Creaks and Groans 16:25.4N 052:25.7W
Audaciter
ItchyFingers
Wed 14 Dec 2011 14:07
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Hi,
It was Gareths birthday yesterday and probably the most
sober since records began, so Happy Birthday Gareth and we shall, no doubt
whatsoever make up for it when we hit Antigua. Counting down the hours now,
literally. It has calmed down out here a lot, both the swell and the gusting
winds. It is all pretty constant now and the trade winds are serving us well. I
reckon we will be there from Sunday and we managed to book a marina berth until
the 5th of January. This gives us plenty of time to chill. We could work our way
around the secluded anchorages but to be quite honest I would rather hire a
speedboat and blat about on that after spending three weeks on our boat, plus
she needs some TLC and a bit of work done on her. It has, as George put it, been
like four blokes living in a very small bedsit for three weeks and every
six hours getting to stand on the balcony for two hours.
There are a lot of noises on this boat, and I don't just
mean bodily. They have really come into their own over the last few
nights because of the sideways rolling motion of the boat and my god they do
your fucking head in. Here are a few:
The rudder sounds like a dog barking in the distance
while Sue in her office chair is busy sliding across the
deck. There is a helicopter in the fridge
(according to Dickon) and a waterfall in the
heads. The radar and wind generator sound like car
doors locking and unlocking every 7 seconds. A couple of my particular
favorites, as I am a massive fan of repetetive banal noises are, the dance of
the tin cans in the bin bag, the Lea and Perrins roll in the cupboard and the
roll of the empty water bottle across the floor. Absolute classics, I tell
you! The forepeak sounds like it is on spin cycle full of empty fuel
cans and I do like eavesdropping in on the heated conversation between the
two old Russian ladies just outside. There is also General Squeak and Colonel
Clang, which are the mast/rigging and the gas bottles respectivley. Great guys!
And somewhere on this boat is an elevator, apparently. Oh well, so much going on
it's enough to send you a little bit mad. These noises do pale into significance
when the engine comes on but then you may as well be sleeping next to a fucking
locomotive. Win win!! There are many more and I will
keep you updated with any new ones as they come along.
Anyway, morale is very high and we are only 550 miles
away. Getting there.....
Out xxx
P.S We are catching so many fish that we have
become fish snobs and unless it is a Wahoo or a Tuna we are putting them
back.
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