BRITISH SOLDIER ARC / CAPE VERDES BLOG - DAY 15 (SUN 5 DEC)
Britishsoldier
Sun 5 Dec 2010 20:59
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Blog time, a welcome rest from the sweltering heat
on deck. We now truly understand the "head south until the butter melts" passage
plan used by most of the ARC Cruisers. The black non-slip deck
has become too hot to walk on and is being washed down every 5 minutes to
keep it cool enough to stand on. In true Brit style, we've gone from moaning
about being too cold and wet last week, to too hot this week. However,
the benefit of the heat, and lack of spray has meant that everyone's
kit is now being dried outside. British Soldier may look like a
Chinese Laundry, but it no longer smells like a wet dog's
armpit!
Early this morning the wind died off, and following
some "back of Brian's empty fag packet" calculations it was decided to motor in
the last of our miles into Cape Verdi. As I write the chart plotter shows
130ish miles left to run, although the "time to run" estimation has now
become banned from being mentioned, wildly flashing anywhere from 20 to 40 hours
left!
In the galley, with chocolate melting and gas
supplies beginning to run low, the boat has become a strange treasure trove of
sweets and snacks, as each watch tries to cache as many bags as
possible of haribo and rice crispy squares in preparation for their next
night shift. The watch changeover brew has become a friction point
too. Rather than having the offgoing watch prepare teas and coffees for
the oncoming crew, a spate of lukewarm water, teabag-less mugfulls and in some
cases even 'too hot' drinks has meant it's now a case of everyman for
themselves. The stress of fighting over the last strawberry lace
or Oreo biscuit has been particularly harsh on the smokers, who have
finally run out of cigarettes, and are
currently discussing whether suncream should be applied before or
after their nicotine patches.
So before I go, I leave you with news
that a straw poll on board says of everything land has to
offer, the crew are most looking forward to a steak. On a real
plate. That doesn't slide about every time a wave hits.
Dom
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