Hello from the Atlantic Ocean 421 nm to Saint Lucia:
Another day of sun and rolling begins! It is 10am and we are doing 7 knots (but I
can’t see any knots – weird people!)
Last night the feeders had a delicious meal of sausages with
fried potatoes followed by a homemade apple cake. That made them all very happy.
I had to work hard last night as I had cuddle Tina, she went
to bed early and she couldn’t eat supper as she was feeling very low. That was the first time in 2 weeks. In my blog it is difficult to write about the
emotions on board but they are as complex as the boats systems. Tina said I shouldn’t write about all of the
emotions as they are private but she said I could write about hers. Tina said all
the things that have gone wrong on the boat disheartened her. (Did I mention
that the VHF radio has now gone on the blink – outside and inside – good thing
that Tina and Mark have a spare hand held one)? Mark and Tina have worked so
hard to do everything they could during the last 12 months to ensure the Atlantic
crossing would be safe and fun and fast and yet so many things have gone wrong
or were not up to the standards that the crew would have liked. Nisse said that doing the ARC is like putting
10 years of wear and tear on your boat so I suppose things may wear and tear on
the crossing.
Some of the feeders have been very critical of the boat and
its preparation and it is hard for Tina and Mark as they did their best. But
they know that it can all be fixed or replaced.
And they know that the intensity of the journey and the small space amplifies
any issue and that is all that is happening.
This morning Simon had an idea. The water maker has made everyone cross
because it was fitted badly and 24 hours ago we ran out of water. Simon’s idea was born out of need – and Tina
says there is a saying that “need is the mother of invention” and the feeders need
is for Showers. Simon is a genius when it comes to anything with making or
fixing stuff. His idea was simple but
really clever. The feeders say that the
water maker is simple – it sucks in salt water – filters it into fresh water
and gets rid of any dirty stuff. Our
problem is that because it was fitted badly the water maker cannot suck up
water. Genius idea – use a bucket over the side to fill up a larger trug on the
aft deck and put the inlet hose into the trug.
It worked perfectly – they are making water even though the boat is rolling.
The feeders have been talking about managing resources and
all of them are used to having plenty – plenty of water and food and
energy. Managing with scarcity is a good
experience they are saying. Tina has a
suggestion for anyone reading this blog from the comfort of home. An experiment. Do your normal shopping and cooking and for a
whole 7 days keep a large black plastic bag tied up somewhere in the
kitchen. Put anything that is plastic in
this bag. If you do this you will notice
how much plastic is used in packaging and it is so shocking.
Yesterday we saw a beautiful pod of silver grey dolphins – I
love to hear the dolphins – they are very eloquent but they are best when they
are saying – “come on lets play” I wish I could play with them as their games
look so much fun. They speed forward and
then suddenly chase each other around with sharp fast turns. I could see one of them break away from the
pod – it was racing along side us just under the water. He was so close and the ocean so clear that
we could see the bubbles racing down his skin – I bet that feels lovely. Then, with impeccable judgment, the beautiful
dolphin twisted backwards and around the back of a large building blue. blue
wave. I watched the wave build with a
bloom of foam on the top and then suddenly I could see the dolphin positioning
himself with accuracy right in the middle of the wave, just under the
foam. Then suddenly he pushed himself
forward – his speed calculated to be just fast enough to punch his whole body out
into the air ahead of the wave – his lean, strong muscles flexed into a perfect
aerobatic arc and then – splash! nose
first back into the warm, blue Atlantic Ocean.
For a long time we were all quite staring at the space where he had re-entered
the water, mesmorised by the skill and beauty of this wild creature. Tina says she will never forget that sight
for the rest of her life. I am happy
that she has this movie in her mind for the tough days.
It takes hundreds of buckets hauled out of the sea at the
stern to fill the tanks with filtered water – the boys are enjoying it in a way
as it is a form of physical exercise and that is something they have missed on
the boat. It isn’t really possible to do
any exercise when you are swinging around – the rolling around is really hard
to explain. Lottie and Tina have been
talking about what an amazing experiential gym it would be to have a yacht
simulator. Even though you are not doing
‘exercise’ just staying upright uses all your core strength. Sailing Pilates.
As I am writing this I am watching Mark take bucket after
bucket out of the sea – it will take about 180 buckets out of the sea to fill
the tank. Nisse has now had a creative
idea – take the emergency bilge pump hose from under the galley floor and use
it and its electric pump to pump seawater into the bucket. Nisse is a plumber – very handy on a yacht.
Bilge pump into the sea from the stern, electric pump up
water into the big bucket on the stern deck – pipe from that bucket to the
water maker – it is funny to watch my feeders all running about working on
solving the problem. They must really
want water a lot!
There should be an ARC price for ingenuity at sea – Nisse
and Simon would win it!
Saint Lucia is going to Love Magic – Tina says we will be
good for the local economy!
PS Bilge pump solution didn’t work so the boys are back on lifting bucket loads of ocean into the bucket on deck – something to do they say