After starting off being Mother Hen, we have completed
out first round of watches. We took
over and were soon drenched with a continual heavy rainstorm. 
We learnt
what was waterproof. (Generally nothing – everything was wet through). Our next watch was better with a sky
full of stars and a strong wind. We were entertained with shooting stars and
sailing towards the Plough (Big Dipper). Peter had a huge grin on his face when
on the wheel: he was in his element.
Our final stint was done in sunshine with smiles appearing and the yacht
starting to look like a clothesline with all the kit being dried out.
A rare picture of Anne (because she is generally so busy on other tasks
to be available for phots!) – taken at a distance, as she didn’t have time to
fix her hair for the shot.
[She is also in the rain shot (blue hat) but too busy to
pose for long!]
Now on day four and getting into routine: I have just come off my watch
with bright sunshine and good visibility. We have been hammered with weather and
rain on a few of the watches we have done and were totally soaked yesterday.
Getting up in the middle of the night with the boat bouncing around, fighting
into my wellies, emerging into the pitch dark with the boat heeled over and
steering by the stars and compass for the first time was pushing the limits of
my nerves out there. My living space onboard is tiny, cant even turn over and
hardly space for a few messages!
Looking forward to the rest of the trip and updating the rest of the blog
in due course.
[Captain Affleck has a lot to answer for!! – will also give you an update
on the missing car in later blogs!!]
[Allan Macdonald, 52 SQN - 32 Sigs]
We finally managed to sail the yacht past Ireland, struggling with an ever
changing wind direction and monsoon rains. As mentioned the only thing we know
is still definitely waterproof is our skin, as our “oilies” were soon engulfed.
Night navigating was a lot of fun taking in the stars, the plough guiding us
towards our final destination. [Neil Hewitt, 49 Sqn - 34 Sigs].
Skipper scaring the crew after reading the weather forecast for the
expedition.
