07 Dec - Day 21 Position at 16.00 hrs 18:04.1N 056:48.6W

Imagine Of Falmouth Online Log
Jon Constantine
Fri 7 Dec 2007 20:43
Day 21 Distance to Antigua 285 nm (nautical miles).

Distance covered since yesterday at 16.00 -  160 nm. Average speed over 24 hrs =  6.6 kts

Well, now we have plenty of wind.  Sometimes too much.  Just now a squall came through and the windometer hit 30 kts.  We have one reef in the main and half the headsail out.  We have been doing about 7.5 kts but touched 10.3 kts as we surfed down a wave. 

It looks like we will now make it to Jolly Harbour on Sunday  if we keep this speed up.  What a difference a few extra kts make.

We saw a super-yacht (they are the big expensive ones) coming up behind us slowly this morning but with not a stitch of sail up.  He slowly overhauled us and called us on the radio.  It turned out to be Mirabella III  en route from Las Palmas to St Maarten.  They had only left 8 days ago!  How much diesel must they be using?  Seems such a waste of a sailing boat to me.  Do you know what his next question was?..................  Had we caught any fish!!!!!   Ha ha I said "Don't you read our blog?" I then told him about our giant mahi- mahi and how to make fantastic rice but he seemed to be more interested in what colour lure we had been using. I said it was the blue one with the rah rah skirt and bossy eyes which you can get in the Tackle Shop in Hove on the Kingsway near the lagoon just by the BP station but then the line when dead ...... Ungrateful bugger! 

Last night was more of the same - regular squalls coming through and giving us a good dousing.  Looks like we're in for more of the same tonight.
OLGA
Winds:  E 20-25 bcmg ESE 15 in south (higher gusts around showers)
Seas:  6-8ft incr 8-10ft in north  
Wx:  Heavy showers with thunder
Vis:  G, M or P  in showers

Sounds more like England doesn't it?  Although we gather the UK has had some pretty awful weather over the last few weeks.

My nephew Bruce is getting married to Nikki tomorrow. Good luck to you both.  The cheque is in the bottle which I've just dropped over the side - watch out for it on Brighton beach in about 2 years. I have post dated it so that it doesn't arrive worthless. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic wonderful day without us. Is the honeymoon in Antigua by any chance?

Just a couple more days of blogging unless I hear from you all that you'd like us to continue as we travel on to the British Virgin Islands after about a week in Antigua.  That's where we will be for Christmas.  An old chum of mine, Robin,  from hippy days in Ibiza runs a charter catamaran out of Soper's Hole - have a look at his website - www.kuralu.com  

Apparently on Christmas Day it's the 7th Annual Trip on Kuralu to the Bubbly Pool where we will be drinking bubbly in the bubbly pool which is some kind of sea water jacuzzi. Now then, do you want me to keep writing this blog or not? 

There was no photo yesterday as time was short so today there's one of us 3.  I had words with Phil about all this piracy nonsense and he's agreed to behave himself to avoid the monkey spanking which he said he'd heard was not very nice. Indeed Phil, take it from me.  Old one eyed Nelson knew how to keep his men in line.  And he was only blind in one eye! 

Talking of Nelson, bless him.  Here's an interesting fact gleaned from the pilot book on Antigua and I quote .....

"The potential of English and Falmouth Harbours was recognized as early as 1723 and work was begun on the English Harbour Dockyard and it was completed in around 1745 (no hurry then?). It was Britain's main naval station in the Lesser Antilles. Nelson was stationed here under Sir Richard Hughes, who had recently blinded himself in one eye while chasing a cockroach with a fork."  Sounds to me like he might have got Nelson instead.

'Til tomorrow.

Jon and Sam