Wet, Wet, Wet – Log Day 14

Passage notes (continued)

I seem to remember saying something yesterday about the weather being delightful, while there appeared to be thicker cloud heading our way for the afternoon. Well, you know that thicker cloud.....boy is it thicker! It drenched the night watch (Jeff and Jake), spared the next watch (hooray) and we are currently surrounded by a grey mist with lashing rain that is drenching the morning watch (Jake and Jeff – it's alright, spare your sympathy – they're tough, they can take it and they're getting used to it). Lucinda and I, however, are not used to it and are hoping it will abate before we have to out at 2:00. Oh did I mention that those nice trade winds are now howling?

Before and After – smile turns to grimace

Only 612 miles to go, though, now.

The ship's company

All are or are shortly to be wet.

Andrew's choice

Last night's Desert Island Discs was presented by Andrew and naturally we expected a selection as old and whiskery as the captain himself. Surprisingly even he did not have the full selection on his iPad; not in this case because he didn't own the music concerned, but because it was so old that he only had it on vinyl. For the benefit of our younger readers, vinyl is a magnificent but largely obsolete music storage medium based on 12 inch (30 centimetre) plastic discs – not entirely suited to the marine environment. Here it is:

1. Robert Palmer – She makes my day

2. Justin Hayward – The best is yet to come

3. Charles Aznavour – Yesterday when I was young (Hier encore)

4. Sting – Fortress around your heart

5. Kate Rusby – You belong to me

6. Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues – Fairytale of New York

7. Eddi Reader and the Patron Saints of Imperfection – What you do with what you've got

8. U2* – Stuck in a moment you can't get out of

Food and news good and bad

Good news: last night Lucinda converted the second half of the previous night's roast chicken into a very tasty curry. More good news: we have managed to eat our way through all that natural yoghurt, just before it turned nasty. Not so good news: the fisheries officer is still not performing – any ideas Sophie? Final good news: aerial bombardment appears to have been suspended for the duration of this series of squalls.

Footnote: *U2 – Andrew was shocked to find that amongst members of the crew there was not only some ignorance of, but even in some cases resistance to the fact (surely self-evident) that U2 are the greatest rock band in the world ever. What do they teach them in the schools these days?

Andrew, Lucinda, Jake and Jeff

Noon, Monday, 10^th December, 2012