When my alarm went off this morning just before midnight I was seriously ready to drop kick it out my cabin window and consign that horrid honking noise, that is the default iPhone alarm sound, to the bottom of the Atlantic - seriously, who thought that noise was appropriate for waking someone up?! Steve Jobs,, have a word… I emerged onto deck to find Letitia and my Dad already on duty having been roused to deal with some inclement weather just after they went down to bed, they incredibly kindly said that I could go back to bed as they had the situation in hand. The guilty feeling of skiving a shift evaporated pretty quickly as I crawled back into bed, you’ll be glad to hear…
Averaging 6 hours of sleep a night was beginning to bring out ‘grumpy Lewis’, so perhaps the squall was a blessing in disguise allowing me a little more sleep and the rest of the crew a slightly more tolerable galley boy. Something tells me D+L wouldn’t agree as they sat for a further 5 hours navigating Mary Doll through the morning swell…
The disturbed seas continued throughout the day with comical scenes of people trying to brew tea, read books, download weather forecasts etc. at a 45° angle giving us a few good giggles. The incident that produced the best laugh was unfortunately witnessed only by Dad, I think we all would have found it hugely entertaining to witness him skiting out of bed on to the floor… I’ve been telling him for days to use his Lee cloths at night to stop just that from happening but of course he wasn’t interested in my advice, kids these days…..
It is Eilidh’s birthday birthday today (HBD big sis!) and seeing as we couldn’t be with her to celebrate we thought we’d (attempt to) bake a cake in her honour. I’ve never been so thankful of our First Mate’s foresight as when Letitia produced a ‘pre-mixed’ Victoria sponge pack to which we only needed to add wet ingredients. The thought of faffing about with scales and measuring spoons is not all to enticing when 75% of your brain power is constantly dedicated to staying upright (the remaining 25% wouldn’t account for much with some of my crew ages so I’m not sure I’d want them near ovens or whisks….).
The winds were as high as the swell throughout the day which meant we had to keep the sails significantly reefed to avoid any damage. We pootled along at 4-5 knots for most of the day occasionally getting some help from a ‘big wave’ pushing us up towards 8 or 9 - Caroline claims we hit 16.3 at one point on just such a wave, personally I think week two of ‘tee-totalness’ is taking its’ toll. Bobby did say he saw it too but I wonder, after 30 odd years of marriage, might I find it easier just to agree too..?
Dinner was burgers expertly cooked by yours truly, followed by our beautiful sponge cake. We neglected to bring any candles for the top so had to make do with a solitary match, sorry Eilidh, we’ll get you a proper cake when we’re home! I’m not sure it would have won us star baker on bake off but it was at least edible, perhaps they should spice bake off up with an ‘extreme’ season where the contestants have to bake in hostile or unpleasant environments; a ship’s galley, a war zone, a kebab shop at 2am… I’d certainly tune in.
That’s all for today, we’re having some technical issues with our sat-comms so it may be a few days before you are all able to read this back in civilisation, try not to miss us too much!
Lewis
Editor’s note - Lewis Seeking promotion to 2nd Mate, jury is out : )