Friday 14th May (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Fri 21 May 2010 23:43
poorly and was irritable today. The wind had backed to a W F2/3 by our
5am watch change and at last we were able to turn off the donkey and
sail. Not only do we ‘hot bunk’ on passage, alternating sleep in the
sea berth set up in the saloon, but at present we are ‘hot booking’ as
well, both reading the follow up to ‘Chocolat’. While I napped Si was
so engrossed in the final chapters he failed to notice the wind was
changing and we were heading off to the Azores! I woke to a pretty
zig-zag in our track line on the plotter and a great feeling that he
is human after all. I do wonder at times as he so rarely does anything
even remotely wrong. The wind picked up to a F4 later in the afternoon
and I wished I’d prepared dinner earlier as I bounced around the
galley with veggies dancing along the worktop. We were making good
progress now though and look set to arrive tomorrow afternoon.
After an extra hour in bed I came on watch to dying winds and
eventually had to resort to the engine when the sails started flapping
and our boat speed was zilch. Race machine ‘Festina Lente’ had
gradually caught up with us during the day and off our port quarter I
watched their steaming light join a green too. A gentle mist developed
no thicker and I was able to engross myself in the goings on at the
chocolate shop. The night was freeeezing and I ended up with four
layers on my legs and body plus thermal socks and hat. When Si came on
watch a Michelin Man was sitting in the cockpit.