Day 6 Lisbon to Las Palmas

Beoga's Madventure
Henry and Marina Lupton
Wed 28 Oct 2009 09:06
LIke a pond yesterday and through to this morning.
Marine Life has finally appeared! We are not alone on the planet.
Niall spotted a small turtle ( about 2 foot in diameter) in the water, we stopped but it seemed half dead. Maybe we are alone on the planet.....
Over the rest of the morning there more, actve this time but shy.
 
We noticed a pong in the fore cabin so we unloaded everything to discover why the slabs of coca cola was on offer in Dunnes Stores!
Pinholes had developed in most of the cans and had leaked and covered some sails and gear. The coke didnt smell but the cooking of the sugary sails certainly did!
I took advantage of the empty lockers to mount securing eyes, cargo straps and loops to hold down the gear and thumbscrews to hold the lid in place. Remainder of the day was coke fuelled, and most of the crew dont drink it. For a while I thought Id be able to do the entire night watch on my own. There was talk of lashing me to the mast but hanging off the back kicking seemed a more energy efficient solution.
 
Ran the watermaker again and had a brief concern when it cut out. Thankfully it was air and bleeding had it happily working again. Not huge quantities but should allow us to avoid being offensive on the arc.
 
Lots of excitement as the AIS finally showed a ship that we would actually see and that would actually come close to us. As it neared however a pod of Pilot whales arrived. At least I think thats what they were, otherwise the porpoises around here are on serious steroids and its affecting the shape of their noses!
We stopped and watched for a while in a beautiful sunset but they werent interested in us and continued slowly in the other direction. We wonder if they are called pilots for a reason.
 
The washed sugar coated sails were packed up  after the and we settled down to pizza for dinner. Not a gas friendly food in case you ever wondered. Took almost an hour to do 5. Others might suggest it was down to my culinary skills and the fact that Lara was limited to providing indigredients that would allow me to produce something edible that didnt involve stopping in the local chinese, indian and frozen foods section. They chose to eat in the dark of the cockpit the romantic lot that they are and for the first time there were left overs! Clearly Im too generous with the portions.
 
Night watch was much less boring last night. Plenty of ships as we are in shipping lanes now to the islands. A few diversions were required including one to avoid a squall. We got lucky on the weather as there was lightning east and west of us.
 
Expect to arrive mid afternoon. Lots to do over the next few weeks and final provisioning and ultimate waste management will be interesting.
Present position  28:42.9N 15:01.3W. spanish courtesy flag being hoisted as i type. VHF sqwaking.
Talk of steak and beer on board.
 
H