Thursday 31 Jan 2013

14 57N 034 07W

With 1470 miles to go, we’re more than a quarter of the way from Cape Verde to Barbados and even closer to the 1000 mile party we have planned. With light airs forecast between now and Sunday it’ll take a lot of motoring to get the roast lamb Sunday lunch to line up with the party. We tried to increase our speed by switching the sail plan from dual genoas to a genoa and a cruising chute, but to no avail. Our gin and tonic supply is diminishing rapidly and we’ll soon have to switch to drinking grog.

The temperature is steadily heading towards 30 degrees as the sun continues to shine down on Diatonic from dawn to dusk. The heat got to Ian and, with a pair of sewing scissors, gave himself a haircut that will keep a barber in Barbados busy fixing. A waning gibbous moon keeps the seas lit at night to give us an excellent view of absolutely nothing. Consequently, we’re looking forward to the diminishing moon giving way to a better view of shooting stars and the Milky Way.

It’s been four days since the last ship was sighted but thanks to Barrie’s aerial acrobatics installing a new SSB radio antenna he managed to tune into the BBC World Service to give us a taste of the outside world. The next goal is to make contact with another ship but we have to see one first, so it might be a while before Barry gets the chance.

Our other contact with life came from beneath the sea when Ken reeled in an energetic Dorado. Eager to make a new friend, Ken attempted to engage the fish in an improvised game of Gaelic football with a winch handle as a club, which ended in tragedy when a wayward swing or four hit the fish in the head. Luckily, Barrie is a trained fish surgeon, and the operation to fry the fish was a compete success. 

Tony and Ian replaced a corroded connection on the alternator to ensure they’re able to keep their laptops powered to watch Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. To conserve precious diesel we’ve decided to convert the engine to run on whale oil and are now on the lookout for pods of whales to refill our tanks.