Newsletter  19:   25 December 2007 (Christmas Day!)

Day:                                                               17

Position:                                                       18:49.625N  59:42.646W 

Approx Miles from San Sebastian:              2536

Approx Miles to go to Road Town:              282                                                              

Note:  All times are GMT time, and will be for the whole trip.

            Miles are Nautical Miles, where 1 mile = 1.8 km

            Ohh, for those non-nautically orientated, a 'knot', among other things,  is 1 nautical mile per hour

            If it seems all funny units...its not, there is a very good basis: 1 nautical mile is equal to one minute of latitude on the earth's surface.

A Repeat of yesterday's Headline:

I have GREAT NEWS for YOU and Me at the bottom of this newsletter, so either go there now (not recommended!) or make sure you read 'the whole' newsletter TODAY!

And ......Thanks for all those who have already emailed in...its great to be in contact!  Others now don't be shy, only a few days left!

Hello Friends, and Supporters,

Firstly all my best wishes for a VERY Merry Christmas, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!! (Unless you don't celebrate, and that's ok too!)

Well after resigning my self to having a light wind day yesterday, shortly after midday, I was back for a 2 hour gym session! The wind picked up surprisingly as my grib files didn't show that, although it did look like the edge of a frontal system impinging on 'us'. Lots of cloud around, but not the typical cumulus, more frontal. The good news was it had a more northerly bend to it and so I had two hours of great sailing in up to 30 knots of wind. Lots of sail reefing, trimming and it was quite exciting being in the driver's seat! Only lasted tow hours, but then reduced to a very pleasant 15-17 knots for basically the whole night and through to about 2 hours ago. And all still with the nice northerly twist to it. This was the strategy I had hope was going to play out for me, so far so good. So as you can see good progress made to the destination!  

The wind has now swung back to that more easterly direction so I have just gybed to try and claw back some of the southing I gave up yesterday. (You will see I went a bit north yesterday, against the direction of Road town, but this was to be expected. I basically need more and more of a northerly twist in the wind to give me a direct course to Road Town. But all in all its virtually perfect conditions, and I cannot complain!

One of the presents I got from the sea today was seaweed...quite a bit of it drifting by.....land not far off! Also two ships in the night, but far off. The one must have been a passenger cruise ship , as it looked like a mini Las Vegas with all its lights onboard.

Also there is quite a bit of 'Trade wind' cloud about and a few rainbow 'conduits' down to the sea. The one I show in the photo below has been with me for a few hours now,,,,,just for Christmas...on the bow and head for the pot of gold!

I spoke to the SA rowers (Pete and Bill) today....wished them Happy Christmas, and said "They will never forget this one!" Pete said they had decided to take a '2 hour break' for Christmas lunch today, and Bill was cooking the lunch...basically the same as yesterday!!

Tightened the alternator v-belt today, as it was starting to 'squeal'. The negative of the alternator booster I have, is that it really loads up the alternator drive side...belt. bearings etc. Because of this I carry a spare alternator. The booster is perfect for my 'minimum engine, minimum diesel' philosophy, as it cuts engine running time buy up to 40%! I also transferred diesel from the main supply to the day tank yesterday, and was surprised to see I had only used about 15 Litres of diesel since leaving San Sebastian! I should have tried a 'total green', no engine charging, philosophy... In hindsight I am sure I could have run just on solar power, provided I didn't use the laptop for emails etc. Hey, and that wouldn't have been fun...so here we are! 

Christmas decorations went up today..... For my African roots I have a wooden giraffe face hanging in the saloon, and it 'got' a father Christmas hat.... And for the Aussie connection, I unfurled the flag and its flying all day today!  

I started the day with a strange for most, but camping and sailing 'delicacy' for me.... coffee made with condensed milk! Somehow when I am out roughing it, I just love condensed milk. I only bought one bottle, as I knew any more would verge on addiction. I specially kept this for Christmas day.....firstly for the coffee, and then desert below. The simple things hey!

The wind is up quite a bit and the sea following suite, so Restaurant Solone closed the foredeck area for Christmas lunch! Oh well back the cockpit!  Preparation for the lunch is well under way. Have decided to do a cold buffet lunch, with fish (sorry tinned!) being the main protein, and a rice salad, sprinkled with finely sliced and Jamon and cheese shavings, then peas, a potato salad. Freshly 'opened' long life bread will be available with the main course and then, a variety of two Canary island cheeses will be served with savoury biscuits before desert. A single glass of Vino blanc will be made to last through the whole meal, and the cork placed back on the bottle for drinking on arrival in Road town once the boat is tied up and safe. Desert will be chilled mixed fruit (mixed fresh and tinned) topped with condensed milk. 

Finally, yes, I can feel emotions are building....its getting close to the end but its not the end yet..and I need to stay real focused. I remind myself that today is just like the past 16 and needs concentration, good decision making and alertness to the weather. I'll go through the approach to Road Town on the chart again. Start thinking about reefs, lights, other marine traffic, islands and changing wind patterns around them, tides and depths, and anchoring gear. With a bit of luck I should get in on Thursday, but as the boring saying goes..."One never knows!"

Well some of you would have finished your Christmas lunch, others just starting, and others still a while to go...., Whatever I hope you have a special time with your loved ones..

Adios..    

 Howard

THE GOOD NEWS.......  (Repeat of yesterday) 

Well, yes I also thought about YOU the committed supporter and interested blog reader... how can I provide a further value add service?? Well, a mermaid came on deck yesterday and gave me a spare satphone email address! I asked for other things but she insisted she was from the Mid Atlantic Technology department, and the company policy is not to provide fringe, non-core services, no matter what the circumstances! 

So for the duration of my trip you can email me on howardsolone {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com, and it will not interfere with my weather line, and I will attempt to answer all those who use the facility. Knowing me and what its like here in the middle of the ocean, then putting myself in your shoes (difficult I know!) I thought you may want to ask a question regarding something 'stupid' that I haven't touched on in the blogs? So feel free ask me anything you want, nothing is a stupid question ok! I was once asked 'Where I anchor every night to sleep? So that sets the expectation!!  Oh, and yes maybe, with Christmas approaching  I am also getting a bit lonely out hereI!