Day 7: Wednesday 27th November – Quizmaster Jess
With the children’s quizzes now finalised, it was decided
that Jess should email her Moon based quiz out to a number of other ARC boats first. She was pleased to start receiving responses soon
after. Nearly everybody caveated their
response with a lack of access to Google!
Jo cooked an amazing vege stir fry for dinner which was received
well by everybody on board. An early
bedtime was soon interrupted when a flying fish hit the deck and almost fell
through Charlie and Joe’s hatch, which was swiftly closed and made for a very hot
and uncomfortable night’s sleep.
The evening was very dark with absolutely no moon at all. So much so, it was hard to make out where the
sky met the sea. Whilst it’s a little
unnerving sailing into the blackness, with no cloud cover we could see stars in
their thousands and the bio luminescence looked much brighter than usual.
Day 8: Thursday 28th
November – Independence Day (as well as Thanksgiving!)
The topic of conversation over breakfast this morning was about
the exceptionally bright shooting star that Pete and Joe saw in the night. It
was so bright that it lit up the entire sky for a few seconds. Both said the’d never seen one so bright and
it looked like something out of Independence Day. This is especially impressive given the fact
that both used to serve in the Navy/RFA and Joe now works in commercial
shipping! We must research whether a
meteor landing was reported when we next have access to the internet, although
I doubt if it will have been recorded in the middle of the Atlantic!
The rest of the day was spent making various Christmas
decorations, including paper chains, snowflakes and pictures.
Day 9: Friday 29th November – Oyster Moon Cinema
Day
Today started with a formal skipper’s briefing. Oyster Moon awards handed out, including one
for Charlie’s superb picture of Father Christmas. Skipper Pete declared that an OM cinema showing
of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will commence at 1400.
Home school consisted of sending out Charlie’s quiz on Volcanos,
a topic he enjoyed learning about immensely whilst in the Canaries. The children also did a little maths and
reading and then Jess set to work responding to a number of quiz responses. Good scores were attained all round, even without
the use of Google!
The children then set to work making pom-poms from the 8 balls
of dark green wool with the intention of somehow fashioning them into a Christmas
tree for the boat. With Joe on watch,
Pete doing skippery type things, and me asleep, they were left to their own
devices and I woke with things not going exactly to plan. Who knows what the finished article will look
like?!
After making good progress directly to St Lucia during the
day, rather frustratingly the wind shifted just after dark. With the genoa pole rigged and no appetite to
take it down in the dark, we headed North once more.
Day 10: Saturday 30th
November
An uncomfortable night was had with the boat rocking and sails
flapping all night. To top it off, a lying
fish also landed in the cockpit in the early hours. Both Joe and I had an abrupt wakening by the
skipper at daybreak after he spotted a tear in the main sail. Luckliy he spotted it early and it wasn’t too
big. The rest of the morning was spent fixing the sail.
After that, we jibed Southwards once more in search of
better wind. Whilst not heading directly
for St Lucia, it made far more comfortable sailing than the previous night.
Day 11: Sunday 1st
December
We had a rather eventful night’s sail, having to avoid
thunderstorms in the early hours as well as having several flying fish find
their way into the cockpit and remarkably into the galley (kitchen) also. They
seem to be getting more and more acrobatic as the journey progresses.
The children woke very excited to open their advent calendars
and the rest of the day so far has been spent putting up the Christmas decorations.
We have decided to continue sailing South and enjoying a
pleasant sail with limited rocking. All on board are looking
forward to a Sunday roast for dinner – we will have to savour fresh vegetables
whilst we still have them. At this rate,
we won’t arrive in St Lucia until 12th December!