The days are going surprisingly quickly - there is always so much to do. Thursday was particularly eventful - in a good way.
Finally we felt we had gone far enough south to avoid the Azores high, and so at first light we made a significant course change to starboard, and directly towards St Lucia (“direct”, of course being a troublesome term when considering great circle routes). Then - suitably bolstered by coffee - we hoisted the spinnaker. As the crew were not totaly familiar with the drill, this took a while - but it was well worth the effort, and we put in 10 hours at pretty much the maximum hull speed.
On the domestic side we re-jigged the schedule to split boat cleaning from washing up - the result: a clean boat and clean dishes, to go with the ongoing inventive use of ingredients for cooking. The sourdough bread-making is going well, while the yogourt making is still hit and miss.
On the entertainment front, after a few days of tension, there were some good “murders” in the game of human cluedo, in spite of there being some challenging locations (under the companion way steps, in the aft heads, etc.) If this is new to you just think that you are given a randomly chosen place, person, and “weapon” (a can of coke, a pen, an apple etc.); get the potential victim to take the weapon from you, and bang! They’re dead. A lot of subterfuge and play acting involed. It works well on a boat, and is great fun.
Just before a spectacular sundown we doused the spinnaker, opting (as we usually do) for a quiet, and hopefully uneventful night. Then we hooked a fish, and briefly it looked like a fish supper - but it got away. Sausages, then!
Finally quiz night (what is the latitude of St Lucia? why is the carribean called that? What is the 5th us state alphabeticallly? etc.).
Rinse and repeat!
Another reasinable day sailing - about 170 miles covered.
Hugh - 25the November
Somewhere in the Atlantic
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