17th day 8th Dec2009
Armenistis
Wed 9 Dec 2009 01:51
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20:00 UTC 8th Dec
Last 67 miles left and the atmosphere on the boat
is different. We all feel lazy, the wind is blowing ENE as most of the days 15kt
max warm, Last dinner on board, what shall we cook? tyhe idea that we come close
to land makes us want something easy to cook. We feel like the day sail comes to
an end, strange feelings..... We look at the position list and check where are
some new friends we made, some finished some are behind us. We are coming soon
too! Music all day, music that I didnt even knew I had in my i-pod!
Lots of talks what we are going to repair next day
and what needs cleaning.
At 13:00 UTC today we entered the 17th day so if
things go well we will be there at around 10:00-11:00UTC
We are in such a mood that we even discussed how we
are going to install the Magma Gas grill on the pullpit and dreamed some steaks
and lobsters from the local market. Few days ago we were thinknig only of how to
avoid to damage the genoa or the main. No more rivets remained from fixing
the spinnaker pole so we had to be careful.
Life has changed within the last 12hours. But
still no land on sight.
We may see land at 05:00 in the morning
but then it is too dark and we doubt that the eastern side of the island
is inhabitted. There is Easterly winds 365 days per year so no
villages or ports.
We will let you know what we see when we get closer
to landfall.
01:30 UTC 9th Dec
I am writing the last paragraph before the finish
line, it is a beautiful night no moon but full of clear stars. We have been
sailing the last two hours with rough sea and rolling, not able to get some
sleep. A cargo vessel passed us from our starboard and another yachy is about
three miles behind us.
I put the coordinateds of the finish line on the
plotter so we are well prepared and set a course from the Martinique -St Lucia
Channel to Pigeon island and then the finish line. The coast is clear of dangers
as long as you keep 5oometers away and we plan to pass about a mile away. To
avoid the possible tide rips north of Pigeon island we will pass further north
maybe 2 miles away, this is new to us so we need to be alert. The wind may pick
up strenght while turning sw of the island. We have to give a 5mile
notice of arrival and a 2mile notice as we approach the line.
ETA Marinique - St Lucia channel 06:30 UTC and
everybody has to be up work with the sails, put back our Race number on the
starboard and hoisting St Lucia and ''Q'' flag.
This is the last writing before arrival so we will
keep ythe diary uopdated after we arrive.
Now it is getting to rough for writing, cheers
everybody we are nearly there.
S/Y ARMENISTIS
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