Day 6

What a wonderful day at sea.  This is the first day of the trip where we aren’t being sloshed around the cabin in 8 to 10 foot seas as well as we were able to get a decent night’s rest without constantly rolling around.  We’re currently experiencing 1 to 3 foot waves and traveling a better course at 60 degrees.  We are able to use this time to dry out the condensation in our cabins and air out sheets and towels.  We will hopefully remain on this gentle and easy to maintain course for the next two days as the weather patterns aren’t predicted to change much between now and then.  At the end of this time it is likely we will have to motor sail since the winds are forecasted to drop to practically zero.  We have also discussed taking a quick swim during this time as well.  I do believe that 5,521 meters (That number and units of measurement are not typographical errors) of water is more than deep enough to dive into without hitting the bottom.

The current time is 12:30pm as compared to 9:30am central time in the US and 4:30pm in the UK.  We’re currently sailing at 7.2 nautical miles per hour and our position 27 degrees 24.19 north and 54 degrees 38.28 west.  This leg of the trip from Antigua to the Azores is about one-third completed.  We’ve sailed just over 700 nautical miles out of an estimated 2100 nautical miles.  The trip has been fairly uneventful due to the meticulously maintained vessel we are aboard.  The only major event that has occurred (Even though it wasn’t that big a deal) was a broken jib sheet that suddenly snapped.  Luckily no one was sitting nearby otherwise they might have been popped by the blown out sheet.  It was kind of ironic because Ben and I were just discussing the about of tension the sheet was under.  Then all of a sudden five minutes later the jib sheet broke.  This event didn’t greatly reduce our travel time as Captain Emily quickly jumped into action and tied on another bowline knot to the headsail.  We then corrected our course (Snif…Snif…Snif…Point) and off we went on our original bearing.  We then decided that it wasn’t a good idea to discuss the number of gallons/litres the boat could hold as this would mean that we would be taking on water.  Luckily all has remained calm and the remaining crew has enjoyed some much needed downtime.  We have also encountered a couple of fast moving cargo ships which has helped to take our mind off the day to day efforts of sailing.

To conclude the crew has not experienced any ill effects from the motion as I think everyone has adjusted by now.  Also, our evening meals have been well prepared and very tasty.  As for tea and coffee, I don’t think I’m going to be asked to continue that regiment for too much longer.  I didn’t realize how important tea and coffee are to some members of the crew.  Since I don’t drink either one, it seems they are both a bit complicated to make even by professional standards.

We will write again soon with more news from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Corbin