Sailing around the World
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Mon 21 Mar 2011 09:11
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MONDAY 21st MARCH
2011
Right now, it is a beautifull night as I type
this blog,
The Moon is full in the sky and not a cloud to be
seen, the sea is flat, there is little or no wind, so we are motoring our way to
granada, we expect to pass Tobago today around
midday, leaving it ( and any pirates) to port.
Its interesting to study the Islands around here
with names such as " Pirates Bay " that says it all about the history of the
place
and the Carribbean in generall stretching back
hundreds of years, and to think that there are still pirates around today.
WOW.
If things, like the wind and current do not improve
soon, then it looks as if it will be in the middle of the night tonight
when we arrive in Granada, and if things slow down
even further, then it could be daybreak or early morning Tuesday.
Yesterday morning, Suzanna developed a severe
toothace, and was in an afull state, and " Murphys Law" we are at
sea,
however, Aileen had a small bottle of this stuff
callec "oil of Cloves" and got Susanna to apply a tincher of it to the
tooth,
and low and behold, it did the job, so at least no
more pain for a while,
The weather all day yesterday was just magic, we
flew the "Kite" for the first half of the day, or almost upto 2pm, when the wind
died down
and we had to motorsail,
Putting up and taking down the " KITE " with just
the 3 of us on board ( even in light conditions ) was a major enough
undertaking,
after all , this spinniker is 3.600 sq, feet and it
takes two of us all we can do to just lift the thing a couple of feet across the
deck.
and then , there are all these ropes and lines
everywhere, and trying to make sure that nothing is twisted before we start
hauling
up the sail takes a good 10 minutes or more, and
still things get twisted, ohhhh, no, not again, ! where's the
dog...............
And, the spinniker bag is almost shook, like the
spray hood, it has suffered badly from being left on the deck in the salt
water
and searing heat. the trouble is this, the whole
thing is too big, so putting it down below takes up too much room and
its too
heavy to be lifting it in and out of the "
lazarette" ( the boat boot ) , so it just lives on the fore deck, just in
front of the mast,
Still. skipper loves that sail,
anyway, the day went on, lots of reading, chatting,
snoozing and naps, a couple of fags here and there, and alls well,
Aileen rustled up dinner, mainly consisting of Sat.
nights fragrent chicken , and the left over cold roast beef for
skipper
plus more of Pauls " baked beans" It was all
very good , if not excellent.
As sunset arrived, the huge orange Moon crept up
again over the eastern horizon, filling the boat with a warm glow of
happiness.
that all for now.
signed :- Stephen Hyde (
Skipper )
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