Day 16 - 159nm - 530nm to run

Mor Toad / Moy Toad
David and Jocelyn Fawcett
Sun 4 Jan 2015 13:03
15:19.32N 50:23.47W

After we sent the blog yesterday we listened to Chapter 20 of Slocum's voyage from Ascension Island to Grenada and onwards . After our discussion about lack of charts albeit for the plotter as opposed to paper charts it couldn't have been funnier as he had no paper chart for the area he was entering as a goat he'd had on board earlier in the journey had eaten it! Hassles even without modern day technology. So he entered the waters aware of coral reefs and kept seeing reflections but made it through from Trinidad to Grenada to Dominica without hitting anything. All the way through the islands he kept trying to get hold of a chart and at one point a guy said ' charts dey do not grow on these islands! '

Also listened to a podcast Great Lives - Arthur Ransome. We loved the bit when someone said about his books 'Swallows and Amazons' 'that nothing happened they were just messing about on boats! Our ignorance - we didn't realise his Russian connections. You learn something everyday even at sea.

Sitting at lunch yesterday in the cockpit, sun shining, warm breeze the most glorious dark blue sea (? Ultramarine) and fluffy white clouds miles and miles from nowhere not another ship, human being in sight eating smoked salmon and coleslaw ( white cabbage good buy for boat - they lasting ages and with jars shredded carrot bought in Lanzarote excellent ) I just thought - in fact not really sure what I was thinking other than that it all seemed a bit unreal/surreal and also that one /we are very very privileged to be here even with the 'rockin and rollin' and bruises. Very hard to explain. It's the vastness of the skies and sea and the intensities of the colours. Yesterday evening we had quite a lot of rain and the rainbows were just so bright and even had reflections in the water - unfortunately the pictures just don't show it.

So we are moving on - have now crossed 50 longitude another weigh point on our plotter. Apparently we going to have quite a few rain showers/squall in the next few days but we still sailing with just the poled Genoa which can be furled if the winds get too intense. We are nursing the auto pilot and so even though the boat could be sailed faster we really don't want that to pack up on us. It was checked again this morning and still tight so that's good - Dan's repairs the other day are holding. Today the stay sail has to be taken down again and the furling gear looked at again as it jammed yesterday but they are waiting their moment as we rolling along quite viciously at present.

We've see a few more different birds - one yesterday had a very long beak and quite large wing expanse. We still don't know what they are! We also had a visit from a couple of Dolphins but I was trying to shower and wash my hair on the back deck with the boat heaving all over the place and missed them though I did see one briefly later but they didn't stay around long to be identified. We never did see the yacht again that Dan had seen the lights of on a previous night. Last night a ship going NE passed about 11 miles away. So we not totally alone.

We definitely in count down mood now and I am really looking forward to that glass of bubbly, G and T and white wine and a swim. Yes the lot - maybe not all at the same time! Dan a Rum and Coke and a few beers and seeing his family again and David - a good steak.