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Gozwoz - Day 13 from Bermuda



When your opening gambit with a blog is about bread you know you have had a quiet day. The Navigator/Baker produced yet another loaf from the oven which was rapidly demolished by the crew at lunch. But it did emphasise the importance that meals achieve in the daily routine of life aboard. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are times for the crew to meet and exchange views on the day, the route, the lack of fuel, whether the minnow is giving his all etc etc. The lettuce-based salad at lunchtime has given way to a pasta/coleslaw combination and when today Roger announced we were eating the last tomato it brought it home that Tesco was many miles away. Our evening meals are delivered in rotation - tonight is the turn of OGL and we understand that an omelette might be on the cards.

Yesterday we were confident of bypassing Flores and sailing direct to Horta. Today that confidence has slipped a little with yet another wind-free day. Motoring all day, whatever the efficiency of the diesel engine, consumes valuable fuel and we are down to our last 40 hours or so. The betting is on a quick stop at Flores to fill a jerry can or three and then on to Horta. Of course, a night time sail in a force 4 would yet again cause us to reconsider…

What has worked well on the voyage? Well, our water maker produces copious amounts of fresh water as if by magic and this provides showers, water for washing clothes and generally removes the anxiety of whether you will run out. Of course, what we will do with the 200L of bottled water we took "just in case" remains to be seen. Another technological miracle is our refrigerator. After so many breakdowns in the last year or so we now seem to have a stable cool box in which ice can be seen! Of course both the water maker and the refrigerator take power but, with no wind, the engine provides all the power necessary. Finally the last device, but certainly not the least, is our "6th man" - the autopilot. Tirelessly steering us towards our goal it never complains and seeks no compensation for the efforts on our part.

So another day finishes, the evening SSB net will occur at 2130 UTC, and we look forward to hearing of the days efforts on other boats.

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