19:44.000N
24:41.000W
Great Escape was sailing along nicely at about 6
knots under blue skies when the peace was suddenly shattered by
.......... the new Iridium phone ringing. It was such a surprise that
nobody knew what to do - I was summoned from the foredeck, the skipper was
shouting from his somewhat restricted position communicating with nature in the
heads, and Ian was doing battle with the phone trying to release it from
it's holder. In the resulting chaos we missed the call entirely - how
frustrating can that be? Who was it - someone trying to sell insurance, a wrong
number, a local yacht????? Anyway, an hour or two later it rang again and
was dutifully answered with a businesslike "Good morning Great Escape" by the
skipper. Might have guessed that it was Phil who was ringing to check on
progress and wish us all the best - interestingly, we were pleased to note that
the routing that we have chosen is in line with his thoughts from the comfort of
an armchair and several internet satellite meteorology sites!
The fish that got away ................. Martyn and
mates spent a lot of time sorting the remaining fishing tackle and making the
best lures from what we have got left. Within minutes of trying one of the rigs,
we hooked a decent sized dorada, but it came off the hook about 10 yards
from the boat. MMMPHHH. Later in the afternoon, the same thing happened
again, so the result today has been Atlantic Fish 2 - Great Escape 0. To make up
for our dismal performance, I thought we would share a fantastic
picture of Lizzie's taken yesterday of a dolphin just
breaking the surface at the bow of the boat to make up for it.
The winds now seem to be filling in from the NE and
turning into proper trades - just the kind that we have been looking for. After
a night spent motoring south to get under 20 degrees north and away from
the light airs and sloppy seas, we have finally landed in the belt of good winds
in a favourable direction. With any luck, we should now have these
favourable breezes for at least four or five days, and who knows beyond that -
that's as long as the man in the sky who switchs the fan on up there is reading
the same forecast as us!!
Unless you have experienced it, the torment of motoring in
a sailing boat is pretty grim - in spite of a bright moon in
a beautiful starlit clear sky, each 3 hour watch was an ordeal and seemed
to take double the time with the interminable noise and constant smell of diesel
exhaust from following breezes. Tonight is a different matter - it's about
23.00, the same lovely moon, stars and sky, but this time we are swishing along
at 7 or 8 knots and enjoying every moment.
Anyway, all is well on Great Escape, and we are now making
excellent progress towards St Lucia and it looks like being a very good night
watch - keep watching and you might see some 200 mile days coming
up!!
PS I think that there may be some hidden fruit cake left
for the night watch later!!
