Sweet Dreams are made of this...
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Thu 29 May 2014 14:44
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GPS miles to go
boat miles covered last 24hrs
Here we are at sea once again and very quickly
there wil be three occupations, keeping Andromeda moving, sleeping and eating,
eveything else will revolve around these. As we are two up on Andromeda things
get a bit complicated sometimes believe it or not. Over the years we have
tried various watch patterns and slowlly come round to our present one that
seems to suit us. Once it gets dark we go two on two off, until daylight
when we change over each hour. There is a certian amount of
flexibility to enable either of us to have some extra shuteye if we need
it. So far it has worked, the real challenge comes if we have issues to
deal with and mess up the system. Getting comfortable is the next challenge,
again because there are only two of us we don't like to be far away in case we
are needed, so our main bunks are on the saloon berths with our lee clothes up
to keep us cosy and in place. On a steady sea this works very well but throw in
the rolling that we have had almost continuously since leaving Nanny Cay
and it is a whole different ball game. We have tried various things and on the
crossing from the Canaries had a matteress on the saloon floor which worked very
well but the rolling this time is none stop, so on occasion ,we wedge ourselves
tightly into a corner on the floor of the cockpit. It is amazing how safe
you feel as there is no where to fall or roll to so you can get some
sleep or dozing in. Of course this isn't a particularly great idea if it
is raining...
Eating is the other occupation and again we are
very flexiable with a good variety of quick made meals as well as some nice
things for treats and on less rolly days even some exotic items will be cooked
up. We like best meals that cook in one pot and can be eaten one
handed. As one of us is always on watch this is most practical.
Hmmmm I am thinking of making a stew for tomorrow night but for today, well we
bought a rotisserie chicken in St. Georges and that will lend it self to all
sorts of meals depending on what we fancy. Its bright, sunny and warm here today
so I think a nice chicken salad will go down a treat but first there is lunch
and methinks it will be bacon and egg butties with a hot cup of
tea.
As for the rest of course keeping Andromeda going
is our primary concern. It is so lovely to be tootling along without that
sea anchor under our boat. The wind has been blowing steadily and although the
wind angle isn't any good for Vanessa (because of the gantry we suspect) we have
been managing with the hand steering. The wind direction is due to change
tomorrow so hopefully Vanessa will get her act together then.
On the wildlife front not much to report other than
the few dolphins as we left yesterdya but for traffic well there was almost a
jam...kidding...we have seen three different vessels so far. A big ketch
that left after us went by yesterday afternoon and two motor cruisers chugged by
in the night. No doubt we shall see more as we get closer to
Europe.
On a completely unrelated topic we found out
yesterday that we were the 293rd boat to clear into Bermuda this
year. Talking to the customs guy he said it is very slow, some years they
have as many as 20 boats a day clearing in and out with over 800 coming and
going during the season.
Now off to start those bacon
butties.....
more in due course
Andrew & Susan
S/V Andromeda |