Return, 6th report 51:07.759N 09:13.79W
Ellatrout3
Fri 11 Jul 2008 22:06
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11th July 21:00
Hi all,
Land Ahoy!!!
At 19:30 this evening we spotted the southern Irish
coast. It was no surprise though, we had expected to find it there!
Nonetheless, after 9 days at sea you can begin to wonder....
A good day's progress today - during the daylight
hours anyway, we've continued to thrash along in a pretty continuous Force 5 or
6 (25 knots of true wind) with more than a few gusts into the early 30s (Force
7). For the sailors amongst you we started the day beating, quite
slowly, with the wind freeing us a little at 04:00. At 13:00 the wind
started backing slowly and we've worked through a beam reach to our current
broad reach - both of these sections have been really powerful with ET 3 flying
along enjoying every second of it. We've learned a lot about setting
her up to get the best from the conditions available - and have been under 3
reefs for all of today. The wind eased a little more just after dinner
tonight when we were discussing getting the storm jib up before it got dark
(someone was obviously listening in). The forecast is indicating that
we will continue to maintain the F5 with occasional 6 but it won't get any
worse. So, whilst the speed is great, the downside is the motion; its
constant, its unpredictable, its violent and its relentless.
On the medical front, Poppa's Favourites have taken
a beating today so I think we call safely assume that all recent tummy troubles
are now a thing of the past.
Whilst I was asleep this afternoon (yes, there are
occasions when I can grab the odd 8 hours or so!!), the Skip was sat in the
cockpit musing on the world: he was, he tells me, sat relaxing
between catastrophes, lingering and enjoying the beautiful sunshine, a great big
sparkling sea and 24 knots of wind (F6). You wouldn't believe it - you certainly
wouldn't set out in a F6 expecting to relax in the cockpit enjoying the
sunshine. The sparkling sea was so enchanting, it had enticed him to get
his camera and capture the moment. Passing through the cabin he
spotted the lumps of concrete (delicious(?), almost indedible, Spanish
buns produced especially for mug tourists passing through Lisbon airport -
and brought on board by yours truly) and thought he might try one with honey -
to see if the honey might be the one thing on board that could soften the
texture. In order to get the honey on the concrete Skip first tried
dipping the bun in the jar (they are only very very small buns). This
would avoid the necessity to use cutlery (less washing up and less
drama.....). The honey however is set honey so that didn't work very
well. No choice then but to get a knife from the cutlery
drawer. With the sea as it has been today the best way to deal with the
cutlery drawer is to kneel in front of it (in the manner of a prayer), very
quickly slide it open, grab what you need and close it quick - then slam the
cupboard door behind which the cutlery drawer lurks - hoping meanwhile that none
of the plastic storage boxes in the cupboard makd a bid from freedom
either. In this case, the motion (I mentioned that earlier), the
motion had the cutlery drawer on its way across the cabin like a 6 from Botham
at the crease. A daring catch mid-air saved the cutlery drawer but
the lump of concrete hit the floor in an explosion of concretey
crumbs. These mixed with the bilge water escaping from below - or
possibly water from deluges caused by the odd
"green-water-growler" that boarded from above. Whichever, in an instant,
Skip decided that concretey crumbs and bilge water could slop around a bit and
would be cleaned up later. Well, as it transpires, concretey crumbs
and bilge water combine to make a liquid ice mixture - not good underfoot
when your world is moving about like the inside of a washing machine, so this
had to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. Being a man, Skip
decided that if he was going to clean the floor he would do it
properly; and if he was going to do the cabin floor he might as well do the
heads (loo) at the same time. So out with the washing up liquid and a
quick squirt on the floor. Will it surprise you to learn that applying
washing up liquid to a concretey crumb and bilge water mixture is like
polishing ice???!!! Hence he was the sat in the cockpit musing on the
world......
Key statistic over the last 24 hours - we
covered 126 miles.
We've also started to see other boats - we passed
two fishing boats this morning and there is now something closing us from astern
- so its probably best that I go and do something useful.
That's it for today then, regards to all.
Dad/Poppa/Roger and Paul.
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