47:55.24N 05:54.22W
ALBA and her travels
Jim Panks
Sat 5 May 2012 15:11
Into our fifth night at sea and today the Bay is giving us a leaving present. Winds of 30kn and straight at us. Bouncing all over Matt recorded a 1.5G force as we get bounced from one wave to the next. We have good footage of this just to make you jealous. It's like having your own private joy ride. The fuel stakes are again becoming a headache. Ideally we would like westerlies around 20kn to propel us up past Guernsey and Alderney towards Eastbourne and then past Dover to Walton.
However 'Sods Law' says this won't happen but here's hoping.
Several important events happened today. First it's Alex's birthday and to celebrate we had a piece of Sue's cake and a beer. I cooked the crispy bacon baguettes and we enjoyed a few moments of sun. The other event was the passing on of a little friend. One of our swifts passed away from exhaustion even though it was nursed by 1st class Alba Medic Alexandros Veterinary Surgeon par excellence. We gave it a fitting burial at sea together with the tea towel it used as a nest.
We are gradually nearing land and by sunset should be passing Oussant.
A large cargo ship passed our bow and headed toward Brest. And as I finish the sun has come out even though we are being battered by largish waves. Nothing that serious just uncomfortable when you are trying to type. :-)
More tales from the sea soon.
The humanitarian bods on Alba