Hot Stuff - 13:55.98N 42:04.342W

A day of ups and downs...

So having reported that the compass light was dead, Nick sacrificed the
fairy lights we randonly bought in the Hypermarket for decoration to
make a new light for the compass. IT was a success although having cut
it to 32 bulbs it didnt quite last the night and when on destroyed your
night vision completly. So with a little surgery it is now down to 15
bulbs and we will see if that with a full day of blistering sun charging
the little panel lasts longer!

Last night became... exciting ?! with the kite up so we had an early
hours call for 'all hands' to get the kite down. I have to say at that
point it was a relief as I had spent most that night not asleep holding
onto the bunk trying to hug the hull and not fall out onto Darren!. Once
down we had a great sail running down and Darren is the current champion
of Max SOG of 14.9knots! There may have been words of similar to but
slightly bluer than 'oh my god!'

Once day broke we charged the batteries which were back down to 10.5v
and put the kite back up. We are running with about 15 -17 knots of
breeze down wind as far as we can go. there is an amazing hum as we hit
the sweet spot, still no where near Darrens magic number though!

This afternoon we managed an impressive spinnaker wrap of about 3 times.
For those from work its like a McDonalds wrap you cant get into.
Frustrating to say the least. The usual methods were not working so I
grabbed the climbing harness and will Nick fought to keep the mast
upright ish as I (clearly the lightest member of the team) was hoisted
up the mast. Tied onto the rig with a sail tie and Jack pulling from
below after what seemed like for ever up there we freed the kite and re
started the march to the finish line and Rum!

The sad loss during this episode, please remove your hat and bow your
head, was jacks Salty Sea Dog hat! caught by the guy over it went. Seen
for even less time than the bucket and lost forever.

The Computer is also now starting to sound like a demented mouse being
stangled! Hopefully it will last though!

And in other news Happy first day of December! Portsmouth apparantly has
had 10 min of snow and it was lovely to get an email from Florence (No1
Daughter) this morning as she is off school. I also got to open day 1 of
my Advent Chocolate coins! I nice cadbury treat! (other chocolate
options are available).

24 days to Xmas and 6 days to St Lucia hopefully!

C