. Night sailing continues to
instill equal amounts fear and delight. The fear being never sure exactly
whats out there and feeling very vulnerable to unseen rogue waves. The
delight being the look on your crew mates faces as he lands on his back
side again falling out of his bunk tipped by said rogue waves. Currently
or shore support (sounds grand that doesnt it?) in the shape of Kenny
Wingrave of Butterfly Yacht Charters, is trying to organise the riggers to
get a replacement sent to Mindelo so we can be on good shape for the
crossing. Anyway we are going Ok but have now lost contact with the boats
around us we hope because we have pulled way in the night but fully expect
it to be other way round! Fising lines deployed this monrning and look
forward to reporting the catching of a fwe tuna tomorrow but failing that
it will be `back to John wests. Other equipment performs well in
particular the plastic tray that can hold 4 mugs of tea and the toasted
sanwich griddles!
Paul the vegetable turner continues to develop his relationship with the
vegetables and the look on his little face and his trembling lip every
time we have to throw out a rotting pepper could launch a whole Christmas
Charity Appeal. Ross continues to have far too much energy but has kept us
out of all sorts of trouble, Kevin also has far too much energy and
continues to try and get us into trouble, Dan,the baby of the group sleeps
a lot and has now developed the 24 hour siesta and I continue to
exaggerate stories for the blog.
All in all everything going fine as . we continue to wander the seas like
the Marie Celests looking for wind but as we are now at the back of the
fleet we have decided that its not a race but a cruise. A state of mind
that will only change if we start making up places!!
By the way "Its all too beautiful" the Itchycoo park theme tune is
available on i tunes........I kid you not!Please someone buy a copy just
to keep Paul happy all profits donated to the Aubergine retirement fund.
Well thats it for now I have crew to flog.
The Itchycoo Parkers - over bridge of sighs
PS you can also now follow this blog on the World Cruising Web site which
has a live tracking of the fleet. Just look to the right of the screen
towards the back Im sure you will find us
--
Sent Via Iridium Sat Phone
http://blog.mailasail.com/itchycoo
--
Sent Via Iridium Sat Phone
http://blog.mailasail.com/itchycoo