Sunday 27th January
OH WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
JB writes: And wasn't Louis Armstrong right when he sang those lovely
lyrics, for when I woke up this morning we were presented with all the
ingredients for a perfect sail: a blue sky, a few puffs of fair weather
cumulus clouds drifting, a gentle 12 knots of wind breezing over the port
quarter and 3-4 gannets circling the boat in search of some breakfast which
certainly looked to involve one or two of the flying fish given the look of
abject terror in their eyes as they skimmed the surface of the sea to evade
the predatory jaws of the gannets..unfortunately some poor fish didn't quite
escape and Greta the gannet, having dived in swift and precise fashion,
emerged from the sea victorious and is now sitting a boat's length away from
me tucking in to her breakfast. Those fish on my starboard breathed a gill
of relief as they contemplated their reprieve.
Whilst it was a lovely morning we did feel deeply saddened by the outcome of
the search and rescue operation of the St Lucian fishing vessel, which
involved 6 World ARC yachts assisting in the search for any survivors. We
have been advised that there was only one survivor, the other three
unfortunately lost, presumed dead. We sailed through the area overnight and
kept a close lookout, had our night vision monocular, 2 spare batteries for
the night watch torches, and steam light. Our thoughts and prayers are with
their family and friends and we remain I hope that the coastguard will find
them. (JB)
As of noon at the current speeds we won't be in Panama until the 2nd Feb!
Lindsey is sewing the windscoop Malcy and I are attempting to repair the
grating on the aft shower as well as Malcy installing the fan in the galley.
JB continues to be radio operator in the lunchtime broadcasts, but
inevitably we can only hear James on Cleone (he has a big/powerful aerial
fitted on his boat) so he has to relay news at the end and there is
considerable banter between him and JB which he plays with a very straight
bat (no doubt years of experience in the army from people trying to wind him
up!). For example:
JB: You know what they say about men with large aerials?
JA: Our position is 12 50N 70 38 W
JB: You seem to be very close to the Columbian coast where there is a risk
of piracy, high seas and unpredictable weather, if you had been to the
skippers briefing you would have learnt all of this and stayed clear.
JA: We are not worried about pirates - they should be scared of us!
JB: I'm not sure they would be interested in your boat anyway. So how's the
Panama Quiz going that we sent you by email?
JA: I am having difficulty hearing you our position is.12 50N 70 38 W (we
think he's stalling for time so he can research the answers! JB)
Hilarious stuff and it will continue!
Lots of boobies this evening, well, a pair of red footed ones circling the
boat. One landed on the top of the mast alternating with a red and then a
green bottom (from the tri-colour masthead light) and the other made several
attempts to land on the pushpit but failed. Good watching though!
Dinner tonight was by Bob assisted by Lori. The ratatouille was very good,
although the tuna, which I bought in Castries fish market wasn't great, but
Bob surpassed himself with the banana cooked in rum (he threw another bottle
at it!) and sugar and flambéed! We also tried a bottle of the non-alcoholic
wine, which was a little thin to say the least and I don't see me being
addicted to it!
No photos every day from now on, only when we have something exceptional
will a photo be included.