THE FINAL MILES ROLL BY

Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Sat 21 Jun 2008 12:08
48:01.70N W12:24.60
 
Noon-noon run:  166 miles
 
Our faithful wind of yesterday is still with us: WSW 4 - 5, which most of the time has given us 7kts throught the water.  So progress is very, very good.  And the cold fog and drizzle of yesterday...
 
was this morning at around 0900 replaced by bright sunshine......
 
We held 1 reef and the staysail throughout the night, which, with the reduced visibility, was pretty gloomy.  A ship, detected at 8 miles, came within 2.5, but we never saw his lights - thus very glad for the radar, which has been doing sterling work.  But now the clouds and fog have gone, and we can see for at least 12 miles (althought the horizon is only about 3 miles away).
 
Wind steadily picking up - just had a broach, so 2nd reef gone in main.
 
Our friendly dolphins continue to put in several appearances a day, and yesterday we had our erstwhile mast-head lander give it another go.....
Can anyone identify this chap? Maybe whatbird.com will shed some light on it.
 
Otherwise, not much to report.  The watches come and go, as do meal times.  Yesterday's supper was in the shelter of the cabin, so put paid to our usual routine of a social hour in the cockpit beforehand....
As you can see, Sarah has been very abstemious on this trip!
 
 We are all inevitably now counting the days, and with current - and expected - progress it's looking more like around the middle of Monday rather than early Tuesday for our arrival time in Falmouth.  Our plan is to stay there for about 24-36 hours, showering and eating out (our minds are continually dwelling on what we are going to order!) before we set off on the c.130miles to Poole - which we will probably do in two bites, stopping overnight in either Dartmouth or Salcombe.  Hopefully Tim and Anne will join us for this final leg.
 
As originally planned, Ian will part from us once we are alongside in Falmouth, in preparation for his forthcoming trip to Italy with Myf in order to see Josie play in her touring school band.  We will miss him - willing and able to turn his hand to anything, and always with a cheerful smile on his face and a positive outlook on events, we simply could not have had a better crew or ship mate.  Many, many thanks Ian.