Flying Fish

Blue Sky's Voyage
George & Michael
Thu 7 Dec 2006 12:59
Hello Friends                                                "20:02.15N 42:47.09W"
 
A few things to report today.
 
We found a flying fish in the sprayhood and another landed in the cockpit. As I type the second one is being recycled as bait on our long line. We really do need a tuna...
 
The Kemp spinnaker finally gave in when the autopilot switched off (software problem I think - it happens occasionally) so the boat rounded up and the webbing on the clew burst spectacularly. No problem though - should be easily repaired in Antigua.
 
We also enhance the towgen (see previous blogs) by replacing the standard towing line with about 25 metres of marlowbraid. This has the advantage that Marlowbraid has a 3-strand core, the lay of which fortunately tightens up with the twist of the turbine so it doesn't knot up as the braid-on-braid line did. OK, so this was a great improvement, so great in fact that we bust the 10A fuse in the charging circuit which we eventually replaced at 0300 this morning. We might see if it is acceptable to fit a larger fuse here as the towgen is the mainstay of power provision on this sort of run.
 
So let's have another crew profile.
 
Number Two
 
Arthur (Barny) Darby
 
Arthur is distinguished as the only crew member (other than skippy) with the strength of character to wear a sarong on board (very suitable for the latitude). He sailed with us (or rather motored) from Corsica to Menorca at the end of the Summer. Despite that he still wanted to cross the pond with us and between then and joining us in Tenerife he has also done a world tour, including trekking in Nepal. He's dinghy sailed for ages and converted to sailing yachts when working with Neilson in the Med. during Summer Vac.
 
Arthur lives in Surrey and graduated from Cambridge last Summer with a degree in Physics. This trip (and the world tour of course) represents a last enjoyment of freedom before he succumbs to a life of slavery in January (OK, starts a new job!).
 
As you may remember from the photos in the September blogs, Arthur is the resident boffin and in charge of astro-navigation. To date his most accurate sightings have been accurate to within one mile of latitude and two miles of longitude. Anyone who knows anything about astro-nav will appreciate that this is pin-point accuracy. His sightings and other records will form part of his Yachtmaster Ocean assessment which he hopes to attain in April next year.
 
Arthur has the poshest camera on board - as shown yesterday taking a pic of the bow wave. Fortunately Arthur's camera is digital so we can all share the pics, unlike Ben's steam driven film model when we expect film to be developed before the end of the decade, possibly.
 
At 6 foot 6, (198cm) he's the tallest crewmember and has improvised a berth extension. He is currently (well not exactly at the moment, but..) looking for a car in which he can comfortably commute to work. So if any blog readers are in the car business and need any testing done...
 
Arthur's message:  "The world belongs not to the person who says that the glass is half full, but to the one who says, that's not my glass, mine was full and it was a BIGGER glass."
 
Best Wishes
 
George, Michael and the crew