A celebration!
Aquila
Alan and Sarah Bennett
Fri 13 Jun 2008 17:22
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44:05.70N 35:42.90W
Noon-noon run: 137 miles
Midday on Aquila has become a very important time
as it is when we work out the miles run in the last 24 hours and plot the
position on the Atlantic chart. Today it is particularly significant as,
probably around dinner time tonight, we celebrate reaching the halfway mark
between Bermuda and Falmouth. Coupled with that milestone is the fact that
we have had to turn the chart over so we are now looking forward to Europe and
the UK and can actually see where we are going - always
helpful!!
Before setting out on this little cruise it was
said that after a few days one gets "into the grove". Now after 13 days at
sea the crew have settled into a routine. Alan, Tom and Ian share the
watches of 4 hours in the day and 3 hours at night. Sarah keeps the galley
going and provides meals as and when. Breakfast is abit of a free for
all depending on who is on watch, but lunch and supper is usually a
social event in the cockpit -weather permitting. Cooking is a
challenge when the boat is heeling over at 20 degrees angle, and there have been
several occasions when the meal hasn't quite landed in the right place at the
right time.
Here are a few other things to consider if you
really want to feel part of the Aquila experience:
- an allowance of 3 litres of water per person per
day
- not showering for the entire trip!!
- wishing for rain so that a hair wash is
possible
- wearing the same clothes day in day out for what
seems like forever
- constantly being thrown around the cabin in all
directions while trying to dress, eat, wash, sleep
- stugglling to go to the heads ( the loo for those
that are not yachty) at a 25 degree angle of heel, having toget out of oilies
etc.
- relying on tinned food - all fresh supplies ran
out today!!
- just as you are dishing up the evening meal,
there's a wind shift / strength change, and a reef needs putting in / shaking
out
There are of course many pluses which we would not
have been priviledged to experience, the best being the dolphins that greet us
each morning and evening and play in the bow waves. This morning druing
the 0200-0500 watch the water was superbly bioluminescent under a black sky, and
we were joined by 2 dolphins for 15 minutes. The bioluminesence meant that
each was leaving a trail some 30ft behing it - you could see this magical
line of light ducking and weaving around the bow. If you did not know what
it was it would have been very eerie! An experience not to be
missed.
Right, that's it for now. Now to find a
satellite - they seem to be pretty scarce in this part of the
world!
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