Friday 7th December – Paula Rosa
Slow slow slow quick slowwwwww…..
The only speed is made by the squalls, some we get wet but we also get a little extra wind and believe me we need every breath we can get at the moment!
As a bonus in between the squalls the stars are spectacular, we can even see the Southern Cross. Venus is so bright it is making up for the no show moon and even casting a beautiful shimmer across the water.
Everyone getting a little bit frustrated but we are creeping along closer to the finish!!
There is increasing amounts of weed in the water and apparently it is a big problem on the beaches in the Caribbean (Wills is peering over my shoulder and smirking – not quite sure why!!) Chris tells us it is Sargassum and a result of warming sea temperatures – so sad. As we go further west it is increasing in amounts, like a rather horrid shade of yellow green matting on the surface of the sea.
Last night I actually managed to rescue a flying fish, we think perhaps they are attracted to the boat lights because in the morning, Pol finds sometimes as many as 10 scattered across the decks. There is often quite a large slap, depending on the size, first instinct is something has happened to the main sail but it is the fish landing on the deck. This particular one was still flapping so I hopefully returned him to the water in time? They really are amazing and very beautiful, they literally skim across the sea for what seems like ages, dipping in and out of the top of the waves.
There is a sad end to the afternoon, after a couple of hours of decreasing wind, flogging sails and a boat speed of 2.5 knots we make the decision to switch on the motor, no you may cry but it had to be done. We are so heavily handicapped a few engine hours wont make much difference in the overall rating of our position! There is wind due later in the evening so we all have fingers crossed that this will be short lived :)
The rainbows that accompany the squalls are many, some of them so bright, I have never seen a complete arc with both ends touching the water, they are just behind us, almost worth getting wet for!
Supper is inside except for those dodging the showers and keeping watch (thank you Pol and Sergio) there are frequent heavy rain showers they don’t even bring us wind anymore.
The sun is going down, our hopes of getting in on Saturday are diminishing. Blow wind blow (although I am aware one must be careful what we wish for)
Keep your fingers crossed for us, keep on tracking, hopefully not much longer now
Murrays x and Dodds